ExCeL London has confirmed that more than 65% of available space for its new 25,000sqm (270,000sqft) expansion has already been booked for next year, even before it has finished construction.
Interest in the London venue’s new state-of-the-art facilities has been ‘beyond expectation’ according to its Executive Director James Rees, with the venue now urging organisers to ‘act fast’ to avoid disappointment.
Opening late October 2024, the £220 million development – fully supported by ADNEC Group and built by McLaren Construction – will expand the venue’s existing world-class facilities by a further 25% – totalling 125,000sqm (1.3m sqft).
Once complete, the venue will become the largest fully integrated conference and exhibition centre in Europe and boast two ICC Convention Centres, together with ultra-modern exhibition halls, conference spaces and breakout rooms.
Confirmed events for 2025 include the European Society for Organ Transplantation (June), KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2025 (April), and numerous corporate, tech and association events to be announced later this year.
“Our new expansion stems from ever growing demand from event organisers across the UK, Europe, and North America,” comments James Rees. “London and its events industry continues to flourish resulting in delegate numbers and future interest across conferences, associations and corporates, being beyond our expectations.”
“Together with our expansion, in total we’re investing more than £300 million – more than ever before – in our venue, infrastructure and facilities, paving the way for ExCeL to become the future of conferencing in Europe.”
In line with ExCeL’s Sustainability Strategy and carbon neutrality, its expansion programme is being built to leading environmental standards with the goal of achieving an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating upon completion and has already saved more than 11,000kg of CO2e by using Cemfree, an ultra-low carbon masonry mortar.
As part of the project, a substantial investment is also being made in the public realm including new greenery along its waterfront, improved landscaping for pedestrians and cyclists, and a new pocket park.
Hosting around 400 events every year and welcoming four million visitors, one million of those from overseas, ExCeL experienced its busiest ever year in 2023 with that trend already continuing into 2024.
ExCeL’s expansion opens in October 2024. For more information, visit www.excel.london/expansion.
