Press Cuttings Transcripts
Capital Investment – that is the question.
Meetings & Incentive Travel, May 2004
A mayoral commission is deliberating over the decision: to build or not to build? We are talking, of course, about a new state-of-the-art convention centre in London, fit for large international congresses. This is the issue that dominated discussions at last month’s London Leadership Forum on Business Tourism (see page 41) and has long exercised the minds of the UK’s conference industry professionals.
The argument for it is simple: it will bring much-needed tourism revenues to the capital and will operate as a tourism feeder to all areas of the country. The argument against is simplistic: it will cost too much public money.
Gerry Acher, vice-chairman of London First and a non-executive director of Camelot, has been appointed commission chairman. The commission is trawling the world’s convention centres and a variety of business models, examining evidence from all the stakeholders – checking market needs, funding mechanisms, type of venue required, economic impact, best practices etc. No stone will be left unturned in the quest for the right decision.
Mr Acher says he is “agnostic” in his views about whether the capital should get such a centre.
It’s clear the commission is going about this in a structured, orderly and informed manner. Yet I fear that however thorough its investigation of funding models, it will have to return to the big decision; can we justify the public finance? There are many ways to fund the building costs but only one way to make the venue competitive in the international marketplace after it has opened – it has to be able to trade with no capital write-off requirement and that means public finance. Why? Because that’s the only way such a venue could compete on price on the world stage.
Mr Acher cleary takes a different view: “We have to make it make business sense and we won’t get much change out of £150 million for such a building.”
Come on, Mr Acher, which convention centre ever made business sense per se? Which convention centre ever delivered profits and paid off it’s capital expenditure?
Nobody builds these palaces of communications as profit centres. Most of the world’s convention centres we funded by their fathers. If such a project is to be undertaken, it must be to generate profits for UK plc!
For a long time London has lacked the office, the political will and the wherewithal to make the capital great. Now we have all three. This project is not beyond our Ken.
Of course, we could just let the opportunity pass and hope the private sector solves the problem – like we did the railways, for example.....