Venue Focus
W
ith a population
of 5.9m, national
landmarks like Warwick
Castle, Shakespeare’s
birthplace, Peterborough
Cathedral and Sherwood
Forest, as well as being
the birthplace of Sir Isaac
Newton and the fictional
heart-throb Mr Darcy, the
Midlands has much to offer.
Made up of the two regions
of the East Midlands and
West Midlands, the Midlands
spans the counties of
Derbyshire, Herefordshire,
Leicestershire, Lincolnshire,
Northamptonshire,
Nottinghamshire, Rutland,
Shropshire, Warwickshire,
Worcestershire, and the
West Midlands metropolitan
boroughs.
A key player in the
Industrial Revolution, the
Midlands is returning to its
heyday.
With HS2 promising to link
Birmingham and London
and cut travel times between
the two cities to under an
hour, the Midlands well
poised for significant growth
in the UK. With the region
being home to a number of
businesses, including Jaguar
Land Rover, Cadbury’s
Bournville and Marmite, the
Midlands is experiencing
the fastest economic growth
outside of London (Gross
Domestic Product grew by
3.2 per cent between quarter
four of 2017 and 2018 – more
than doubling the average
UK growth of 1.5 per cent).
Its increasing relevance to
the UK economy is certainly
not going away.
The Midlands is also at the
heart of event industry with
many of the UK’s leading
venues taking advantage of
Midlands
EN explores the venues the Midlands
has to offer
the region’s central location,
great travel links and
growing economy. This piece
explores a variety of the
exhibition opportunities that
the region has to offer.
The East of England Arena and
Events Centre
The East of England Arena
and Events Centre (EEAEC)
is made up of 9,000sqm of
covered event space and
900,000sqm of outdoor
space, alongside supporting
infrastructure that allows
the venue to host everything
from festivals to comedy
tours, automotive events to
equestrian shows and the
largest exhibition in the UK
– Plantworx – which fills the
entire venue.
The venue is located at
the gateway to the East of
England region andis at
the heart of many regional
industries including
engineering, automotive,
East of England Arena
healthcare and biosciences.
The EEAEC can be accessed
by major road networks,
in addition to having a rail
time from central London
of just 39 minutes. The
greater Peterborough area
has access to more than
116,000 businesses and
a catchment of over 1m.
people. The region remains
the third largest economic
region in the country, and
Peterborough itself is the
fifth fastest growing city in
the UK. Economically the
region is built upon a variety
of industries with strengths
in services sectors, financial
services, manufacturing
(e.g. automotive,
pharmaceuticals) and ICT.
The size of the venue,
and the large open space
allow for the provision of
internal marshalling areas,
while four side access to
the Arena on level ground
combine to make build up
and breakdown of events
straightforward. This,
combined with permanent
physical infrastructure
such as washrooms and
showers, site wide electric
power and water points,
makes the venue ideal for a
range of events, including
those that may want to offer
camping on site or displays
set around the 250 acres
of grass, all accessed by
5km of internal roadways.
The secure perimeter with
controlled access points
allow organisers to manage
entry and egress easily.
The site also allows
for rolling build up and
breakdown of events, in
addition to concurrent
events using different parts
of the venue due to its
flexibility. The EEAEC is
supported by a professional
team of event managers,
grounds personnel and key
suppliers that make the East
of England Arena as close
to a ‘plug and play’ venue as
possible.
Whilst some events are
ideally suited to an enclosed
space in a city centre, there
is an increasing variety
of events that require
versatility, and the East of
England Arena and Events
Centre can offer them a
space to take place in.
Business development
manager, Dean Rees, said:
“Events and exhibitions
continue to evolve beyond
the halls, many need the
ability to accommodate
exhibits that are too large
to be placed inside an
exhibition hall, some need
space to have live action
and some shows will have
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