Exhibition News September 2020 | Page 17

Interview The show goes on EN talks to Jeremy Rees, CEO of ExCeL London, about the venue’s role in the fight against Covid-19 and how 2021’s calendar is shaping Jeremy Rees took over as CEO of ExCeL London towards the end of 2018, after joining the venue in 2010 as its sales director. Rees is an events man through and through, having been an organiser himself and provider of event technology. It is fair to say he has seen it all, or at least he thought he had. 2020 was going to be the year that put ExCeL on the international map (if it wasn’t there already), with the all-electric Formula E series set to race through and around the venue in the world’s first indoor-outdoor motor race. Then Covid-19 arrived, and the 100,000sqm venue found itself very much the centre of attention, but for a very different reason. ExCeL London was turned into an emergency hospital for Covid-19 patients, known as NHS Nightingale London. Now, ahead of the conditional event restart date of 1 October, the venue has been restored to its original, event-ready state. Reflecting on the experience, Rees notes it was a privilege to work with the NHS and its staff during the unprecedented crisis. “We are extremely proud to have played a role,” he says. “In late March, I was asked if we would offer our entire facility to support the Government and NHS as part of their response to the growing surge of Covid-19 patients. The plan was to transform our venue into the world’s largest field hospital with a capacity of up to 4,000 beds. We immediately agreed and, with the full support of our owner Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company (ADNEC), the work began the following day.” It was to be a big job, but nothing that a team of experienced eventprofs couldn’t handle. Rees notes that the venue’s engineers, security officers, cleaners, riggers, and traffic management team – more accustomed to hosting events – worked alongside the NHS and the military, as well as event industry contractors, to complete the transformation. September — 17