HISTORY
HISTORY OF EXHIBITION CENTRE LIVERPOOL
Exhibition Centre Liverpool is a state-of-the-art, 8,100m2 purpose-built exhibition centre and is part of The ACC Liverpool Group’s family of world class venues along with interconnected sister venues ACC Liverpool and M&S Bank Arena. Situated on Liverpool’s iconic waterfront, Exhibition Centre Liverpool provides world class event space for exhibitions, concerts and conferences and forms part of a full campus site of venues offering complete flexibility, space and an expert delivery team.
The arena and convention centre opened their doors on January 12 2008 with the official opening ceremony for Capital of Culture, launching a year-long celebration and signalling the culmination of a decade of regeneration in the city. By 2011 the venues had already welcomed almost 2 million visitors across 500 events and so in March 2011 announced plans to build a new waterfront exhibition and events complex as an extension to its existing offering. At an investment of £40m the project was set to position Liverpool in the premier league of convention and exhibition cities in the UK.
BUILDING THE DREAM
In October 2012, world renowned construction services company ISG, known for its prestigious work on the London 2012 Velodrome, was granted the contract to deliver the construction of the project. The principle architects, Denton Corker Marshall, was appointed for its distinct style and flawless reputation, with a portfolio of work including the Melbourne Exhibition Centre.
In April 2013, leading luxury hotel brand Pullman came on-board, with the announcement that an upscale four star hotel would be at the heart of the stunning new venue. Pullman has hotels all over the world, including all the major European cities, but only one in the UK, in St Pancras, London. The Pullman brand is owned by international hotel company Accor. While Pullman was selected as the hotel brand, Branded Hotel Management (BHM) was also appointed as the preferred operator for the 216 room 'headquarters' hotel.
Work began on Exhibition Centre Liverpool in January 2014. Exhibition Centre Liverpool opened in September 2015. Pullman Liverpool opened in February 2016.
DELIVERING ECONOMIC BENEFIT
The ACC Liverpool Group was identified as key to boosting Liverpool's image as a city in which to live, work and invest. It plays a key role in the city's economic growth, actively supporting Liverpool, Merseyside and Northwest-based employees, businesses and supplier. In our first year alone, the campus hosted more than 200 events and 665,000 delegates, and made an economic contribution to Liverpool City region of more than £200 million. Since opening, our campus has attracted more than 8 million visitors to 4,500 events across our entire site and generated £2bn in economic benefit for the local economy. Exhibition Centre Liverpool has just as an important role, not only providing more exhibition space but also the 216 bedroom hotel Pullman Liverpool, increasing the city’s bed-stock and raising the number of rooms on site to over 650.
PRESTIGIOUS EVENTS
The area on the waterfront is known for its prestigious events. A variety of events have taken place in Exhibition Centre Liverpool including Wound Expo, The Allergy and Free From Show, The Liverpool Wedding Show, Comic Con Liverpool and RenewableUK. Exhibition Centre Liverpool’s adjoining venues, ACC Liverpool and M&S Bank Arena, have showcased BBC Studios Showcase, UNI Global Union, Sir Paul McCartney and Vitality Netball World Cup Liverpool 2019. The Labour Party conference returned in 2016 and 2018 and used the exhibition centre for its main plenary sessions. Revo (previously known as BCSC / British Council of Shopping Centres) and the National Cancer Research Institute have already been with us more than once. They appreciate all that we have to offer and have made us their venue of choice for their major events.