Capital conference venue books jump in full-year profits

● EICC benefits from hike in delegate numbers and Barack Obama visit in 2017

The Edinburgh International Conference Centre (EICC) has continued on the recovery path, booking a record year thankstorisingdelegatenumbers and major global events.

The capital venue saw operating profits rise to £1.2 million in 2017, up from £640,000 the year before, while the economic impact for the city topped £55m, compared with £51.6m in 2016.

The back-to-back periods of profitability follow recorded losses in 2013, 2014 and 2015 following a period of major expansion for the centre.

During 2017, delegate numbers amounted to 94,000 – up from 91,000 in the previous 12 months – who attended some 200 events.

Bosses yesterday said the EICC had benefited last year from more UK and international associations and conferences heading to the city, including the European Robotics Forum, the MICROEICC biology Society Annual Conference and the Institute for New Economic Thinking.

Thehighlightsof2017included Barack Obama making his first keynote speech outside the United States since leaving the White House.

Sustainability remains high on the agenda at the EICC, and in November the venue was chosen as one of 11 organisations across the world to receive a prestigious SEAL Business Sustainability Award, joining Bridgestone, Office Depot and Arm as one of the inaugural award winners.

The EICC opened in 1995 and in 2013 added the Lennox Suite, a world-class conference space with moving floor, as part of a £35m expansion.

Marshall Dallas, chief executive of the EICC, said: “Our collective desire to create not only the most sustainable conference venue in the world, but also an environment that encourages the formulation of ideas that change the world has paid dividends as we experienced a record year in 2017 in which we welcomed more events and delegates to the than ever before.”

To date, the Morrison Street venue has provided an estimated £600m boost to the local economy while hosting more than one million delegates and 3,000 events.

The EICC is owned by the City of Edinburgh Council and operates at arm’s length as an independent commercial venture. Edinburgh is the highest ranked UK conference destination outside London, according to the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).

A spokesman for the EICC added: “The venue has diversified its business streams over the last couple of years, including through increased partnerships around, for example, the Edinburgh festivals, while the ability to draw more international association business to Edinburgh has fed through to the 2017 results.

“New flight routes, improvements to the city’s transport and infrastructure and the rise of Edinburgh in business tourism terms are all contributing factors. Productivity is also up markedly, with average revenue per employee now sitting at around £260,000.”