Destination London

No other city matches London for energy, diversity, creativity and constant reinvention. London, rich in enigmatic stories and dazzling living history, has long captured the imagination of the world.
    
This iconic city boasts an abundance of royal palaces, manicured parks and world‑class galleries, all sitting comfortably alongside cutting-edge industry clusters, sky-high hotels and modern event venues.
    
London is an eclectic mix with an offer for everyone. Be it budget or luxury the city can elevate a good event to a great one.

LONDON VENUES
London offers visitors the best of the old and new. Historic venues and contemporary landmarks sit side-by-side and many can be hired as meeting venues or for private parties. Zanine Adams, head of business development, UK at London & Partners, says: “London’s venue offer is thriving. We have so many superb new locations opening their doors and this just highlights the pace of change and the palpable feeling of enthusiasm we now have in the city. Fantastic new venues are launching almost every day or reinventing their offer to stay at the cutting-edge.”  

Newly-opened venues in London include the refurbished QEII Centre, which recently revealed a spectacular new look after completing the first two phases of its £12 million capital investment programme.
    
IWM London, the flagship venue for Imperial War Museum also reopened with a spectacular new Atrium designed by Norman Foster’s pioneering architecture firm. The venue features a breath-taking hanging gallery in the rooftop providing dramatic views of the floors beneath.
    
The iconic Tower Bridge recently unveiled its new glass floor walk-way which allows guests to enjoy London life beneath their feet from a unique viewpoint and creates a wonderful backdrop to any event.
    
The latest addition to London’s dramatic skyline will fuse panoramic city views with the ambiance of a mystical forest garden above the historic City of London. As one of the most talked about venue openings of the year, The Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street, opened its doors early December (and will be open to general public from 5 January 2015).

Comprising of two restaurants, three event spaces and a private dining room, it will be a unique new destination venue for the capital.

LONDON FOR CULTURE
In October, London was named Best Culture Destination in the inaugural Leading Culture Destinations annual awards.

“London is a unique and diverse destination that combines dazzling living history with magnificent exhibitions, world-class theatre, bustling nightlife and fantastic cuisine,” said Adams. “Delegates can enjoy access to private viewings in museums and art galleries, behind-the-scenes theatres and gallery tours, as well as discussions with well-known artists, actors and musicians.”
    
London has an incredible number of cultural venues to choose from. The Museum of London, Somerset House and the National Theatre all offer conference and events space and can be paired with gallery viewings or theatrical productions.

LONDON FOR TECH
London is now the biggest technology cluster in Europe with emerging start-ups setting up alongside global powerhouse brands such as Facebook, Twitter and Google.
  
 Event planners can harness the city’s vibrant tech scene for their own benefit. “London’s technology credentials are unrivalled right now in Europe,” says Russ Shaw of Tech London Advocates. “Tech City now spans the entire capital and with that comes ready access to some of the world’s most inspirational tech speakers, the opportunity to embed cutting-edge technology into your events, as well as a vital pool of potential sponsors on the doorstep”
    
The City of Opportunity Index, an influential international study compiled by professional services firm PwC, underlines London’s tech credentials. Analysing economic influence, technology access, reputation as an urban gateway, and development and design capabilities, London was selected ahead of New York, San Francisco, Singapore and Toronto.

Speaking about London’s success, David Snell, a partners at PwC in London, said: “What’s particularly interesting this year is the city’s growing digital reputation. There’s no doubt that this is linked to London’s impressive performance across indicators on education, technology access, skills, and ease of doing business.”
    
The City of London, the historical heart of the capital, and Canary Wharf, the city’s second financial district, offer a wide range of venues fit to welcome high-tech and financial meetings and events including the London Stock Exchange, Guildhall, Mansion House, the Barbican centre or The Gherkin. Etc Venues also opened a new 20,000 sq ft dedicated conference, exhibition and event space in the heart of The City, near Liverpool Street Station.

LONDON AND LIFE SCIENCES
ExCeL London recently announced four major association wins for the city in 2016 with The European Respiratory Society and Euroanaesthesia, choosing ExCeL for the first time, and EULAR (The European League Against Rheumatism) returning to the venue following a successful event in 2011. The Alzheimer’s Association will also host its annual conference in London for the first time in 2017.
    
This follows the launch of MedCity which was established by the Mayor of London in partnership with the capital’s three Academic Health Science Centres to promote innovation and investment in the life sciences cluster of London and the south east
    
Dr Eliot Forster, Executive Chair of MedCity, says: “This is a hugely exciting time for life sciences in London and the south east, with a number of ambitious new initiatives and infrastructure developments under way to promote collaboration across all the sectors that make up this cluster. It’s terrific for those of us who do business in the region that these events will bring in experts from around the world to London in such numbers to network and collaborate.”

Darren Mendola, senior director of conference services at the Alzheimer’s Association, adds: “London has everything an international conference attendee needs: stunning historic attractions, excellent transport connectivity and high-tech, high-capacity events spaces.”
    
London offers an abundance of academic venues to hold meetings and events, including the purpose‑built convention centre at ExCeL London. The Royal College of Physicians is an award-winning, modern building overlooking Regent’s Park, with a private garden in the heart of London, and offering no less than 18 meetings spaces. Located across three sites in London, Queen Mary University offers a variety of event space for as little as 10 guests, up to 800.

INNOVATIVE EVENTS
2014 saw the first London Technology Week during which tens of thousands of delegates attended events, coming from countries around the world including the USA, Canada, Mexico, China, Hong Kong and South Africa.
    
London Technology Week, comprised more than 200 independently run events with keynote speakers such as Chairman of Sequoia Capital, Sir Michael Moritz; Michael Birch, co‑founder of Bebo and Simon Breakwell, co‑founder of Expedia.

Speaking about the week’s success, Russ Shaw, Founder of Tech London Advocates, said: “London Technology Week surpassed expectations not only in terms of attendees but also the unprecedented platform it has given our capital’s burgeoning tech sector and pioneering tech companies. The events and enthusiasm displayed across the week have clearly demonstrated that far from becoming complacent about London’s position on the global tech stage, countless individuals and organisations are consolidating success, tackling the remaining obstacles and cementing our position as a world capital for technology.”
    
Other flagship events hosted in the city in 2014 included Advertising Week Europe, which took place over four days in March and saw over 20,000 attendees join the city‑wide event. In October TechCrunch Disrupt came to the city and featured speakers such as Ed Vaizey, the Culture, Media and Sport Minister, and Eileen Burbridge, partner at venture capital firm Passion Capital.
    
In 2015 London will host its first-ever London Mobile Games Week. Set up in association with London & Partners, London Mobile Games Week is a week-long series of industry events dedicated to the business of mobile games. The European Society of Cardiology will also come to London in 2015. The ESC Congress is the largest cardiology meeting in the world. Around 35,000 medical professionals are expected in the capital for the five-day event from 29 August – 2 September 2015 at ExCeL London.

THE LEADING CITY FOR EVENTS
With such a broad spectrum of high-profile events in the city, it comes as no surprise that London was recently named the leading European city for meetings and events by the American Express Meetings & Events 2015 Global Meetings Forecast, ahead of Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Berlin.
    
Commenting on the news London & Partners’ Zanine Adams said: “London is a world-class destination for meetings, events and incentive travel and we are delighted that the city’s events industry has been awarded this latest accolade.”
London’s connectivity and ease of access was underlined by American Express Meetings & Events and this combined with the city’s rich culture and heritage, it’s thriving tech, medical, creative and financial industries, and it’s wealth of fantastic venues, makes London an exciting proposition for event organisers.
    
Says Adams: “London is a city that people are excited to visit and eager to do business in. We welcome the opportunity to showcase this to event planners from across the UK and around the world, helping them to create and deliver fantastic events in 2015 and beyond.”

FURTHER INFORMATION
www.conventionbureau.london