Manchester

Wednesday, 22 October 2008 00:00

Event Manchester was held in London once again this year - but with a difference. Instead of the marquee in Manchester Square, it moved into the Wallace Collection in Manchester Square. About 35 suppliers presented their services, but that is just a fraction of what Manchester has to offer. Manchester has been re-born and that came to the world's attention when it so successfully held the Commonwealth Games in 2002. Looking back, it can be a model for all such events, including the Olympics, for the way it designed and constructed its venues and the way in which it has since not only made full use of them, but attracted more and more modern venues to keep the initiative moving. Marketing Manchester can list over 250 venues of which any city would be proud. It can also point to 19,000 hotel rooms, as many as 5,000 in walking distance of each other in the city centre. Convenient to all these is Manchester Central, a world class convention complex. Until recently it was the G-Mex exhibition hall (created from the dramatic domed glass structure of the Manchester Central Railway Station) plus the Manchester International Conference Centre. They share a site and so it was wise to see the whole complex as one under the name Manchester Central, thus coming full circle back to the name of the station.
The centre can offer an auditorium to seat 800 and 12 separate modern break-out rooms, whilst the exhibition area has over 10,000sqm of un-pillared space that can be used as a tiered theatre for 4,000 spectators. The city centre has a remarkable range of venues of every type. The imposing Victorian town hall in Albert Square has meeting facilities. Along the road is the MEN Arena that can seat 19,000, whilst a few hundred yards in the other direction is the Bridgewater Hotel that can accommodate 1,875 comfortably in its concert hall. Newly opened is University Place that has 24 meeting rooms for from 20 to 120 and a semi-circular auditorium with 1,000 seats, which can be divided into two to seat 600 and 270. It is part of the University, but designed to suit corporate clients.

Easy access by air and by road

Manchester is served by an unrivalled complex of motorways, including M6, M56, M60 and M62, giving rapid access by road from all parts of the UK. It has also greatly enhanced its original airport, which now provides direct links with the whole of Europe and with the rest of the world.
By changing direction dramatically from its past, when it made it fame and its money from its cotton textile mills, coal mining, shipping via the Manchester Ship Canal and the manufacture of heavy goods at Trafford Park, it has expertly transformed its past into a successful present. The glorious old Free Trade Hall, for example, is now the 5-star Radisson Edwardian built virtually in touch with Manchester Central conference centre.
Only just opened is the £32m, 228-room Crowne Plaza City Centre at Shudehill. Manchester United Foot-ball Club's Theatre of Dreams now offers not only corporate hospitality boxes and entertainment, but as many as 16 function rooms holding up to 800 delegates at a sitting. What used to be the docks at the canal is now Salford Quays - again a model for others to follow in the way it has not only given old buildings a new lease of life, but added to them with some of Europe's architectural masterpieces. In one 360-degree look round, it is possible to admire The Lowry gallery, the new Man Utd conference wing, the Imperial War Museum North, the stylish ultra-modern hydraulic bridge over the canal and the Copthorne Hotel on the waterfront. But this is only one corner of Greater Manchester. On the other side of the city resides Manchester City FC in the City of Manchester Stadium. This was built for the Commonwealth Games athletics, but designed so that it could later become the football club's new home. The new stadium gave the club a new lease of life and it has now become the richest club in the world following its takeover by an Abu Dhabi enterprise. It is located in Sportscity that is home to several other important venues, including the Velodrome. Yet another cluster of venues can be found at the airport itself, provided by hotel chains such as Hilton, Marriott, Radisson SAS, Crowne Plaza, Novotel and Thistle.

For further information

Marketing Manchester, with 360 partner enterprises, can help with introductions, lists of venues, site visit and even venue booking. Visit www.marketingmanchester.com

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