2007 has been a record-breaking year for the special events and conferences sector of EC&O Venues with a 70% increase in standalone conferences, with EC&O Venues hosting 55 in 2007 compared to 32 in 2006.
The special events sector has seen an increase of 33% with four brand new events for Toni & Guy (industry award ceremony), Woolworths (charity ball and auction), BDO Stoy Hayward (summer party) and Philips (product launch. Other highlights have included the return of Abbey (AGM), M&S (AGM - ‘Plan A’) and L’Oreal (Colour Trophy awards), and the fiery Cannonball 8000 Rally on the West Brompton forecourt. Abbey will be hosting their AGM at EC&O Venues again next year, plus a new addition to the special events calendar will be Lloyds TSB Share Fair 2008, which will take place in Earls Court Two.
The venue has also been the destination for many budding Hollywood hopefuls as auditions for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince took place at Earls Court in July. Then in October, Earls Court was used as a location for the filming of the new Batman film Dark Knight which is set to be the summer blockbuster of 2008.
2007 also saw various live music acts take place at Earls Court, kicking off with the BRIT awards in February, hosted by Russell Brand, the Vodafone Live Music awards compared by Chris Moyles and the Kaiser Chiefs rocking out to 18,000 fans in December. Earls Court was also the chosen venue for the latest Stereophonics video Let me introduce you to my Friends. Toby Cook, Location Manager for the Stereophonics said, “The atmosphere down here has been really great, working at Earls Court is excellent and Paul Field at EC&O Venues has been so helpful in making it all happen and run smoothly. I have used Earls Court before for videoshoots and it’s a perfect location, particularly as it has a labyrinth of spaces and is therefore hard for uninvited onlookers to find – they may hear ‘Earls Court’ but because it’s so huge they wouldn’t know exactly where – and this is exactly what location managers want, a place where the artist or band won’t be found and can be left to get on with the shoot.”
Anna Golden, Special Events Director, EC&O Venues commented: “2007 has been a fantastic year for us special event-wise. We are delighted that so many clients are coming back to EC&O Venues to host their events because they know our teams well and always get outstanding customer service. It’s been a really busy year and we are looking forward to an even busier 2008 when the BRIT awards once again return to our venue on 20th February. This year they are being hosted by Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne so we’re expecting an extra lively, extra special event. Then over at Olympia we welcome the Chemical Brothers in August, this is really special as it’s the first live gig at the venue since The Cure played in 1992. Over the year's we have had many top music acts play at Earls Court – it’s renowned for live music but its great that we are now bringing live music back to Olympia. We are finding that bands are looking for the more ‘intimate’ venues and we are able to cater for this by offering a 9,000 capacity venue alongside the larger capacity of 15,000-20,000 that Earls Court can offer.”
Ends
Notes to editors
For further information on EC&O Venues:
Lynne Marie Cox, Communications Manager
lynnemarie.cox@eco.co.uk / 020 7370 8838
www.eco.co.uk
Notes to Editors
EC&O Venues is the UK’s premier exhibition and conference venue manager. The business comprises Earls Court, Olympia and the Brewery, London’s leading venues for exhibitions, conferences and special events. The three venues hold over 1000 events each year, attracting over 3 million visitors and 30,000 exhibiting companies.