- Wed 06 Aug 2008 – Bournemouth Gets on Board with Event UK – Surf’s up for the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) and Bournemouth International Conference Bureau (BICB) at Event UK.
- Fri 25 Jul 2008 – Leading UK Energy Company Returns to the BIC for Fifth Visit – Scottish Southern and Energy (SSE) are returning to the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) this week for their Annual General Meeting.
- Fri 18 Jul 2008 – BIC is the Only English Resort Venue to Make Finals of the World’s Best Congress Centre Award – Up against international city venues, the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) was the only English resort venue to make the finals of the 2008 International Association of Congress Centre’s (AIPC) Apex Award for World’s Best Congress Centre.
- Tue 08 Jul 2008 – Bournemouth Hotels Voted Best Value in the World – Bournemouth hotels have been voted the best value hotels in the world, by a survey of guests who use website hotel.info.
- Thu 03 Jul 2008 – Come and Tour Behind the Scenes the BIC and Pavilion – The Bournemouth International Centre and Pavilion Theatre and Ballroom are going to be open to the public, for behind the scenes tours, every Friday from July to September this year.
- Wed 25 Jun 2008 – Busy Times Ahead for the BIC – The Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) has a busy couple of weeks ahead what with hosting the Consumer Affairs and Trading Standards (TSI) Conference and Exhibition and welcoming back the Local Government Association (LGA) for the ninth time!
- Tue 17 Jun 2008 – BIC has Just the Ticket! – The Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) has launched an innovative parking scheme that offers visitors a guaranteed parking space in the BIC multi-storey car park, as its website sees major growth in ticket sales!
- Fri 18 Apr 2008 – Ideal Home Exhibition Touches Down in Bournemouth – Bournemouth will be all action from Thursday 28th until Sunday 31st August as the popular Ideal Home Exhibition lands at the Bournemouth International Centre, on the same weekend as the new Bournemouth Airshow.
- Thu 21 Feb 2008 – BIC Bride of the Year – Hundreds of brides-to-be recently attended the successful Wedding Show at the BIC which saw Rachel Bunce from Salisbury scoop the Bride of the Year title
Future looks bright for Bournemouth's Historic Theatre
THE business forecast looks bright at Bournemouth Pavilion as the Council decides to keep running it when restoration is complete.
Councillors today (Wednesday November 21 2007) voted in favour of the Listed Pavilion remaining a Council-run enterprise instead of an option to hand management responsibility to the Trevor Osborne Property Group.
The £13million restoration, which will bring the Pavilion back to its 1930s glory, is being funded by TOPG. The company is building a £46million leisure complex, including restaurants, rooftop gardens and a casino on adjacent land as an extension of the facilities on offer in the Pavilion.
Leader of the Council, Cllr Stephen MacLoughlin, said: “The Pavilion is one of Bournemouth’s most notable buildings and we are determined to keep it an in-house operation. The considerable investment from TOPG will make it a quality performance venue and the expertise of our management team will help bring in top-level family entertainment.”
Peter Gunn, Managing Director of the BIC and Pavilion, welcomed the decision to continue the in-house operation. He said: “The BIC and Pavilion operate extremely well together, promoting an extensive range of events across the two venues and benefiting from a coordinated management and ticketing approach.
“Recent improvements to the BIC have helped to drive a 36 per cent increase in income since 2004 and an 80,000 increase in ticket sales.
“Large conferences are being attracted back to the town and consumer satisfaction levels are currently at over 90 per cent. We are convinced that the major investment into the Pavilion will bring similar benefits to residents and visitors to Bournemouth.”
Speaking after the meeting Trevor Osborne of TOPG said: “Detailed discussions about programming and steps to maximise the public’s enjoyment of the theatre have led the council and ourselves to a shared conviction that the Council’s historic operating relationship with the theatre productions should continue into the future.
“Our role will be to restore the entire building so that it is even better than when it was opened in 1929. We’ll be working in partnership with the Council to achieve that result and to help the Council in its ambition to operate the theatre and ballroom as the best on the South Coast”.