Event Space at Bluewater - How Popular Can it Become?!

Opening a new venue in the current economic climate whilst being located near to but not in London is a brave move, even for a shopping super-power such as Bluewater.  I’m sure it was not just my eyebrows being raised when back in February 2010 plans were announced for a new events space to be developed on the Bluewater complex...but 12months on and before it has even opened ‘The Events Space at Bluewater’ has just won it’s 3^rd large piece (after the two Clarion shows) of business - http://www.eventmagazine.co.uk/channel/news/article/1058152/ICHF-Events-launch-new-look-show-Bluewater/

So three large shows already confirmed and the venue does not even open until later this year, but the question is – how popular can (or I suppose will) The Events Space at Bluewater become?!

Let’s be honest, Kent is not the natural choice for events.  Yes it is near to London but therein lies the problem because it’s not London (same applies to counties such as Sussex, Essex to name but two.  There is a common theory in events – delegates are happy to travel into London but rarely will they be happy to travel out again, i.e. Connect Events (www.connectevents.co.uk) are based in Tunbridge Wells, now I am happy getting a train into London for an event but would I then be happy to get on a train again to go to Reading, High Wycombe, Cambridge and so on – the answer is probably not.  Regional events are traditionally for individuals in and around those regions, for example a Local Government event in Brighton would be targeted at delegates in and around the South Coast, not those north of London – it is the London based shows that usually cater for delegates from across the UK.  London has kudos, glitz, excitement – Dartford, Greenhithe, Ebbsfleet (nearest places to Bluewater) do not...so surely the location will impact negatively on the venue’s chances of success?! 

I’m (and judging by the early pre-launch business won I am not the only one) not so sure it will...

On the positive side, it is close to London, Dartford and Ebbsfleet International Stations both have regular services to and from London Charing / Kings Cross.  Similarly it is located close to two of the major motorways in the South-East – the M25 and M2.  Add to that the fact that Bluewater has 13,000 car park spaces, a number of hotels near by and regular shuttle buses between the main stations servicing it and suddenly it’s lack of ‘London’ starts to become less of an issue – I mean can you name a Central London offering the space Bluewater does with that much parking...?

The space offered by Bluewater is not huge at 5,200m² but it is certainly big enough to encourage the larger organisers that the venue can suit some of their events whilst at the same time not scarring off some of the smaller players (such as ourselves) in the way that an ExCeL style venue can.  Thankfully it is not just one large space either, as there is a stunning (to coin a phrase from their own website - http://www.evbluewater.co.uk/venue.html) VIP area for smaller events. 

So a decent sized, flexible space with easy access – throw in the fact that the rates will be cheaper than most London venues of a similar size - and suddenly the whole location point becomes less of an issue (and you can start to see why ICHF and Clarion have chosen it).  Another huge positive for the venue is that Bluewater attracts 28million visitors every year; 28million people visit Bluewater – put simply that is huge!  Rarely in todays market will you find delegates attending an event (especially shows such as ICHF’s Creative Stitches & Hobbycraft Show) just because they really want to.  Delegates like to fit an event around other things, such as meetings, shows or in this case shopping.  As someone in the events industry hearing a phrase such as “28million people visit here every year” sends nothing but positive vibes.  Ok obviously that is over the year and a show will last anywhere between 2 and 7 days normally but 28million over a year is approx 70,000 per day!!!  So here is a venue that is located by Europe’s leading retail centre giving you a potential target audience of 70,000 per day...without any marketing on your part!  Starting to sound almost too good to be true. 

Obviously an organisation such as Bluewater would not undertake such a project without some serious market research and clearly they feel that points such as the ones above mean they have a better than even chance of becoming a successful player in the events venue industry.  As long as they continue to focus on the right sort of event, i.e. public shows, then I for one am fairly confident they will be proved right.  Hopefully the answer to the question posed here is ‘very popular,’ as a successful mainstream events venue would provide a great boost to the events industry within Kent, as well as other counties near to London.