Boat Show move to Docklands

[Guest]

What is the verdict on the proposed Show move to the Excel centre beside the Royal Victoria Dock in east London?

As an Essex resident I think it will be a brilliant move transport-wise because I will be able to drive there in no time. There are excellent road links from the M11, A406, A12 and A13 and there is a huge car park. I will probably buy a lot more stuff at the show because I can pile it up in the car rather than stuffing it in kit bags and lugging it back on the crowded Tube

The move from Earls Court will mean that there will be much more space inside the building, boats will be moored on a the dock immediately outside the Excel centre, there may be decent demos of boats assuming the dock is not frozen and possibly "trips around the bay."

For me, the move will be wonderful, but how do others feel about it? I understand that some marine businesses are not too happy. Some were taken to the Excel centre on Friday evening to see the new venue for themselves. What did they have to say?

regards

Broadreach

 

[tony_brighton]

I agree - its a long overdue move to a much better facility that the industry should appreciate. It should address some of the very serious concerns with EC, namely;

Overcrowded
Hot
Inadequate facilities (food/drink concessions although somewhat better this year).
Inadequate space for the boats - hence nothing like as many get displayed as could be done.
Difficult public transport access (went by tube - had to change 3 times due to EC/Picadilly station being shut and one of the lines closed due to Fire Brigade).
No parking .

A move can only be good for the industry. Oh - and its about 2 miles from where I live!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Custom House Station (for ExCel)

Is on the Beckton Branch of the DLR, and only gets one toy train every 10 minutes outside of rush hours (and fewer at weekends). It is also served by the North London Line (either one every 20 minutes, or one every 30 minutes depending on day/time/luck). The NLL is a contender for Britains most useless railway line, going from places where no one wants to get on, to places where no one wants to get off.

Sympathy to the drivers south of the river who try and get to ExCel by queueing for the Woolwich Ferry.

As for boat testing, do you really want to scuzz around the Royal Docks in January?

 

[tony_brighton]

Re: Custom House Station (for ExCel)

DLR extension planned for Excel direct. Are you going to benefit from the new X-channel high speed rail link - doesn't that pass by you?
Absolutely agree with NLL comment - never used it; never want to. Thought of moving somewhere more convenient?

 

[Bergman]

I remember many years ago around 1975 I think going to the boat show at the NEC.

Seems much better location to me

Main line station, airport, infinite car parking

Best of all its not in London

 

[kidnapped]

Been to Excel for an exhibition .... it's a pain to get to from anywhere south, west or midlands, the concessions are not able to handle lunch trade[with far less people], it's a long cold/wet walk from the DLR stations and there are not enough seating areas in the main concourse. NOT a great choice, really.
PS: the parking ticket machines are worse than useless, they had guys there to read the 'bar codes!'

 

[Guest]

The thing with Docklands (I've worked there a bit) is that they've put in a lot of offices but there's no bloody infrastructure - which means it's very difficult to find a bank, a newsagent, or anywhere to eat other than yuppie sandwich shops which open on weekdays only and shut promptly at 2pm. It's got none of the stuff that normal places have, unless you go to Canary Wharf, after which you won't have any money left to buy a boat with.

But the DLR is lovely, I wish they would build one west of London too. It's actually got quite a good service and does not get quite as crowded as the Tube. I do heartily agree that they don't run enough trains out of hours, at some times you can have a half-hour wait. It also serves a lot of places which had absolutely no rail service before, and makes a lot of peoples' lives much easier.

Not forgetting big, rain-washed skies reflecting back all the water and the sight of little Topper dinghies sailing about outside your office window...

 

[jamesjermain]

Been there - like it

I went on a BMF organised trip to ExCel on the last Friday of the boat show.

The hall itself is very impressive and the long concourse that runs down the middle will give all sorts of opportunities for special displays and demonstrations. There will be a variety of restaurants on site plus shops and cash points.

The dock wall just under the main exhibition platform should be lined with super yachts and, I hope, tall ships. This will be floodlit and partly covered.

Anyone who has been to a show there should realise that the management of ExCel has a huge development plan to get the halls and surroundings up to scratch for the Boat Show in 2004. As part of the Boat Show contract they have guaranteed to build
*six hotels
*Moor a hotel ship in the river.
*Build a second hall a quarter the size of the existing building to house a demonstration and special events pool plus extra display space.
*Build or encourage to be built a range of restaurants etc on and off site
*Build a special access ramp for larger boats
*Build a special door for ditto

In addition, the DLR and National Boat Shows researched visitor movements to and from Earls Court this year so that sufficient trains can be laid on at the busy times. I believe up to 42 new trains are planned. There will be two stations within a couple of hundred yards of entry points at either end of the building.

A colleague of mine has experimented with transport from Waterloo and reports that it is quicker to get to ExCel by both the DLR and Jubilee Line than it is to get to Earls Court by Northern and District.

Overseas visitors will fly into the City Airport which is almost on the doorstep.

It seems clear that the Boat Show is essential to the survival of ExCel and they are prepared to invest to keep NBS happy.

