Tag: ExCel

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Seven new vaccination centres in England have been announced.

Vaccination Centres

EDGE Venues is proud to announce that three of the venues on their platform, ExCel London, Ashton Stadium Bristol, and Millennium Point Birmingham are to be turned into temporary Vaccination Centres as the Government and the NHS roll out their plans and timetable to vaccinate the top four priority groups by mid-February.

All three venues usually host a variety of meetings, conferences, exhibitions, and sporting events, however due to the current pandemic, they have been selected with four other venues to become vaccination centres and should be up and running early next week.

The UK is the first country in the world to approve mass use of COVID-19 vaccines, with immunisation with the Pfizer BioNTech beginning back in December and the Oxford-AstraZeneca started on Monday 4th January.

Jacqui Kavanagh, CEO of EDGE Venues was really pleased to hear the news and how so many venues have been supporting the country during the COVID-19 crisis and said “We are part of a fantastic industry and despite these difficult times it is great to see we have a role to play. I wish all the teams the best of luck and I know that as event professionals if anyone can step up to this challenge they can.”

Jacqui went on to add “The rapid spread of coronavirus has taken its toll on the events industry but it’s great to see that during the last 10 months we have seen many hotels and venues helping in these exceptional times.  Opening to Key Workers, transforming into Nightingale Hospitals and quarantine venues to name just a few.”

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ExCeL to be used as a hospital

EDGE Venues is proud to announce that one of the venues on their platform, ExCel London is to be turned into a temporary 4,000-bed hospital under NHS England’s plans to cope with the peak of the coronavirus epidemic.

The venue, which opened in London’s Docklands in 2000, usually hosts a variety of meetings, conferences, exhibitions and sporting events. However, it will be turned into a critical care unit, staffed by NHS and private heathcare staff, as well as military personnel and will be ready in about a month’s time. It is possible that the O2 arena on the south side of the Thames could also be used for the same purpose.

Jacqui Kavanagh, CEO of EDGEvenues.com was very happy to hear how the venue is supporting the COVID-19 crisis and said, “Our industry has always had a role to play in times of emergency. I wish all the team the best during this very difficult time. I know they will pull out the stops and deliver excellence as they always do. Our thoughts are with them all as they are a great team.”

ExCel already supports the Community Food Enterprise which tackles homelessness and poverty in East London, by making an annual donation to the organisation, collecting toys, clothing and merchandise from exhibitors. ExCel’s catering partner contributes through giving surplus food which is distributed throughout the local area.

We have already seen other hotels and venues helping in these exceptional times. In February, the Holiday Inn at Heathrow airport was booked to be used to quarantine arrivals to the UK. Kents Hill Park Training and Conference Centre looked after 118 guests who were isolated for 14 days following their return from overseas and all left after testing negative for coronavirus.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest industry insights and news by reading our EDGE news section.

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Bookings spike suggests London as Europe’s most connected business hub

The UK now serves more European and international destinations than any other European city, according to new research commissioned by the London Convention Bureau.

London has direct air connections to 401 destinations around the world and more connections with Europe (243 routes) than any other European city, according to RDC Aviation, which analyses city flight data.

Transportation links with Europe are well served with by high-speed train links, like Eurostar, to cities across France and Belgium. There is a new service between London and Amsterdam, with a third daily direct train from London to Rotterdam and Amsterdam. The extra service, which launches on 11 June, was due to demand for routes to the Netherlands.

Eurostar claims that a London-Amsterdam Eurostar journey emits 80 per cent less carbon than the equivalent flight.

Due to the strong transport links with mainland Europe, London’s Convention Bureau recently announced a new partnership with the Paris Convention and Visitors Bureau that will see the two cities forming a partnership offering a range of two- in-one incentive travel products.

“The number of high-profile associations and corporations that are now choosing London is an endorsement of the city’s position as a world-class location for meetings and events, as well as being a global centre for learning,” James Rees, executive director for Conferences and Events at ExCeL London said.

The meetings and incentives market remains a tour de force in the UK capital with brands like Adobe, Salesforce, Amazon Web Services, Oracle, Google and Microsoft hosting large scale corporate events in London this year.

Massive meetings are also on the horizon, with London Tech Week welcoming over 55,000 visitors in June 2019, at a number of venues including the Barbican and the Tower of London. Sibos, one of the world’s largest financial services, will host more than 11,000 delegates.

“We are very excited to be bringing Sibos to London for the first time, this year. London is one of the world’s great financial centres. It’s a city where business, creativity and innovation converge – and that’s why it’s the perfect place for Sibos 2019,” Chantal Vanes, head of Sibos said.

“While providing a great venue to do business, London’s ever-changing cultural offering, spanning world-class museums, theatre and the arts, will also allow delegates to enjoy their experience at the world’s premier financial services event to the fullest.”

London fact box

  • Latest figures show that business visitors to London spent £3.5 billion annually.
  • From September 2017 to October 2018, London welcomed 3.5 million international overseas business visitors.
  • According to findings from the Hotel Monitor Report, a new report monitoring hotel capacity across European cities, London is set to add 11,600 rooms to its hotel market by 2020.
  • The capital’s hotel market is set to outpace a number of major European cities by 2020, including Paris, Berlin, Lisbon and Milan.
  • Hotel operators are increasing hotel capacity across the city, with an 8 per cent uplift predicted by 2020.