With less than a week remaining, anticipation is building for the inaugural UK Venue Show, taking place from 1st –2nd February at Olympia.
Opening the trade show season for the live event sector, the UK Venue Show will centre on the Great British venue with exhibitors from both the capital and the counties already lined up.
3500 qualified event buyers with 18 per cent reporting budgets in excess of £1m, will descend on Olympia’s West Hall to address key trends influencing the event industry sector and to meet with new and established venues.
The final line-up of exhibitors at the UK Venue Show now totals over 50 unique, historic and sporting venues.
The diverse range of venues that have confirmed their participation include: The NEC, Church House, The London Film Museum, The Brick House, Sail Royal Greenwich, Royal College of Physicians, Leeds Castle, Cheltenham Racecourse, One Great George Street and The Westminster Collection.
The show is also being used by many of the exhibitors to launch new products and facilities. New offerings at the show include:
- ODEON Conferencing and Events will present their newly refurbished ODEON Swiss Cottage which has an Ambar, IMAX screen and two club screens. They will also be showcasing the new luxury offering of The Lounge at ODEON Whiteleys.
- Proud will showcase its offering at a trade show for the first time. The group will reveal its plans for 2012, including: New central London venues Proud Cabaret West End and Soho Celeb Dive Bar, Proud2 (the new events venue at the 02), Proud Cabaret Brighton’s £500k renovation (to reopen in April) and the opening of Proud NY Dive Bar. The Brighton Centre will be unveiling the venue’s new look and enhanced meetings and events spaces after the second phase of the £1m investment refurbishment programme.
- Mercedes-Benz World will bring the excitement of their driving experience to the show floor by displaying an SLS supercar to give attendees a taste of the many vehicles that can be driven on the venue’s handling circuits as well as the 4x4 experiences that can be part of the conference and events package and bespoke team building events.
- Millbrook Events will be promoting the venue’s new website and visitors will be given the opportunity to win one of two 16GB Apple iPad2s with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity as part of a business card prize draw which will take place on each evening of the show.
- The Lensbury will be promoting the use of free WIFI all over the site which features a 30Mb uncontended Ethernet internet connection and a managed Cisco wireless network with the additional ability to operate via Cat6 cable in all conference rooms if required.
The Event Seminar Programme will bring together a range of topics relevant for the forward-thinking corporate meeting and events buyer. Under the title; Trends and Spends for 2012, panelists Rick Stainton, managing director, Smyle; Gareth Crowder, global procurement director, Zibrant; Anna Golden, commercial director of EC&O Venues and Hugh Robertson, Managing Partner, RPM will look into the trends that have affected the industry over the past 12 months and how the future will shape up across the UK post Olympics.
Tanya Cohen show director said, "I am delighted with the response the show has received from corporate event buyers and decision makers. The show was created to fill a gap in the market and will be an effective platform for venues to engage with potential new clients in the live sector”.
The UK Venue Show is supported by the Association of Event Venues (AEV)
