Conferences in Liverpool in 2013-14 are worth £100m to the region and the UK capital of pop and heartland of sport continues to draw major events, Paul Colston reports.

The people of Liverpool are fiercely proud of their city and it takes more than a few years of government budget battering to dent the local passion, a passion that has been re-channelled into the meetings arena in recent times.

The Liverpool Convention Bureau (LCB) has emerged with a new image and is first Mersey port of meetings call for organisers seeking venue advice.

LCB Manager Kate Currie tells CMW about current trends: “Association business is stable with the usual lead times although many now prefer to use one venue, or several nearby venues, rather than transport delegates between conference and gala dinner sites. Some smaller, local businesses prioritise in-house meetings rather than go off site.”

The Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) Liverpool has a list of major conference bookings and will add an exhibition centre and on-site hotel to its armoury in 2015.

ACC Liverpool claims to have attracted 3m visitors to 1,100 events and generated £620m in economic benefit for the local economy since its debut on 12 January 2008. Event highlights include the MTV Europe Music Awards, the MOBO Awards 2012 and BBC Sports Personality of the Year. 

ACC Liverpool has also hosted the Labour Party annual conference, BBC Worldwide Showcase and the Royal College of Nursing Congress.

Mayor Joe Anderson says the venue has transformed the city: “Not only does it bring top international conferences, it also supports thousands of jobs and provides a boost to the local economy.”

Kerrin MacPhie, ACC Liverpool Director of Sales, says multi-year deals have become increasingly popular among associations thanks to the added value these bespoke packages can offer. She says the venue is also doing its best to meet corporate budget restraints.

Macphie launched the new Advantage package at IMEX Frankfurt in May, designed to support organisers selecting Liverpool as their destination. The idea, says Macphie, is to lever the venue’s central position “to unlock the key elements to a successful conference: funding, people, transport and accommodation”.

Advantage packages for organisers include civic receptions, delegate transfers and preferential rental deals and pre-event marketing support.

The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostatsis (ISTH) conference in June 2012 benefitted from plugging in to the citywide approach.

Thomas Reiser, Executive Director of ISTH, says: “It was vital that the destination and ACC Liverpool ticked the right boxes to attract the event, bringing together key medical expertise and the city’s conference offer. It took our member, Professor Cheng-Hock Toh, nine years to get our event to Liverpool, but we’re glad he persevered as it was a huge success.”

Ancient and modern

As well as the modern, there is ancient and architectural venue heritage to spare in the region. The wider city region has more museums and galleries than any UK city region outside London.

For nearly a century the Three Graces: The Royal Liver Building, The Cunard Building and the Port of Liverpool Building have defined one of the world’s most recognised skylines.

Other spectacular backdrops to be considered for events include Speke Hall and its Great Hall; Sefton Park Palm House, an octagonal Listed Victorian glasshouse and St George’s Hall, one of the finest neo-classical buildings in the world. The Walker Art Gallery is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Twenty minutes from the city lies Knowsley Hall stately home and ancestral home to the Earl of Derby since 1385. A tranquil setting for prestigious events, it offers teambuilding activities, such as falconry, using some of the 2,500 acres of private land.

Back in the heart of the city centre is Bluecoat, another Grade I Listed building that hosts arts-related events. 

The focus of fast development is the city’s Waterfront where the £72m Museum of Liverpool is the largest newly-built national museum in Britain for a century. It hit the 1m visitor milestone nine months after opening.  

Music and sport

It is estimated that more than 2m people a year who plan to visit Liverpool are influenced to do so by The Beatles. More Liverpool artists have had a Number One pop music hit than any other city in the world.

If it’s classical music that floats your delegate’s boat then check out the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall. Casbah Coffee Club, the Green Room and Zanzibar are also popular music venues that can be linked into your conference.

Liverpool is home to the John Smith’s Grand National steeplechase. Aintree’s Conference and Events Manager, Debbie Slee, says the last 12 months have seen “strong conference and events growth”.The venue’s hospitality spaces recorded 22 per cent growth in meetings in 2012. Clients include Mercedes-Benz which used Aintree to showcase its new small city van, the Citan.

Liverpool has two cathedrals and two football teams. Liverpool FC’s Anfield Stadium is open for events, while Everton FC traces its history even further back and offers hospitality spaces and services for events through its partner Sodexo Prestige.

Royal Birkdale Golf Club up on the ‘Golf Coast’ and Royal Liverpool Golf Club in leafy Hoylake, offer events and meetings space in famous environments.

Trinity Conferences MD Jacqui Kavanagh says the choice of venues and hotels in Liverpool is “vastly improved”. She adds: “The development of the waterfront has resulted in a variety of hotel options to suit all sizes of meetings and budgets. Trinity clients find the city a good choice for medium-sized meetings and, of course, ACC Liverpool can handle large events.”

Nigel Cooper, PMM Events Communications Executive Director grew up in the city and says: “The rebuilding started with Albert Dock in the mid ’80s. Liverpool has retained much of its history and culture and built modern facilities to complement, but it’s greatest success has been the rebirth of the desire and hunger to do business.”

Delegates may find the leaving of Liverpool the toughest challenge on their agenda. 

This was first published in Issue 72 of CMW. Any comments? Email cmw@mashmedia.net