Reading Football Club has won planning approval for its Royal Elm Park mixed-use scheme, what will an international convention centre offer the town?
Planners have given the go-ahead for Reading Football Club’s mixed‑use development, Royal Elm Park. Situated next to the club’s Madejski Stadium, the scheme will comprise more than 700 homes and apartments, a 246 bed hotel, leisure activities, a park and an international convention centre.
With capacity for 6,000 delegates, the 300,000 sq ft convention centre is intended to compete for events with the likes of ExCeL and the NEC. The centre will also house an ice rink and, now planning has been secured, the club hopes it will be complete by summer 2018.
On the face of it, investing in a convention space of this scale is an ambitious move for a non-Premier League football club. But Reading FC has a proven track record in conferences and events and the Thai-owned club believes it can fill a gap in the market.
Growing demand
Reading FC chief executive Nigel Howe says: “We already have a hotel and small conference centre, which has been very successful. However, we are unable to meet a growing demand for bigger event spaces and there aren’t any venues in this part of the country that can accommodate larger requirements.”
The club’s existing conference facility will be used to accommodate club-related events, while the adjoining convention centre will focus on hosting larger national and even international conferences and exhibitions. Howe also believes there will be demand to use the space as a concert venue.
John Lee, managing director of Wokingham-based events agency TTA, says that with the right infrastructure links and the flexibility to meet a range of different requirements, the centre will be well placed to exploit demand.
“Estimated to be worth around £42.3bn, the UK events industry continues to grow and the prospect of a new international convention centre in Reading has exciting potential as an alternative to the popular, but costly London”, says Lee. “Reading’s proximity to the capital and its good rail and air links mean it is well placed for both UK and international conventions and live events.”
Connectivity
With the arrival of Crossrail and the Western Rail Approach to Heathrow, Reading’s connectivity will doubtless work in its favour when competing as an event destination.
Convention centres can help transform an area’s economic fortunes. The Arena and Convention Centre Liverpool opened its doors in 2008 and it is estimated that its convention centre delivered £126m of economic benefits to the Liverpool city region in 2015, with more than 427,000 visitors attending 307 events.
The Thames Valley may have been missing a trick. Indeed, before the football club unveiled its plans, the Thames Valley Berkshire LEP had already highlighted the economic benefits such a facility might bring. Back in 2014 the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan outlined the ambition for an internationally renowned conference and seminar facility.
Tim Smith, the LEP’s chief executive, says: “It has been a stated aim to have one of these centres in Berkshire because of the benefits of business tourism. As well as the income that brings in, the centre would showcase what the Thames Valley has to offer and hopefully affect business leaders’ future investment decisions. We would be very happy to see the football club’s plans come to fruition.”
The future of the project is secured with planners giving the scheme the green light last week. The football club had hoped to be granted planning permission last September, but the process has taken far longer than planned.
According to Howe: “The delay is all down to the amount of information the planners required us to supply. It’s a major project and it takes time to get all the boxes ticked.”
Now that approval has been granted, the club’s development arm, RFC Prop Co, plans to be on site by the end of the year. Howe says, there is already a team in place poised to take event bookings.
The prospect of securing lucrative events is increasing the appeal of convention centres as property assets. “These facilities have traditionally been driven by local authorities, but the private sector now recognises the potential returns.” Howe says. “We’re now seeing a new breed of operator – such as LDC, which acquired the NEC Group – enter the market confident it can make a profit.”
The agent’s view
The development of an international convention centre in Reading could provide a considerable boost to the town’s property credentials.
Duncan Campbell, director at Reading agency Campbell Gordon, says: “If the convention centre brings more international businesspeople into the town, it will be a welcome bonus and an opportunity to increase the town’s profile to potential investors.”
“If it is able to attract business that would have gone to the NEC or ExCeL, it is going to help put Reading on the map,” agrees Jonathan Mannings, founding director of Thames Valley agent RARE. “It will reaffirm Reading as a premier business destination and act as a catalyst for inward investors. It can only help it appeal to a global market.”
Claire Robson
