Labour confirms Liverpool conference deal
The Labour Party has announced it will return to Liverpool for its annual conferences in 2016 and 2018.
The party will meet at ACC Liverpool in September 2016 and will return to the venue again in September 2018. Each conference is expected to generate £17m in economic impact locally.
Labour first held its conference in the city in September 2011, attended by 11,000 delegates over five days.
Iain McNicol, general secretary of the Labour Party, said: "Liverpool is one of our great British cities and we had a wonderful conference there in 2011. ACC Liverpool is a first class venue for conference and we look forward to returning to the city."
Cllr Joe Anderson, mayor of Liverpool, said: "This news is a huge vote of confidence in Liverpool by the Labour Party. It's clear that Liverpool is now firmly up there as one of the very best venues in the whole of the country when it comes to hosting major, world class events."
Bob Prattey, chief executive of ACC Liverpool, home to BT Convention Centre and Echo Arena, added: "The Labour Party annual conference in 2011 was a tremendous success and confirmed Liverpool as a major international conference destination. The event had a huge impact on the entire region.
"It was the largest ever hosted in the city with 1,200 staff employed on the site over five days as both BT Convention Centre and Echo Arena operated at full capacity, utilising every available space.
"It attracted 2,000 press and media and hosted more than 500 fringe events at venues across the city.
"Labour's decision to return to Liverpool comes as a result of ACC Liverpool and our city partners working together tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure this high profile event is returning for two outings.
"The announcement of our new exhibition centre and hotel will provide the Labour Party with more options to develop their events."
ACC Liverpool is ideally located for high-security events, being effectively surrounded by water on three sides which creates a secure campus site and enables it to lockdown quickly and efficiently.
Really great news, as locations go, here on the Waterfront is perfect!
By peter
Good stuff. Hopefully they’ll still have some money to spend in the local economy….
By Northerner