Edinburgh International Convention Centre: Ideas to Change the World

Edinburgh is one of the most important economic, historic and cultural centres in the UK and continues to enjoy great popularity among business visitors. EICC did not flinch and took on the role of innovation hub to improve events in the city.

The Edinburgh International Convention Centre (EICC) was formed in the early 1990s as a joint venture between the District Council and Lothian & Edinburgh Enterprise, being part of the largest urban regeneration scheme outside London at the time. After nearly 26 years of operations and serving as a bulwark for the region’s business travel, EICC has taken a step back to move forward. “In the 12 months that followed the pandemic, our business and industry were unrecognisable − we held no in-person business events at the EICC, from last March to May 2021,” says Marshall Dallas (pictured below), EICC’s chief executive. That said, the venue quickly began to work on the development of a tool that would allow customers to continue their events, albeit in an online format. “In May 2020, we launched Make it Edinburgh Live (MIE Live) our bespoke online events platform which offered a sense of place in a virtual world” − with online links to local experiences – “as we felt it essential that delegates still enjoyed a connection with our destination.” Since last May, the venue has hosted 35 events via MIE Live which are more than just live-streams - as well as plenary sessions, breakout options, exhibition and virtual poster halls, the programme deals ample opportunities for audience participation, including attendees’ ability to enter networking spaces by subject matter.

The Scottish government lifted restrictions that allowed the resumption of conferences and events from August. This allowed them to host the Edinburgh Fringe Festival throughout the summer, and welcome a series of conferences which will run through the end of the year and beyond. "We're confident that once international travel becomes more widely available, we will see these levels increase. In the interim the UK market is responding positively,” adds Dallas. In this rentrée, EICC’s focus is to be as exible as possible with clients, business partners and associations. “We recently introduced an initiative for third-party agents whereby we pay them instalments of their commissions as we receive instalments from our clients – it’s called the One-for-One Commission Plan.” For the EICC team, associative relationships will seek to identify and develop mutually beneficial partnerships that create positive outcomes.

From September to December 2020, EICC offered its space to Napier University which allowed the venue to generate some revenue. Two months later, they also opened part of its building as the main vaccination centre for Edinburgh and Midlothian. “When we closed our doors to in-person events we took the opportunity to support a local charity – called Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts − by donating large quantities of food supplies from our kitchen larders,” reveals Dallas. IECC’s sustainability practices were recently renewed with the launch of Step Change which comprises three main pillars: the “Desk to Door” policy with sustainable travel options to delegates; an “Event Impact Reporting”, basically a legacy piece, standing as a record of environmental and social feats made during the event; and a carbon mitigation programme. “Sustainability has been ingrained into our values and Step Change is a continually evolving programme which accommodates new science, technology, and partnerships as we strive to do the best,” concludes Dallas.