Looking no further than London

London as a destination has pretty much everything. Here, London & Partners discuss why public sector event buyers should look no further than London as a destination for any conference, meeting or event they will be placing.

No matter what the size or budget, London is the perfect destination to host your event in 2016. From immersive game experiences to incredible rooftop venues and unique conference centres, the city has something to offer every event planner. Hosting a function in London is not only easy and convenient, it also gives visitors the opportunity to enjoy and experience this world-renowned capital. There’s no better time than now to start planning your 2016 events in London.

London offers visitors the best of the old and the new. Historic landmarks and contemporary venues sit side-by-side and many can be hired for meetings or private events. Located on the More London Estate, overlooking Tower Bridge, The Tower Room offers stunning 180 degree views of the city’s skyline and the versatility to accommodate a variety of events, from conferences and workshops to receptions and product launches.

With ever-rising numbers of business and leisure visitors to London, a variety of new hotels are opening across the capital. Amongst the hotels opening in 2016 is the InterContinental London – The O2, with 20 multifunctional meeting rooms and a 3,000sqm ballroom, which will hold up to 3,000 delegates.

On the doorstep of the UK’s second largest arena, InterContinental London – The O2 will officially launch in January and will boast an indoor pool, two restaurants and 18th floor Sky Bar, with panoramic views across the Thames to Canary Wharf and beyond, making it the ideal location to host an evening reception or meeting for networking drinks.

Tracy Halliwell, director of Business Tourism and Major Events at London & Partners, the city’s official convention bureau, said: “With the rising number of business and leisure visitors to London and strong occupancy levels across the city, hotel companies are investing in new properties, catering for the demand for both low-cost and high-end hotels. With properties right next to many tourist attractions, these investments will help to attract more visitors to London as well as provide new facilities for both local and international businesses to host meetings and conferences across the city.”

Another new property is The Curtain Hotel and Members Club Shoreditch, which will be the exclusive Gansevoort Hotel Group’s first London property. It will feature 120 warm and spacious guest rooms including six suites, each with natural light, hardwood floors and steam showers. The venue will also offer a screening room, music venue and a ballroom.

2016 will also see a number of new restaurants opening across the city, with some great function spaces, such as the Barbecoa St James, a new 9,000ft restaurant, set within an iconic new space at the historic Prince’s House. The restaurant uses only the finest cuts of meat, all hand selected by in-house butchers who search the length and breadth of the UK to find the very best produce for its distinctive dishes. For something more intimate and different, Damien Hirst’s Newport Street Gallery will be opening its new restaurant Pharmacy 2. This new venture will offer a fine dining experience in the evening, with Hirst’s ‘Pill’ pictures decorating the walls.

London for cultures
With eight out of 10 visitors to London citing culture as their main reason for visiting, London is well and truly a global cultural powerhouse. And with 2016 featuring blockbuster exhibitions, anniversaries and commemorations, alongside world-class theatre, the city is expected to remain as captivating and attractive as ever for business visitors and event planners alike.

Fire! Fire! the Museum of London’s exhibition celebrating the 350th anniversary of the Great Fire of London, will be looking at the impact the blaze had on the city. Buckingham Palace will be celebrating the Queen’s 90th birthday with a retrospective entitled ‘Fashioning A Reign: 90 Years of Style from the Queen’s Wardrobe’.

Another blockbuster exhibition to come in 2016 is ‘EXHIBITIONISM’ at the Saatchi Gallery, which will be the first international exhibition on The Rolling Stones. Finally, the new Tate Modern will be opening in June 2016 and will offer more space for new kinds of art as well as being a memorable new addition to London’s skyline.

London for tech
Playing host to 40 per cent of European headquarters and over 40,000 tech businesses, London is now the tech capital of Europe. The latest Cities of Opportunity Index from professional services firm, PwC, named London number one and said the city is ‘technologically on the top of its game’. The report also listed London as the world leader in economic influence, technology access, reputation as an urban gateway, and its development and design capabilities. The UK capital claimed the number one position ahead of New York, Singapore, Toronto, and San Francisco.

Event planners can harness the city’s vibrant tech scene for their own benefit. Russ Shaw, of Tech London Advocates, said: “London’s technology credentials are unrivalled right now in Europe. Tech City now spans the entire capital and with that comes ready access to some of the world’s most inspirational tech speakers, the opportunity to embed cutting-edge technology into your events, as well as a vital pool of potential sponsors on the doorstep.”

In 2014, London launched London Technology Week. Hailed a huge success by leading technology entrepreneurs, the event returned for 2015 with close to 43,000 attendees from all over the world taking part in the week’s 240 independently‑run events. The third edition of London Technology Week will be taking place from 20-26 June 2016, making it the perfect time to host your tech event in the capital.

