Exhibition Centre Liverpool, the UK’s newest events venue, opened its doors for its first event yesterday.
The 8,100 sqm building is the latest addition to ACC Liverpool, currently home to BT Convention Centre and Echo Arena, on the city’s waterfront. It will host trade and consumer exhibitions; large national and international conferences; banquets; concerts and global sporting events.
The venue is now the only purpose-built interconnected arena, conference and exhibition centre in Europe.
A series of events will kick off the opening period with the first trade exhibition, Wound Expo, taking place from 2nd-3rd September. The first public show is Bliss Wedding Shows’ The Liverpool Wedding Show on September 12th.
Bob Prattey, chief executive of The ACC Liverpool Group, said:
“This is a hugely significant moment in the development of The ACC Liverpool Group and we are extremely proud to add the new facility to our range of venues.
“For the first time in Liverpool, customers will be able to visit large exhibitions whatever their hobbies and interests. We will attract more national and international visitors to the city who will help to boost the local economy by an additional £20m per year through staying in hotels and visiting leisure and retail attractions.
“The new building has added to the flexibility of our entire venue, we will be hosting separate concerts, conferences and exhibitions across our three main venues or some individual events may take the whole site – for example the Netball World Cup in 2019.
“We have standing capacity for 6,000 in the halls which means we will welcome more top entertainment acts.”
Exhibition Centre Liverpool features three prinicipal halls, a glazed atrium with waterfront views as well as cafes, meeting rooms and box office. External areas include a riverside balcony overlooking the River Mersey as well as The Deck, an outside exhibition space for events.
It will include an integrated four-star 216-room Pullman hotel which is taking bookings from January next year.
Joe Anderson, the Mayor of Liverpool, said:
“The new exhibition centre enhances Liverpool’s place as one the leading visitor destinations in the UK.
“It adds a whole new dimension to our ability to stage high-profile events and will attract a new level of exhibitions and conferences. We are a city with unlimited ambition and this new addition will secure our global reputation in this sector.”
Public shows confirmed in the first year include The Ultimate Christmas Fair; Toytopia; Dualco Antiques and Collectors Fair; Girls Day Out; MCM Expo; The Allergy and Free From Show North and the Telegraph Cruise and Travel Show.
Trade exhibitions include Lift Ex and the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers. National and international conferences include RenewableUK and the European Association for International Education (EAIE).