| National Exhibition Centre | |
|---|---|
| NEC | |
| Location | National Exhibition Centre Birmingham B40 1NT |
| Opened | February 1976 |
| Owner | The NEC Group |
| Capacity | 200,000 sqm, 21 halls |
| Website | thenec.co.uk |
The National Exhibition Centre (NEC) is an exhibition centre in Birmingham, England. It is near junction 6 of the M42 motorway, and is adjacent to Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International railway station. It has 20 interconnected halls, set in grounds of 628 acres (2.54 km2) making it the largest exhibition centre in the UK. It is the busiest and seventh-largest exhibition centre in Europe.
Opened by Elizabeth II in February 1976, the first event to be staged at the venue was International Spring Fair, which has returned every year since. Growing annually, the event now occupies all of the NEC's 20 halls and the LG Arena.
Contents |
The NEC was originally going to be built adjacent to the M1 junction 21 near Leicester but it was turned down by Leicestershire County Council with claims that "The big shows won't move away from London".
In November 1971, the Secretary of State for the Environment granted outline planning approval for the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham. The NEC, originally comprising 89,000 m2 of exhibition space, was opened by the Queen on 2 February 1976. The building was designed by Edward Mills.
In 1989, the Queen opened three further halls, increasing the space to 125,000 m2. Four more halls were added in 1993, the total exhibition space increasing to 158,000 m2. Another four new halls, opened in September 1998 by Neil Kinnock, European Commissioner for Transport, took the total space to 190,000 m2 (2,045,142 square feet). These buildings were designed by Seymour Harris.
As of 2009, The NEC is nearing completion of a five-year, £40 million venue improvement programme which has seen improvements made to everything from the car parking to signage, seating and catering. The most obvious result of this development has been the redesign of the Piazza – the central space around Halls 1 to 5, which has received a contemporary update.
The NEC was home to the British International Motorshow from 1978 to 2004. In addition, it also hosted the Classic Motor Show.
Since 1991, the NEC has been the venue for the international dog show Crufts. Held over four days and using five halls as well as the LG Arena, Crufts attracts an estimated 160,000 visitors annually. The 1991 show was also Crufts centenary year and as part of the celebrations to mark the occasion, the Guinness Book of Records gave official recognition of the event's status as the world's largest dog show, with 22,973 dogs being exhibited that year.
Driving for 11–16 year olds with Young Driver happens regularly at weekends in the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre (NEC) car parks.[1]
| LG Arena | |
|---|---|
| The LG | |
| Former names | NEC Arena (1982-2009) |
| Location | LG Arena National Exhibition Centre Birmingham B40 1NT |
| Opened | 1982 |
| Renovated | 2008–2009 |
| Expanded | October 2009 |
| Owner | The NEC Group |
| Construction cost | £29,000,000 (Refurbishment) |
| Capacity | 13,928 seated 15,643 standing[2] |
| Field dimensions | 94.8m x 51.4m |
| Website | lgarena.co.uk |
The LG Arena, host to large music concerts, is part of the complex. The 16,000 capacity LG Arena was the largest multi-purpose arena in the UK when opening in the mid-1980s as "The NEC Arena" and is still a major popular venue for many large, international touring acts. Together, the NEC and the LG Arena host over 3 million visitors each year.
From 1 September 2008, the NEC Arena was officially renamed as the LG Arena, following a naming-rights sponsorship deal with global electronics company LG. The arena then underwent a £29 million overhaul of its facilities, paid for by loans from Birmingham City Council and regional development agency Advantage West Midlands.
Work on the LG Arena was finished mid October 2009 and the arena hosted its first concert with Tom Jones. Included in the installation were around 1,000 new seats, bringing the capacity to 16,000[3] to compete with venues such as London's O2 Arena and Manchester's MEN Arena which are amongst the busiest music venues in the world. Also constructed were new hospitality areas and a forum containing new bars, restaurants and other customer facilities. Prior to its first concert, the arena hosted the 2009 Horse of the Year show.
Being able to host large and intimate shows the LG Arena Birmingham does offer a wide range of comedians that are nationally and internationally known with acts such as Russell Brand, Jimmy Carr, Billy Connolly, Russell Howard and Peter Kay bringing their shows to the Arena.
Since the 1980s, The NEC has hosted performances by many international musicians and music groups, several of which have played at The NEC Arena on more than one occasion.
The NEC has 29,000 car parking spaces spread around the site, with a shuttle bus service operating to and from the car parks.
In 2008 the all-day parking fee for public exhibitions was £8.00, which supposedly contributes directly to the upkeep of the car parks, running of the shuttle bus service, maintenance of road surfaces and lighting, and manning of the areas with traffic stewards.
Parent company The NEC Group also owns and operates The National Indoor Arena (NIA) and International Convention Centre (ICC), both in central Birmingham, and the LG Arena, based on The NEC site.
|
|||||
|
|||||