London offers a wealth of tech venues, such as Central Working and Google Campus in trendy East London, and is home to some of the best creative agencies on the planet. With venues such as the London Stock Exchange, Guildhall, Mansion House, the Barbican Centre or St Mary’s Axe (The Gherkin), the City of London – the historical heart of the capital – and Canary Wharf, London’s second financial district, also offer a wide range of venues fit to welcome tech and financial meetings and events.

With the likes of AdWeek Europe and TechCrunch Disrupt hosting their events in London, organisations like Tech City and EdTechUK, and a huge pool of international talent to choose from there is no doubt London’s tech sector is, and will continue to thrive.

London and life sciences
Life Sciences is a key growth sector for London, and one in which the city has natural strengths. The Mayor of London launched MedCity in 2014, in partnership with the capital’s three Academic Health Science Centres – Imperial College Academic Health Science Centre, King’s Health Partners, and UCL Partners - with the aim of promoting and growing the world-leading life sciences cluster of England’s greater south east (London, Oxford, Cambridge).

With four of the world’s top 10 universities (QS World University Rankings), London is a centre of excellence for biomedical research. This expertise is of huge benefit to meeting planners as it provides them with influential, expert speakers on the doorstep, potential event sponsors close-by, financial investors and clients who could register as delegates to attend the event.

In 2015, London’s ExCeL welcomed Europe’s biggest medical association meeting, the European Society of Cardiology Congress, which hosted a record-breaking number of attendees (32,773). The Alzheimer’s Association is also holding its annual conference in London in 2017.

Darren Mendola, senior director of Conference Services at the Alzheimer’s Association, said: “London has everything an international conference attendee needs: stunning historic attractions, excellent transport connectivity and high‑tech, high-capacity events spaces.”

London offers an abundance of academic venues to hold meetings and events, including ExCeL London, the award winning convention and events venue in East London. Offering an incredible 100,000m2 of flexible event space, including London’s International Convention Centre, ExCeL will also open a new training and meeting facility in 2016. Made up of 29 training rooms and featuring panoramic waterside views across London, CentrEd at ExCeL will have a private entrance and dedicated reception area, as well as dockside balcony access.

James Rees, ExCeL London executive director, said: “We will be able to provide delegates with a one-of-a kind space within London. One that’s easily accessible and conducive to learning, with access to green spaces and fresh air, alongside the tranquil, waterside setting of Royal Victoria Dock. We are very excited about the launch of CentrEd at ExCeL which we believe will provide all the right ingredients to deliver a complete meeting experience.”

London also offers smaller venues to suit more intimate gatherings. Around King’s Cross, The Wellcome Collection offers eight different space which are suitable for any events from 12 to 200 delegates.
The Royal College of General Practitioners also has a variety of venues, catering for up to 300 people.

Over near Regent’s Park, The Royal College of Physicians is an award-winning, modern building, with a private garden, featuring no less than 18 meetings spaces. Located across three sites in London, Queen Mary University also offers a variety of event spaces for as little as 10 guests, and up to 800.

Innovative events
London is a world-renowned creative hub and the city is leading the way in bringing creativity to the forefront of meetings and events, so it is no wonder so many ground-breaking events are choosing London as a host city.

In January, London & Partners, in partnership with Artichoke, will be launching London’s first light festival, Lumiere. Supported by the Mayor of London, the event will see international artists take over the city and illuminate architectural landmarks with 3D art projections, interactive installations and other extraordinary light works.

In September 2016, London’s ExCeL will play host to the inaugural edition of New Scientist Live. The four-day conference will illustrate how science and technology improve lives, shapes society and drives economic growth. Featuring world-renowned experts and famous faces from the world of science, engineering and technology, New Scientist Live will offer interactive demonstrations of cutting-edge technology and provide unparalleled insights into the objectives and aspirations shaping our futures.

2016 will also see Advertising Week Europe coming back to London for the fourth year. The world-famous event is a hybrid of inspiring thought leadership featuring the industry’s best and brightest and engaging special events. With such a broad spectrum of high-profile events, it comes as no surprise that Cvent, the cloud-based event management platform, recently named London as the top meetings destination in Europe.

Commenting on the announcement, London & Partners’ Tracy Halliwell, added: “2015 has been a great year for the city with amazing events including the European Society of Cardiology’s congress and another hugely successful London Technology Week.

“The meetings and events industry is constantly evolving and we are thrilled to see that our strategy to keep London at the forefront of innovation is delivering significant returns for the city.”

Further Information
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