However, I still have grave doubts as to how much of this will actually happen. The cost will be huge and will need more than just the Boat Show to make it pay. They will need at least four major international shows a year to keep the hotels and restaurants full and profitable, probably a lot more. The fact of the matter is that ExCel is about the only source of revenue these estabishments will have while in Earls Court there is a thriving local community which fills the restaurants while the hotels can rely on general tourism and commercial travelling.

Interestingly, the representatives of the larger exhibitors, particularly those from overseas, were complaining about the allocation of space. Apparently NBS had tempted them to vote for ExCel by promising all the space they might want. Now it is offering only small increases of space to existing exhibitors so that more newcomers can be catered for.

In most other respects the trade are all for it. With 15 access doors, almost unlimited lorry parking, easy access from motorways, a full range of services to all stands, high ceilings etc, it is a good place to set up a show and a good environment to work in. There have, indeed, been teething problems with the air conditioning and so on, but they still have two years to sort these out.

JJ

 

[tony_brighton]

Re: Boat Show move to Docklands - DLR

The DLR has upgraded its service and purchased a number of new trains over the last year. Just been voted the #1 Train Operating Company (ok - so not a lot of competition there!). Currently getting 5 mins between trains up from lewisham during the day on weekends; only 1 minute more than rush hour.

Best of all - if the Train Captains go on strike they can run fully automated.

 

[tony_brighton]

Re: Been there - like it

James - will you be doing an article?

 

[Twister_Ken]

Hope vision comes true

James,

I hope the plans come to fruition. A really good venue is probably the only thing that can jerk the LIBS out of the stupor it has sunk into.

Desperately needs more builders, more models (of boats that is), lectures, teach-ins, workshops, demonstrations, more clubs and owners' associations, an alternative to Guiness for bitter drinkers, more space for retailers (some of the E Court stands are so small that it's almost impossible to get around). How about a floating used boat section? Superyachts and traditional yachts/workboats would be nice too. Make it an international celebration/festival/midwinter knees-up, not just a tawdry local show

 

[steve_cronin]

I share the opinion of most of the exhibitors

The idea stinks.

The hall's headroom means that with the exception of Topper dinghies, all sailboats will need to be exhibited mastless.

No indoor pool.

Outside afloat exhibits - WHAT?? in JANUARY? Are they MAD?? How many kids will have to slip off the pontoons into the icy black waters before it gets abandoned. Although there is a move to re-schedule for June how many people are going to give up a precious sailing weekend for the show. How many chandlery & electronics companies are going to be happy selling in the middle of a season when the present situation is ideal for winter fit-out?

No, the only good move in this whole thing was the sacking last year of the guy at the BMIF who's big clever idea this was. Good riddance!!

Leave our "Celebration of Nautical Winter Rites" just where it is, even though we now have to play clever to outwit the attendant at Tesco's car park to avoid the £25 for >4hrs parking fee. (How dare they develop our long standing unsurfaced car park!!)

Steve Cronin

 

[tcm]

Re: re hotels

not sure that hotels wil be empty other thanat showtime. Hotels around the area (admittedly based only on carpark views) seem to show that there is good market - the midrange hotels in docklands seem full to bursting.

 

[steve_cronin]

So, you really ARE Blair\'s scriptwriter!!...nm

..

 

[tony_brighton]

Re: I share the opinion of most of the exhibitors

Have you even seen the place?

 

[ParaHandy]

Wembley?

The Excel bloke wasn't a short-arsed whitehaired bespectacled fat geezer who's got something to do with Chelsea FC and was about to build something similar in North London before somebody did a reality check on his plan?

 

[steve_cronin]

My elder son lives just down the road...

... It is a very good exhibition venue.

For machine tools, cars, caravans but for boats??

Steve Cronin

 

[Guest]

Hmmm...so far it seems that 60 per cent are firmly against the move to Excel for a variety of reasons.
I don't see the transport links as being a serious problem because extra trains can be laid on and buses could take people from the Jubilee Line station at Canary Wharf the few minutes to Excel. I accept there are not many hotels near Excel at the moment but many are being planned and there are already plenty of cheap places on the A406 at Barking, posher places at Canary Wharf and many more slightly further afield.
Perhaps if the show is held during the university vacation, the nearby University of East London could be persuaded to let out their student rooms for the duration of the Boat Show.
JJ's post mentions a proposal to fill the dock with Tall ships and classic boats at show time. That would be superb and would turn a basic trade show into a London Festival of the Sea, something the capital could certainly do with.
I still reckon it would make sense to switch the show from January to early summer, or even Easter, in the hope that better weather would allow the dock to be used to the full.

BR

 

[jamesjermain]

No. nm

.

JJ

 

[jamesjermain]

Re: I share the opinion of most of the exhibitors

How many boats exhibit 'mast up' at Earls Court' .

There will be a pool - much larger than the Earls Court one - in the new hall they are building.

I am still undecided whether I am looking forward to the move or not. But I am sure that the daytime working environment will be far, far better and the show itself should be more attactive to visitors, provided they can be pursuaded to travel east of Waterloo.

Incidentally (and I ask only in the spirit of seeking knowledge), how many people fall off the pontoons during the Southampton Show?

JJ