All three of our venues are loaded with history and have a wealth of stories to tell.
The Brewery is the oldest venue, dating back to the mid 18th century, and was, until the mid 1970s, a real, working brewery.
Olympia comes next, having opened its doors to the public on Boxing Day 1886 when people flocked to see the Hippodrome Circus – some 400 performers, 300 horses and six ‘funny’ elephants.
Last, but by no means least, Earls Court one opened for business in 1937 with the Chocolate and Confectionery Exhibition, and was joined in 1991 by Earls Court Two which still boasts Europe’s biggest unsupported roof span.
Earls Court One and Two together with Olympia have a total 97,000 square metres of event space and, such is the venues’ flexibility, we can accommodate shows requiring 600 or 60,000 square metres of space. The Brewery offers nine unique rooms for meetings, conferences, presentations, awards ceremonies, banquets and private functions and can cater for nine to 900 people. Add to these facilities the two purpose-built conference centres at Earls Court and Olympia, and the Museum Hall party space at Earls Court and EC&O Venues can boast a venue and a space for every event.
Over the years, the venues have welcomed visitors to shows such as the London Boat Show, the British Motor Show, the Ideal Home Show, the London Book Fair, the Great British Beer Festival and the Good Food Show. The halls have resounded to performances by world-famous artists such as Madonna, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, George Michael, Elton John, Kylie, Rod Stewart, Queen and the Rolling Stones. We’ve hosted the BRIT Awards, the International Horse Show and sporting events such as boxing and wrestling contests, and some of the country’s largest companies have held conferences, training sessions and massive staff parties in our venues. As the ultimate accolade, Earls Court has been selected to be a London 2012 Olympic venue – chosen, according to Lord Coe, Chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, for its west London location and excellent transport links.
All of this puts EC&O Venues at the heart of the communities in which they operate, as the 3 million visitors, 30,000 exhibiting companies and 1000 events that we cater for every year have a sizeable economic impact – in terms of jobs and expenditure. A study carried out on behalf of Earls Court and Olympia showed that the two venues together supported £258m of expenditure in their boroughs and over £1.25bn in the London region, and accounted for (directly and indirectly) over 1,000 jobs in the boroughs and around 12,500 in London. The study also showed that one in two Londoners visits the venues every year.
EC&O Venues is a privately owned company and its owners have clearly defined plans to ensure that Earls Court and Olympia remain London’s venues of choice and that the business continues to grow.
London has staked its claim to being a world city and, as such, needs world class attractions delivering world class experiences. That’s what EC&O Venues does and what we’ll continue doing – but with constant improvements, more variety and on an increasingly bigger scale.