The upcoming opening of the Elizabeth line has been heralded as “game-changer” for trade shows that take place at London ExCeL in future.
The exhibition venue is the location for the UK’s largest trade exhibitions, including the upcoming debut edition of the Jewellery Show.
Journey times for visitors and exhibitors could be cut by up to two-thirds once the service opens on 24 May, with the Royal Docks venue now having its own dedicated Elizabeth line station, in addition to two existing DLR stops.
According to a recent report by i-Transport, the new line will see the number of people within 45 minutes’ rail travel time of ExCeL increase by up to 68%, and those living within 120 minutes (by rail) rising to 9.2 million.
The high-speed Elizabeth line stretches more than 60 miles from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east, with 24 trains running per hour once fully operational.
For ExCeL, visitors from Central London will now be able to reach the venue in as little as 12 minutes, while door-to-door from Heathrow Airport will be just 43 minutes.
The Jewellery Show sales director, Alison Balshaw, told PJ: “With the Elizabeth line opening before June it really puts ExCeL on the map in an even bigger way than it is already. It’s literally 12 minutes from Farringdon so anyone in Hatton Garden can get there in 12 minutes. From Bond Street it will be 17 minutes. It makes everything so accessible. Also, City Airport is five minutes up the road.”
Lennox Addo, the Jewellery Show director, added in interview with PJ: “You can get to it in under an hour from Heathrow on the Elizabeth line now. It’s near Canary Wharf with the shops and restaurants and hotels. It’s a real international hub for events. There are not the issues there used to be in getting to ExCeL. It’s so much easier than it used to be. So easy.”
Jeremy Rees, CEO of ExCeL, said: “In addition to reducing journey times and expanding catchment areas, we expect to see an even higher percentage of C-Suite delegates attending our events as a direct consequence. In short, the Elizabeth line will give people more of that most precious of commodities – time – allowing them increased opportunities to network, learn and of course trade – just as we saw pre-pandemic when some £165 billion was transacted per year at UK events.”
He added: “ExCeL is now arguably the world’s most connected event venue with two underground lines, one mainline station, an airport, road links, bus services, water taxis and even a cable car all within earshot.”
Since reopening last summer, ExCeL has welcomed more than 1.5 million visitors to the venue and is set to host 350 events this year.
ExCeL has also embarked on 25,000 square metre expansion programme to further enhance its world-class facilities and demonstrate further confidence in the return of live face-to-face events.
To hear Alison Balshaw and Lennox Addo discuss the many benefits of the ExCeL and the Elizabeth line for the Jewellery Show, listen to the duo join host Sam Lewis on the PJ Podcast:
