ACC Liverpool will officially reveal the new identity of its planned £40m exhibition venue at the Association of Event Organisers (AEO) Awards on Friday 6 July.
 
The Exhibition Centre Liverpool, as it will be known until a naming sponsor is confirmed, will offer total exhibition space of 8,100sqm used as one hall or divided across three. The additional space will bring the venue's total interlinked event space to 15,225sqm.
 
ACC Liverpool went to tender for development of the new exhibition centre in March and is expected to appoint a contractor by September. Work is then due to start in autumn 2013 and be completed in late 2014. First event bookings will be taken from spring 2015.
 
The venue is also in the process of recruiting an exhibition sales manager for its new facility.
 
“With its progressive technology, flexibility and interconnectivity with ACC Liverpool’s existing facilities, Exhibition Centre Liverpool will ensure that the city is placed firmly on the map as the UK’s newest and most exciting destination for large-scale trade and consumer exhibitions,” ACC Liverpool commercial director Tim Banfield said. “This is what we wanted to communicate in the holding name.
 
“Exhibition Centre Liverpool will be fully integrated into the arena and convention centre but we wanted to give the exhibition centre a standalone identity as the city has a huge amount to offer as a North West destination for consumer and trade exhibitions.”
 
Head of marketing Michelle Kemp said ACC will launch fresh marketing collateral and a holding website in autumn.
 
“Our holding brand will be the identity by which we communicate to exhibition organisers and the wide industry over coming months,” she added.
 
Banfield pointed out there are 7.8 million people within a 90 minute drive of Exhibition Centre Liverpool’s location, with an estimated 300 million consumers within three hours of the city.

The Exhibition Centre Liverpool will be wholly owned by Liverpool City Council and managed by the ACC Liverpool team and is expected to host 50 events in its first year.
 
Got a story for Exhibition News? Email us: exhibitionnews@mashmedia.net