EC&O Venues Earls Court And Olympia

Enhancement of the world class venue creates smarter, more effective exhibition space for customers

 

Earls Court & Olympia Venues is looking forward to a new chapter in Olympia’s impressive history as one of the world’s best known and best loved exhibition and conference venues. 

 

Olympia’s redeveloped West Hall has opened as planned as a two-storey, 90,000 square feet exhibition facility by adding a floor and creating links to the Grand Hall and Olympia Two behind the restored façade. The improvements, part of a £20 million investment in Olympia by EC&O’s parent company, Capital & Counties (Capco), will make Olympia more flexible and improve connectivity throughout the facility. 

 

Nigel Nathan, EC&O Venues Managing Director said: “Our vision for Olympia respects the fabric of this historic building whilst also making the internal space easier to access and more flexible for organisers to use. These enhancements protect our heritage and position the Olympia complex for the future.”

 

“Of course, Olympia is not only a world class venue: it is also a local business employing local people. We are grateful for all the support and patience we have received from our neighbours during this construction phase. We are delighted to see the facility open in time for the ever popular London International Horse Show at Olympia which starts on 13 December.”

 

Karim Halwagi, Chief Executive of the Association of Event Organisers (AEO), believes these enhancements will help stimulate the London event market.

 

He said: “The expansion of space at Olympia is a positive step for the exhibition industry as it will help both large and small shows grow. Large shows will be able to get better utilisation and visitor flows while small shows will have more flexibility to expand.”

 

Cllr Stephen Greenhalgh, Leader of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, welcomed the completion of the works. 

 

He said: “The Olympia Exhibition and Conference Centre generates income for local businesses, contributes to the West London economy, brings continued prosperity for Hammersmith and Fulham and receives great support from the surrounding community. I am delighted to see it enter a new phase in its impressive history.”  

 

EC&O Venues is set to showcase the new space next year as hosts of the 2012 Exhibition News Awards next March, which will celebrate the events industry and highlight the important role Olympia plays in the exhibition community.

 

Completion of the new West Hall comes as EC&O Venues concludes negotiations with Transport for London (TfL) to secure weekday tube services for over twenty shows between January and June 2012. 

 

London Underground has also committed to improving station signage, in particular at Shepherd’s Bush and Earls Court, providing announcements on trains for travel to Olympia and providing a bespoke travel plan for people with disabilities wanting to visit events. 

 

ENDS

 

Enquiries:

 

Edelman  
Tel: 020 3047 2091
Sarah Richardson

EC&O Venues
Tel: 020 7370 8540

Anna Golden

Capital & Counties Properties PLC
Tel: 020 3214 9178 
Jennifer See Squire

 

 

 

Olympia’s West Hall has been redeveloped within its existing footprint, behind the existing –and now restored- brick façade along Blythe Road, adding a floor and creating links to the Grand Hall and Olympia Two.  The Hall is designed to be used in conjunction with other spaces or independently and the design is sympathetic to the spectacular fan window of the Grand Hall.  It incorporates a visitor entrance on Blythe Road bringing animation to the street frontage.  The plans also improve pedestrian access around the building and provide opportunities to enhance the public realm. 

 

Future plans include using the majority of the ground floor of Olympia Two for servicing and delivery vehicles, rather than exhibition space, it will create a larger traffic marshalling area within the site.  This will bring vehicles into the building, providing more efficient servicing arrangements. It will also ease traffic on the surrounding roads.                                                                              

London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham resolved to grant planning consent for Olympia’s redevelopment proposals on 13 October 2010. The works began in early 2011, and has been phased to allow the exhibition and conference business already operating at Olympia to continue throughout.  The cost of these works were included within the previously announced £20 million of capital allocated to Olympia and will be funded from existing Capco cash resources.

 

Transport for London (TfL) recently announced its decision to cancel weekday District Line Underground services to Olympia tube station following its public consultation on the proposals. As a result of EC&O’s negotiations, London Underground has agreed to provide a two train per hour shuttle service between High Street Kensington and Olympia via Earls Court when events at Olympia attract sufficient demand. These trains will run to a scheduled timetable between the hours of 1000 and 2300 at 30 minute intervals. 

 

EC&O has completed negotiations for this shuttle service the first half of next year and over twenty shows between January and June 2012 will be supported by this service. Further information about specific dates and times for this service will be advertised in full early next year.

 

 

CAPCO is one of the largest investment and development property companies that specialises in central London real estate and is a constituent of the FTSE-250 Index. CAPCO holds 3.2 million square feet of assets valued at £1.5 billion (30 June  2011) in three landmark London estates: Covent Garden, which has assets valued at £780 million, including the historic Market Building; Earls Court & Olympia Group and 50% of the Empress State building in Earls Court amounting to aggregate property assets of £488 million; and the Great Capital Partnership, a joint venture with Great Portland Estates, which holds prime West End properties of which Capco’s share is £240 million. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and the JSE, Johannesburg.