| 800 years of history |
Liverpool and Merseyside has plenty to smile about, celebrating its 800th birthday in 2007 and preparing to take to the stage as European Capital of Culture in 2008
 St Georges Hall The ACC The Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool is the biggest development on the Merseyside conference scene at the moment. The Convention Centre features a 1,350 purpose-built auditorium, 18 breakout rooms with capacities ranging from 30 to 500 and up to 7,000 sq m of serviced exhibition space. The Arena will host a range of events, including larger conferences, with delegate numbers ranging from 2,000 up to concerts for 10,000. To emphasise the venue’s versatility, it can host gala dinners, exhibitions and conferencing with breakout sessions running concurrently, all without the need to ever leave the venue. Set to be one of the most eco-friendly venues in the UK, Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool is a £146 million project on the famous King’s Waterfront in Liverpool. Currently under construction, the new venue is scheduled to open in January 2008 at the dawn of Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture. The impressive architectural design provides a Conference Centre and Arena linked together in two separate but complementary buildings. Hotel developments As part of the complex, there will also be a 310-bedroom Jury’s Inn Hotel, and a different 132-bedroom “apart-hotel”, residential property, offices, a 1,600 spaces multi-storey car park, leisure facilities, public spaces, offices and apartments. Hotel developments in Liverpool includes the recent opening of a 100-bedroom Express by Holiday Hotel by Liverpool John Lennon Airport, a 130-bedroom Malmaison opened in January this year, and autumn 2007 will see the launch of the Beatles-themed Hard Days Night Hotel in the city centre. There will also be a Hilton Hotel as part of the £920 million Liverpool One retail development in the middle of Liverpool, to be opened in 2008. Southport Just north of Liverpool, Southport is fast establishing itself as England’s Classic Resort. It already enjoys a well-deserved reputation as a highly successful conference destination. The complete redevelopment and refurbishment of the resort's principle conference venue, the Southport Theatre and Floral Hall, will benefit from a £40 million investment over the next two years. Opening in 2008, the exciting plans for the complex include a four star, branded 130 plus bedroom hotel and an additional 1,000 square metres of conference floor space, a 15,000 sq ft Casino and eight restaurants. This attractively landscaped development along with other developments scheduled for 2008, including the opening of Southport’s first boutique hotel, “The Vincent,” will provide Southport with a much improved conference product making it Merseyside’s refreshing alternative to a city centre location. Meet at the races At Aintree Racecourse a thrilling £30million redevelopment of the racecourse site is well under way. The project will see a radical redesign of the racecourse facilities, including two new grand stands and a separate exhibition pavilion. When finished in time for the 2007 Grand National meeting, the new Aintree will offer excellent facilities not only to race goers, but to cater for conferences, meetings and events as well. A new purpose built equestrian centre, providing 3,900 square metres of exhibition space will complete the redevelopment in 2008 and offer conference organisers the versatility for a multitude of events, which can accommodate seated events for up to 13,000 people. A wide variety of unique venues, such as the splendid Victorian Sefton Park Palm House the Mersey Ferries, and Liverpool’s Radio City Tower are already part of the Merseyside conference offer. So are major hotel brands like Radisson SAS, Crowne Plaza, Marriott, Thistle and Holiday Inn. Re-opening of st george’s hall An old favourite, St George’s Hall in the heart of Liverpool’s Cultural Quarter, is re-opening in the spring of 2007. One of the finest neo-classical buildings in the world, this venue has undergone a complete refurbishment and is again ready to welcome conferences, exhibitions, gala dinners or any other event. The University of Liverpool’s award-winning Foresight Centre has been created in the old Liverpool Royal Infirmary. Among the facilities is the former hospital’s chapel skillfully converted to provide high-specification meeting facilities required for a successful event at the beginning of the 21st century. The Neurosupport Centre offers well equipped meeting facilities that can cater for up to 80 people in Liverpool city centre. The centre is run by a charity, Neurosupport, and first priority is to support individuals and groups of people who have neurological problems and disabilities, to provide a base and meeting point for neurological charities, and to make available information about neurological disorders and services to help people to live with these conditions. Elsewhere across Merseyside Wirral, Knowsley, St.Helens and Halton offer a wide variety of attractive conference and event locations and facilities:
Other famous sporting venues in the region is Haydock Park Racecourse, Anfield and Goodison Park, home to Liverpool FC and Everton FC and St.Helens Rugby League Club, which all have excellent conference facilities as well as providing great opportunities for corporate hospitality during events. Liverpool and Merseyside provides an attractive professional offer as well as a varied leisure and retail experience for your delegates when not in conference. Highlights of next year’s Capital of Culture events include the UK’s first comprehensive exhibition of the work of Gustav Klimt at Tate Liverpool, Sir Simon Rattle conducting the Berlin Philharmonic, the Turner Prize being hosted in the city and Pete Postlethwaite appearing in King Lear at the Everyman Theatre. For more information |
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