Winter Gardens Conference - Media Pack

Press & Media Pack

Table of Contents 1. Conference & Exhibition Centre 2. Key Facts 3. Venue History 4. About Blackpool Hotels & Hospitality Trains & Trams Blackpool Central Heritage Quarter Hounds Hill Towns Fund Blackpool Pleasure Beach Merlin Entertainments

5. Winter Gardens Media Contacts

Winter Gardens Conference & Exhibition Centre Exterior

Conference & Exhibition Centre Opened in February 2022 following an investment

trade shows, AGMs, and any other large-scale

of £30million, the Winter Gardens Blackpool

events.

Conference & Exhibition Centre is a brand new, purpose-built events venue aimed at providing a

With a total 2,400 square metres of dedicated

world class experience for customers from across

space, the venue can easily host large events,

the UK and the world.

with the added possibility of utilising the space in conjunction with the other venues throughout

Split over two floors, with an exhibition space

the Winter Gardens complex, giving a total event

on the first floor and a conference space with a

capacity of over 7,000.

capacity of 1,500 on the second floor, the flexible event space is ideal for conferences, exhibitions,

Key Facts Opened Feb 2022 following £30m investment.

Hi-tech partitioning technology for multiple events or experiences.

Now the largest venue of its kind in the North of England.

State-of-the art audio and visual technology throughout.

2,400 square metres of space over two floors.

Winter Gardens Conference & Exhibition Centre

2,000 delegate capacity dedicated conference space.

Total capacity up to 7,000 delegates across all attached venues.

The new Conference & Exhibition Centre and Winter Gardens combined provide 12 distinct venues, all under one roof, offering a total of 4.9 acres of connected conference, meeting, event and exhibition space.

Venue History The Winter Gardens Blackpool was formally

The Conference & Exhibition Centre was the first

opened by the Lord Mayor of London on 11th July

major building development for the Winter

1878.

Gardens complex since the construction of the Opera House in 1939.

The original Winter Gardens boasted an exotic, glass roofed Floral Hall, indoor and outdoor

£30m funding for the development of the

skating rinks and the Pavilion Hall for special

Conference & Exhibition Centre was provided by

events.

Blackpool Council, Growth deal (Lancashire LEP), Coastal Community Fund and Blackpool

The entertainment venues of the Winter Gardens

Entertainment Company Limited.

Blackpool, including the iconic Empress Ballroom and Opera House, have hosted everyone from

The first major event held at the new venue was

Frank Sinatra and The Rolling Stones to the Stone

the Conservative Party Spring Conference 2022.

Roses, Britain’s Got Talent and Mamma Mia.

Winter Gardens Blackpool, photographed in 1878

Winter Gardens Conference & Exhibition Centre Central Foyer

About Blackpool The Winter Gardens Conference & Exhibition

Trains & Trams

Centre was launched as part of the ongoing

Following infrastructure developments completed

development of Blackpool as a 21st Century

in 2018, quicker trains with more direct routes

destination, with hundreds of millions of pounds

from most major cities across the UK arrive in

being invested in new hotels, office space,

Blackpool every day and seamlessly connect

attractions, transport infrastructure and the

with a modern tram network, ensuring easy,

built environment.

comfortable and fast travel around resort. As part of the Talbot Gateway development, the trams

Key developments in motion for Blackpool include:

will travel up to Blackpool North, providing even greater connectivity across the resort.

Hotels & Hospitality Blackpool is enjoying unprecedented investment

Blackpool Central

in its hotel and hospitality offer. In addition to

Currently in development, Blackpool Central will

its already extensive choice of accommodation

be a new world-class leisure development on

to suit every need and budget, five new hotels,

the Central Station site, just off the famous

including Blackpool’s first 5-star hotel are being

Golden Mile. As one of the UK’s most important

developed over the next two years, adding over

regeneration projects, the £300m scheme will be

700 new rooms of 4-star quality and above.

the largest single investment in Blackpool for over a century and is expected to create around 1,000

New developments and recent openings include:

new jobs, bring an estimated 600,000 additional

Sands Resort 5-star development due to open

visitors each year, and boost annual spend in the

Autumn 2022

town by around £75m.

