ExCeL welcomes over 250,000 tech professionals in one month

With the month coinciding with London Tech Week (10-14 June), an event ExCeL London co-founded a decade ago, the Royal Docks venue hosted a total of 89 events during the 30-day period, the majority of which were technology, AI and fintech focused.

Events included Salesforce World Tour London, Coupa Inspire, Adobe Summit EMEA 2023, Infosecurity Europe 2023 and AWS Summit London 2023.

Earlier this year, London was named the ‘most high-tech city in the world’, according to Z/Yen Group’s Smart Centres Index, beating New York and San Francisco to the top spot. The UK capital is also home to a burgeoning AI sector which boasts some 1,300 companies, more than Paris and Berlin combined. London is home to 320,000 tech employees, compared to Barcelona with 144,000 and Paris at 32,000.

The record June figures also coincide with the venue being on track to achieve its busiest year to date, surpassing its previous all-time best from 2019. This – combined with the transformational Elizabeth line giving frictionless travel across London – has led to ExCeL needing to expand and is now in the final construction phase of a 25,000sqm development programme. Opening in October 2024, the new expansion will exceed industry standards in sustainability and create additional state-of-the-art ICC convention facilities, exhibition halls and conference rooms.

ExCeL’s CEO Jeremy Rees, who helped found London Tech Week back in 2014, commented: “June has traditionally been a strong month for ExCeL but nothing quite like what we experienced last month. London and ExCeL has a long and successful affiliation with the technology industry, with worldwide brands drawn by the city’s world-class tech professionals and investors, complemented by our own world-class event venue.” 

Rees added: “The venue has also seen a steep rise in the return of the corporate event sector following the pandemic. In turn, this had led to hotels on our campus registering high occupancy and increased international travel into London’s six major airports. We are also seeing a shift towards combined leisure and business visits, all of which are generating a marked increase to the visitor economy of London.”

ExCeL now continues with its packed schedule of events for this year including many other technology shows including the London Climate Technology Show, the Chatbot Summit, HETT (the number one digital technology healthcare event) and the technological advanced electric race series Formula E.