ExCeL

ExCeL stands for Exhibition Centre for London. An exhibition centre is a place where companies, organisations and individuals come together to hold an exhibition.

For example, companies that produce wine could organise an exhibition. They would invite the people who sell wine to the public, the owners of pubs, bars, restaurants, supermarkets and shops, and anyone else connected to the wine industry, to the event. At the exhibition the Wine companies would have their own stand or stall, and people invited could then walk around the exhibition, try out new wines, meet people from the wine companies and talk to the others invited.

There can be exhibitions on almost anything, from hairdressing to getting jobs in the construction industry to displaying the latest computer games. Recent exhibitions have included the prestigious London Boat Show.

ExCeL provides the space and support to hold these exhibitions. They also hold conferences, meetings, banquets and other special events.

History of ExCeL

In 1988 the Association of Exhibition Organisers started to look for a location for a new exhibition centre within the M25. After looking at various sites, including Rainham Marshes in Essex, the Royal Docks area in Newham was chosen.

The Royal Docks and the immediate land around them had become very run down since they closed in 1981. There were lots of empty, dilapidated buildings. For an area that had once employed thousands it was in a sorry state. Despite this many people in both government and business could see the potential the area had.

The work of the London Docklands Development Corporation had reinforced the already good transport links of Newham. By the docks there are three Docklands Light Railway stations, Canning Town Jubilee Line station close by, London City Airport three minutes away, and the M25 and M11 just twenty minutes away.

With around 100 acres of land, the site could also support a large scale building project, allowing future expansion. The docks also give the area an attractive, unique look.

These factors combined meant that the Royal Docks had become a particularly attractive site for regeneration. There was some competition to be the one to develop the area. In 1997 planning approval was won by the ExCeL team and in 1999 work started on the site. On the 21st of November 2000 ExCeL opened. Since then a whole host of bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants have opened at and around ExCeL. Seven on site hotels have also opened, providing more than a 1000 hotel rooms for visitors.

Regeneration and ExCeL

ExCeL came to Newham because of the work done by earlier regeneration programmes such as the London Docklands Development Corporation- the good transport links, the attraction of the docks, and so on were already in place. ExCeL is itself one of Europe's largest regeneration projects. It has had, and will continue to have, a large impact on Newham and East London.

It is believed that ExCeL will have an estimated 2.8 million visitors a year, spending £272 million in and around ExCeL. It will create over 14,000 new jobs.

For ExCeL to really be a successful regeneration project it needs to have a positive impact on local people's lives. One way in which it can do this is to make sure that as many as possible of the jobs it creates go to local people. To achieve this ExCeL and the London Borough of Newham have worked together to create the Learning and Development Centre (LDC). Based on the ExCeL site, the LDC specialises in providing training for jobs in the exhibition industry. Sharing the same office as the LDC is Docklands Recruitment, a dedicated team from the local job centre committed to helping fill vacancies in the Docklands area with local people. Together, these organisations hope to make sure that local people feel the benefit of the regeneration of their borough.

For more information visit the ExCeL website.

Royal Docks and Beckton

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ExCeL

History of ExCeL

Regeneration and ExCeL