£20m bonanza as Conservative Party Conference comes to Birmingham
BIRMINGHAM is set for a multi-million pound bonanza as the Tories come to town.
Thousands of delegates are descending on Birmingham from this weekend for the Conservative Party Conference at the ICC.
In a break with long-standing tradition, the Tories have moved away from the seaside resorts of Blackpool, Bournemouth and Brighton to come to the second city.
Around 15,000 delegates, activists, journalists and volunteers will be at the ICC for the four-day event.
They began arriving today ahead of the start of the conference tomorrow morning.
Leader David Cameron will be making his keynote speech on Wednesday afternoon.
The conference is expected to pour £20 million into the city’s coffers with hotels, bars, restaurants and shops all rubbing their hands in anticipation of a bumper weekend.
It is the first time one of the big three parties has held their main conference in Birmingham and the event will put the spotlight onto the city as more than 800 members of the press will be in town.
Ian Taylor, commercial director at Marketing Birmingham, said the political shindig was good news for the city.
“With up to 15,000 attendees expected, the hotels in Birmingham and the surrounding area are rapidly filling up,” he said.
“City centre hotels, and those in others areas such as Solihull, have seen a good response in bookings in the lead up to the conference.”
Mike Olley, Broad Street manager, said the cash registers in bars, restaurants and casinos would be ringing from tonight through to Wednesday afternoon as the Tories unwind after debating heavyweight political issues.
“It will be a bumper time as it coincides with the students’ Freshers’ Week as well, and both groups are big spenders,” he said.
“Broad Street is well equipped to deal with large numbers as we do it day in and day out with the many conferences we host.”
Birmingham’s only Conservative MP, Sutton Coldfield’s Andrew Mitchell, who is also Shadow Minister for Birmingham, said he couldn’t wait to welcome his fellow Tories to his home city.
“They will see for themselves a city transformed over the past couple of decades into a buzzing metropolis,” he said.
“Birmingham is now the second most visited city in Britain, enjoying over 32 million visitors a year and is rated among the top cities in Europe to locate a business or hold an event or conference.
“Visitors will find top class shopping, restaurants, world cuisine and many bars and cafes which will, no doubt, play host to many debates about the future of our country.”
As well as the main conference at the ICC, there are dozens of fringe events in and around the centre.
A spokesman for the ICC said getting the conference was a coup for the city and the venue was very well prepared, having recently hosted Labour’s spring conference and the first Cabinet meeting outside London.
“Everyone is familiar with the ICC and the facilities it offers and Birmingham is an ideal location for our most important event of the year,” a spokesman said.
factfile•
• Delegates are expected to consume 45,000 cups of coffee, 5,000 bottles of wine, 4,000 sandwiches, 15,000 bottles of mineral water, 5,000 bottles of fruit juice, 26,500 cups of tea, 2,500 handmade cakes, 2,000 jacket potatoes and 600 litres of milk during the conference
• There will be more than 600 staff to man the event, some of whom will have to walk up to 15 miles a day serving the needs of the politicians.
• Expertsare laying 10 miles of cable across the ICC to run all the high-tech equipment that will be needed by both the delegates and the media.
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