The Centre, which has a capacity of up to 5,100, is the largest purpose built
conference and
exhibition spaces in the south of England, and has played host to a whole range of clients including; TUC, British Medical Association, Tesco and Microsoft.
In addition the venue creates an
economic impact to the city in the region of
£47m based on conference delegate spend, and contributes to the success of a vast range of local business such as Hotels, B&Bs, restaurants, transport and retail outlets, and sustains some 14,000 local jobs.
The Brighton Centre acting general manager
Howard Barden said:
"With the completion of these works, we anticipate we will greatly enhance the delegate and visitor experience keeping the venue competitive and relevant on both the national and international conference venues scene.?
Initial improvements included the replacement of more than 4,000 seats in Auditorium 1, the refurbishment of Auditorium 2, enhanced meeting facilities and the modernisation of existing interiors.
In July 2011 the final phase of the
refurbishment programme got underway to improve the visual appearance of the front of the building and has included:
Removal of existing main entrance doors - Building a new glazed front to edge of building demise - Introducing a new doorway entry at the east and west side of the new lobby - The
redesigned and
modelling of the Restaurant, offering floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic unrivalled views of the seafront. - Enhance meeting facilities.
All
major projects throw up challenges and this project was no different. Within the first weeks the discovery of a large hole under the original pavement at the front of the venue impacted on the
structural integrity of the building?s undercroft and meant that the project surveyor and builders faced additional time constraints.
It is testament to the
professionalism and
dedication of the venue?s team that events continued to run within the building during this time and the venue remained operational throughout.
Now we'd like to bring your
gig-going Brighton Centre memories to a wider public. What event(s) have you attended at the venue thats either had a
lasting impact on your memory, maybe introduced you to a life-partner, or maybe just plain changed your life?
Answers in an email to editor@brighton.co.uk : we will publish as many as we can. Please include your full name (but we will change your name for publication if you so desire) and a daytime telephone number.