International conference success in NewcastleGateshead

The two day, sell-out event, was attended by over 400 delegates at the newly renovated Grade II* listed Boiler Shop in Newcastle’s Stephenson Quarter.

Delegates heard from five industry leading keynote speakers including: Mark Shayler, Founder and Director of Ape; James Pellatt, Head of Projects from Great Portland Estates (GPE); Stuart Maggs, Founder of Scaled Robotics; Nell Watson, engineer, future orientated thinker and Faculty Member of the Singularity University; and Peter Runacres, Senior Projects Director for Argent.

The show was founded in 2011 by Space Group, a BIM (Building Information Modelling) and digital construction specialists based in Newcastle, brought back to their home city for 2017 and delivered by BeaconHouse Events.

Show co-founder, Rob Charlton, CEO of Space Group commented: “At Space Group we wanted to create a show that not only produced a knowledge exchange and learning platform for digital construction, but to put on a show to remember and we certainly achieved both. Since we first began in 2011 we have maintained the philosophy that we are doing this for our colleagues and peers to create opportunities and secure the future of construction. The seminar sessions were packed out, and left standing room only. The enthusiasm from speakers and delegates was superb to see.”

Over the course of the two days, the show focused on four content streams; Data, Stories, Next Generation and Strategy. The show was about the people and for the people who are passionate about digital construction methods and what the future holds for the construction industry. 

Paul Szomoru, Head of Business Tourism at NewcastleGateshead Initiative, said: “BIM Show Live is an energetic event and it was fantastic to see it brought back to its roots in Newcastle - one of the leading cities for BIM in the UK.

“The Boiler Shop was the perfect venue for such an event and really demonstrates the versatility of NewcastleGateshead to host a range of conferences and events, across a variety of different industry sectors.

“We were awarded funding from the VisitBritain Event Support Programme to internationalise the conference which included an enhanced web presence and a hosted delegation of international organisations, allowing us to promote the market opportunities and benefits of locating in Newcastle.

“We’re looking forward to working with Space Group and BeaconHouse Events moving forward to support them with the continued growth of the conference.”

Rob added: “We are already planning for next year, we see this as a long-term commitment and our aim is to help drive a digital revolution to ensure the construction industry achieves another fantastic five years.”

BIM Show Live was one of a number of successful projects to benefit from VisitBritain’s Event Support Programme. The Event Support Programme was born out of the Government’s Event Industry Board (EIB), established in 2015 to improve and promote the UK Events sector.

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