Planners in Liverpool have approved plans for a new £40m exhibition centre and ‘integrated’ £26m hotel at Kings Dock on the waterfront. Work will being this autumn on the new 8,100 sqm, three-hall exhibition centre and a 200 room. The hotel will will form part of the ACC Liverpool complex.
The new facilities are scheduled to open in spring 2015.
The new exhibition building will be known as ‘Exhibition Centre Liverpool’ and is aiming to break into the market for larger national and international conferences, trade and consumer shows and sports events. The operator is hoping that Exhibition Centre Liverpool will host around 50 events and attract more than 250,000 visitors in its first year of operation.
The centre will comprise of three halls of 2,700 sqm each separated by movable walls enabling partial or total use of the facility.
The hotel will be a four star Pullman.
The Pullman brand is owned by the French group Accor and currently the only other Pullman hotel in the UK is in St Pancras, London.
ACC Liverpool claims to have generated over £600m in economic impact since it opened in 2008.
Bob Prattey, chief executive of ACC Liverpool, said: “Receiving planning permission for Exhibition Centre Liverpool and the headquarters hotel is another significant milestone in Liverpool’s development. This project is further proof that the city means business when it comes to competing with European destinations in hosting major conferences and exhibitions.
“Today’s approval is the culmination of more than two years of extensive planning and we are eager to move onto the next phase of the project and the continued progression of the city.”
