NEC takes centre stage with best venue accolade

THE NEC has been named ‘Best Venue’ in the Exhibition News (EN) Elite List 2016, an industry award that is voted for by peers and clients to recognise the efforts of those on and behind the show floor.

In its third year, the EN elite list showcases who deserves credit, recognition and triumph as one of the industry’s elite over the last 12 months.

This win follows the NEC being named ‘Venue of the Year’ at the AEO Excellence Awards in June.

Kathryn James, managing director of the NEC Group Conventions and Exhibitions, said: “We are delighted that the NEC has been recognised as “Best Venue” on the 2016 EN Elite list. We have long been known to our customers as the UK’s number one venue, so to have this status recognised twice in six months by our industry peers is fantastic and we would like to thank all that voted for us.

“The award wins truly are the icing on the cake, and we wouldn’t be where we are without the hard work of our venue team behind the scenes – which I truly believe is the best in the industry. With exciting developments for the NEC on the horizon, we are confident we will continue to be recognised as Best Venue in the future.”

NEC marketing director Martin Clarke added: “It has been a fantastic year for everyone associated with the NEC; we have been celebrating the venue’s 40th birthday, we became a 24-hour destination with the opening of Resorts World on our site, our customers have been experiencing fantastic growth and we smashed our financial targets for 15/16. We are now looking forward to the future and building on our success of the last year.”

This is the second time the NEC has grabbed the number one spot in the EN Elite list as the venue was first named ‘Best Venue’ in 2014, followed by the silver award in 2015.

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