Holiday Inn and Marco Pierre White Restaurant – Summer / Autumn 2022 Boulevard Hotel – opened 2020 Hampton by Hilton – Opened 2018, currently expanding adding 74 additional rooms, opening summer 2022 Premier Inn opened Summer 2021

Heritage Quarter The application for Blackpool Central also proposes to restore the site’s existing heritage buildings to create a thriving new Heritage Quarter. The Grade II Listed former King Edward VII Picture House will be transformed into a new artisan food hall, linked to a new outdoor space

Hotel Indigo – planning permission submitted by

for al fresco dining. The locally listed King

IHG Hotels and Resorts for £25m investment to

Edward VII pub will be refurbished into a new

convert Grade II-listed former Post Office into a

pub and hotel, creating a modern, family friendly

148-bedroom luxury hotel.

environment. The King Edward VII apartment

Future development – Winter Gardens Hotel,

building will be renovated into a high-quality

interlinked with the Conference and Exhibition

aparthotel keeping its original character.

Centre, in-planning.

Hounds Hill Located directly next to the Winter Gardens, the Hounds Hill shopping centre is currently undergoing further development, including a nine screen, 850 seat, 40,500 sq ft multi-media cinema complex, including the biggest immersive screen in Lancashire. On completion, the cinemas will provide availability for repurposing as additional conferencing spaces, if required.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s Boulevard Hotel

Artists Impression of the Blackpool Central’s Masterplan

Blackpool Tower, Comedy Carpet & Seafront

Blackpool Transport’s 21st Century Fleet

Towns Fund

Merlin Entertainments PLC

The Government recently approved (March 2022)

Merlin Entertainments Plc is a major investor in

£39.5m from its Towns Fund for infrastructure

Blackpool, with family attractions including

developments to support private sector

Blackpool SEA LIFE, Madame Tussauds, Blackpool

investment at Blackpool Central, enable the

Tower including: The Blackpool Tower Dungeon,

creation of a world-class university learning

The Blackpool Tower Circus and The Blackpool

environment in the town centre, and build a new

Tower Ballroom, whose fame has been boosted

road to open up sites attracting jobs and investment

recently with its annual appearance on BBC

at the Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone as well

flagship show, Strictly Come Dancing.

as sports and community developments.

In 2021 The Blackpool Tower Ballroom underwent

Blackpool Pleasure Beach

an extensive programme of work – following a

The Blackpool Pleasure Beach Group of

£1.1m investment from Blackpool Council and a

Companies consists of the world class, 42-acre

Culture Recovery Fund grant issued by Historic

amusement park, multiple entertainment venues,

England.

restaurants, shops, attractions, theatrical production company – Stageworks Worldwide

Continuing in Blackpool as a leading family-friendly

Productions, and two major hotels – The Big Blue

tourist destination, in 2022 Blackpool Council

and The Boulevard.

has invested a further £1m on renovation works on The Blackpool Tower Circus and Merlin has

Since 2010 the company has invested over £50m

committed to a further investment of £3.3m in

in new rides and attractions plus the 120 room

new Blackpool attractions including the new

£12m hotel, The Boulevard, in 2019. 2011 saw

£1m PETER RABBIT™: Explore and Play attraction

the UK’s first Nickelodeon Land arrive featuring 12

launched in February and a further £2.3m being

themed rides and attractions. This was followed by

invested in a second attraction to follow later this

the Wallace & Gromit themed ride in 2013 and

year.

Skyforce, a unique collaboration with the RAF and Red Arrows, in 2015. 2018 saw the company’s largest investment to date with ICON, the UK’s first and only double launch rollercoaster, arriving at a cost of £16.25m.

2022 will see the opening of ENSŌ, a new addition to ICON, giving riders the unique experience of spinning 360° followed in summer with the reopening of Valhalla - billed as ‘the world’s best water ride’ – for a multi-million-pound reimagining.

Winter Gardens Rotunda Entrance and Floral Hall

Winter Gardens Media Contacts Michael Williams Managing Director, BECL

Michael Williams is Managing Director for the Winter Gardens. He has worked at the Winter Gardens for over twenty years and is uniquely enabled to tell the Winter Gardens’ story as a key part of both Blackpool’s history and future.

Anthony Williams

Sales & Marketing Director, BECL

Anthony Williams is Sales & Marketing Director at the Winter Gardens. His role provides him with a deep understanding of every aspect of the Winter Gardens from its strategic aims as an international destination to the day-to-day delivery of services for its rich range of clients.

Limitless Public Relations Greg Wilson, Director 07970 728621 greg.wilson@limitlesspr.co.uk Michael Gregory, Director 07813 006842 michael.gregory@limitlesspr.co.uk

Winter Gardens Church St Blackpool Lancashire FY1 1HW w. wintergardensblackpool.co.uk