ICC delivers £1.4bn to Birmingham’s economy
BIRMINGHAM’S iconic International Convention Centre has pulled in more than £1.4bn for the city economy during its 21-year history, show figures released to coincide with the anniversary today.
During the last 21 years the venue has hosted more than 6,000 events from high profile party conferences to small trade conventions, which equates to over 330,000 delegates heading into Birmingham every year.
ICC managing director Nick Waight, who has been at the venue for the whole of its history having joined as an account manager in 1991, said: “The building has an incredible history and has been a catalyst for many local businesses, which have been able to grow as a result of the economic benefit our industry brings to the city.
“Our portfolio of clients has flourished year on year to include some of the biggest corporate businesses of today, such as Mercedes, Lexus, KPMG and Walmart. We have also had the privilege of hosting all of the major party conferences, as well as the G8 Summit in 1998. The Conservative Party Conference in 2010 alone produced a staggering £47m direct economic impact for the city.”
He said the focus going forward was to capitalise on the expertise within the business to secure more high profile events for the city.
Sir Bernard Zissman, ex-Lord Mayor of Birmingham, led the team which developed the International Convention Centre and Symphony Hall.
He said: “The feasibility study which was carried out to support the development and building of the venue saw considerable economic benefit, but it was nowhere near what has actually been achieved.
“One of the main purposes of the ICC was to provide a new industry for Birmingham which employed people, and not machinery, as at the time Birmingham’s manufacturing industry was in clear decline and there was a growing number of youth unemployment.
“The ICC was one of the first new buildings to be built in Birmingham, and I truly believe it was the seed for the regeneration and development of Birmingham we have seen take place over the years. The ICC saw the birth of Brindleyplace and the hundreds of hotels and restaurants in the city, supporting over 50,000 jobs today.”
Since its opening the ICC has won a number of awards including being crowned the Best UK Conference Centre six times.
Ian Taylor, commercial director at Marketing Birmingham, said: “Birmingham is leading the way in the business tourism sector, and the ICC’s role in the city’s continuing success as a top conference and events destination cannot be underestimated.
“The venue’s high-profile events have played their part in boosting Birmingham’s visitor economy, which has seen a record number of visitors and overall spend in the last five years, to 32.8 million and £4.bn respectively.”
The £1.4bn figure is defined as the cumulative effect of the economic impact of the ICC over the last 21 years based on the annual estimate calculated by KPMG as part of its study into the Economic Impact of the ICC and other NEC Group venues, conducted in May 2008.
