think it is fair to say that
I Olympia London can legitimately claim to be one of the exhibition worlds ’ most iconic venues . It has the pedigree with more than 135 years of rich history and has been the home for some of our most loved and respected events including Ideal Home Show , Spirit of Christmas Fair , London Book Fair and London Film and Comic Con . I have arranged to discuss the next chapter of Olympia London ’ s story with Nigel Nathan , group MD at what could be argued is the most significant and exciting time in its history . That sense of excitement and passion is palpable when talking to him and I start by asking him about the recent news that he has now confirmed four anchor tenants . “ Olympia London has been a much-loved venue for over 100 years and we ’ re very proud of that heritage , its beautiful architecture and the incredible history . We are also blessed by having some great staff who are passionate , and care deeply about running the venue and hosting events . “ It ’ s quite a tough task to establish how you build on that , but we really wanted to so about five years ago we
Olympia : 135 years in the making
Olympia London ’ s Nigel Nathan tells Simon Parker about the iconic venue ’ s transformation
did a major piece of work to really take a dive deep into the needs of our markets , organisers , exhibitors and visitors . We wanted to find out what their unique needs were and to then try and put together a vision of how that would look and feel . We tried to create a vision that will hopefully serve us for the next 100 years . “ That was five years ago and four years ago we were acquired by Yoo Capital and Deutsche Finance ( the
“ We have created a destination . You can now see some live music after the event , go to the theatre or meet and talk and carry on your discussions in the bars and restaurants and hotels that we are going to provide .” current owners of Olympia London ). They have added to our vision , making it bigger than we could have hoped for , and truly brought it to life .” The scope and scale of the project is truly jaw dropping , I ask Nathan to elaborate a little on the cost and timeline : “ We are talking about a £ 1.3bn investment which is incredible and very exciting . It is planned to be completed in 2024 and the four anchor tenants are the two hotels ( citizenM and Hyatt Regency ) a state-of-the-art music venue run by AEG Presents and the 1,575-seat theatre we announced recently with Trafalgar Entertainment . “ The theatre is the largest of its kind to open in London since the National Theatre in 1976 . I really believe that in combination this development will transform the area , totally and absolutely . Thomas Heatherwick ( who designed the new development ) is an incredible designer and I think that the way he ’ s created the concept and how it is all interlinked is phenomenal . “ The research informed the design and created an opportunity to open the whole area up and space for people to enjoy . At present Olympia London can feel a bit like a fortress , what Thomas has done has opened it up and given the whole destination appeal , creating more vibrancy and encouraging engagement . “ I think what he has done is additive it builds on what we already had but rather than saying goodbye to everyone at 5pm every evening , collectively as a team , we have created a destination , so they don ’ t need to go somewhere else . You can now see some live music after the event , go to the theatre or meet and talk and carry on your discussions in the bars and restaurants and hotels that we are going to provide . “ It will add massive appeal to Olympia London as a venue and a region and create more meaningful and connected experiences and hopefully bring enormous benefit to
Nigel Nathan , Group MD , Olympia
40 — June