The Conservative Party announced today that they will, for the first time ever, hold two
autumn party conferences in Birmingham. The events that could be worth £40M to the city
will take place in 2008 and 2010.
Conservative Party Chairman Francis Maude said: “We are delighted to be bringing our main
conference to England’s second city. Birmingham is one of the country’s great heartland cities representing a dynamic and cosmopolitan Britain.”
Cllr Mike Whitby, Leader of Birmingham City Council, who has been leading efforts to bring
Party Conferences to the City, said: “The decision by the Conservative Party to hold two of
their conferences in Birmingham is undoubtedly confirmation of our reputation as the nation’s
natural meeting place. We have an unparalleled reputation for organising first-class events
and I am sure that Conservative Party Conference in 2008 and in 2010 will help enhance that
reputation. This decision shows that David Cameron and the Conservative Party recognise
Birmingham as the modern, progressive and welcoming city that it is. We are gaining a
reputation as a global city with a local heart. I am delighted that the Conservative Party
nationally are recognising what we are doing locally. We look forward to giving them a warm
welcome next year."
Marketing Birmingham, working with The NEC Group who will host the event, has been
responsible for negotiating and securing the two year deal with the Conservatives.
Birmingham City Council agreed in October 2006 to increase Marketing Birmingham’s funding
by £2M per annum from 2008/09 to allow it to create a new subvention fund for conferences
and events.
Neil Rami, Chief Executive of Marketing Birmingham, said: “These conferences are a massive
boost for the city. Not only will we welcome some 11,000 delegates to our hotels, restaurants, bars and shops, but there is no doubt that the timing of these events will attract
an enormous national and international media presence.”
In 2008, the Conservative Conference will take place at the ICC from 23rd September to 1
October and in 2010 from 28 September to 6 October.
NEC Group Chief Executive, Paul Thandi, commented: “This truly is fantastic news for the city of Birmingham and reinforces The ICC’s position as the premier international conference
centre within the UK. Winning such high profile and nationally significant events as the
Conservative Party Conference is incredibly important. Birmingham will be on show for the
week, so we must all ensure we deliver what we do so well, which is make events
extraordinary.”
It is estimated that in delegate spend and media attention each conference could be worth
some £20M to the local economy.
The timing of these events will also be important in showcasing the City’s renaissance. By the time of the Conservative Party conferences in 2008 and 2010, urban regeneration
developments will have added some striking new features to the city skyline.
One of the UK’s great classical buildings, the Grade 1 listed Town Hall will reopen after a
£35m refurbishment, providing a new city centre venue for music, political debate and
corporate events later this year.
In 2009, the eagerly awaited The Cube will open. With exceptional apartments, state of the
art offices, exclusive shops, waterside café bars, a boutique hotel and a panoramic rooftop
restaurant, The Cube is set to become an internationally recognised building from
Birmingham’s skyline.
Neil Rami, Marketing Birmingham’s Chief Executive, concluded: “We are in active discussion
with other major political parties and major events organisers to attract and host even more
high profile events to Birmingham.”
Ends
For further information, visuals and interviews, please contact Tracey Saunders, Head of PR &
Corporate Affairs, Marketing Birmingham on 0121 202 5002 or email us.
Notes to editors
- Marketing Birmingham is the destination marketing agency for the Birmingham City
region. It is a public–private partnership supported financially by Birmingham City
Council and some 400 member companies. It raises additional commercial revenue
through the provision of a hotel accommodation and conference booking service.
- Marketing Birmingham scooped Best UK Destination, the Business Award in
association with Travel Trade Gazette (TTG) Best Exhibition and Conference Service
for the city, plus the overall Platinum Award in honour of their hat-trick of awards at
the UK’s biggest conference show International Confex 2006.
Birmingham – the global events city
- In October 2005 Marketing Birmingham commissioned KPMG to provide an economic
study on the size and value of the conference and events market in Birmingham and
the West Midlands. Their research found that the West Midlands events industry
contributes more than £6bn to the regional economy, supports more than 100,000
jobs and generates some £800m in tax revenue for the Treasury. This is broken
down to £2.3bn net expenditure and 36,700 jobs for Birmingham.
- Last year more than 200,000 events attracted 14 million conference delegates and
exhibition visitors to the West Midlands – 4.5 million of whom visited Birmingham
venues.
- Birmingham has a long running relationship with some of the UK’s top consumer
shows and has been home to Clothes Show Live and Crufts for sixteen years each.
- In 2007 Birmingham will host the annual conference for the National Union of
Journalists and a new show The Chocolate Show for the first time.
- Visitor spending during conferences and events in the West Midlands is
predominately in the leisure sector and includes the following sectors :
accommodation £1bn, food and drink £424m, shopping £307m, travel £266m,
entertainment £204m and other expenditure £211m in 2006.
- As part of The NEC Group, the ICC is one of Europe’s leading conference centres with
11 halls, 10 executive meeting rooms and a team of experienced planners. The ICC
hosts more than 500 events a year and was awarded UK Conference Centre in both
2006 and 2005 by conference organisers and readers of ‘Meetings and Incentive
Travel’ magazine.
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