ONE YEAR ON: EXCEL’S EXPANSION HAS BEEN ‘TRANSFORMATIONAL’ FOR
LONDON GENERATING ADDITIONAL £250 MILLION FOR CITY’S ECONOMY

- Excel London marks first anniversary of its 25,000sqm expansion which continues to strengthen London as a global events hub.

- State-of-the-art facility has hosted 30 additional major international events inside 12 months from Amazon and Microsoft to Nike and Formula E.

- Additional events bringing millions to London’s visitor economy with 10 congresses alone generating £250m and welcoming 100,000 delegates supporting the London Mayor and Governments’ growth agenda

- Excel now largest fully integrated venue in Europe at 125,000sqm hosting more than 400 events a year and contributing £4.6bn in GVA.

- Excel’s Executive Director James Rees says expansion has been ‘transformational’ for London, but it cannot ‘rest on its laurels’.

Excel’s ‘transformational’ ICC expansion is generating millions in additional revenue for London and its visitor economy, according to new data released by the venue to mark its first anniversary. 

Staging its first official event last summer with the all-electric Formula E motorsport series, Excel’s £220 million state-of-the-art expansion was built due to growing demand with the full support of owners ADNEC Group. Adding a further 25,000sqm to the venue’s existing 100,000sqm, Excel now stands as Europe’s largest fully integrated conference and exhibitions venue.

One year on and figures released by Excel show that its new expansion hosted 30 major international events inside 12 months – totalling 500,000sqm of rented new space – adding to the 400 events and four million visitors it welcomes every year. 

With Excel currently contributing £4.6 billion annually to London’s business economy, the new expansion has further added to this. Just 10 of the 30 events hosted in Excel’s expansion – all major international congresses – have generated an estimated £250 million and welcomed 100,000 delegates to the UK capital. 

Data from Excel also shows that US-based organisations now account for 60% of its convention and congress business, reinforcing London’s position as a global events hub. Major US brands including Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce and Gartner are just some of the firms favouring London for their landmark European conferences, drawn by the city’s culture, connectivity, international appeal and access to world-leading business, technology, medical and academic communities.

Cisco Live, one of the world’s leading IT conferences, further supports this trend, with the event returning to Excel London in 2027 after confirming a new multi-year deal to take over the entirety of the venue. In addition, a further seven international congresses have now been confirmed for next year following a record 10 in 2026.

James Rees, Excel’s Executive Director, commented: “London is continuing to win major international events from across North America and Europe – far beyond what we expected when we first greenlit our expansion back in 2021. In short, it’s been nothing short of transformational, with not only an increase in the number of events but also their size, scale and complexity. 

“Whilst London’s global appeal remains clear, competition from destinations across Europe and the US remains very strong, and we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. Excel’s mission is to be the best event destination in the world, and we are now embarking on a further multi-million-pound investment programme to further enhance the venue, its facilities and the overall delegate experience.”