Mission to ExCel

The London Docklands exhibition and conference centre, ExCel, opened little more than a year before Jamie Buchan took over as chief executive last February. Although the infrastructure won't be completed until 2004 at the earliest, his appointment halfway through this set-up period marks a change in focus from constructing the venue to marketing it.

He seems the right man for the job. Buchan spent 14 years at oil giant Esso and enjoys describing himself as an oil man, but his talent lies in service and marketing. At Esso, he oversaw its petrol station forecourt shops, and since then he has been marketing director at both British Gas and the AA, and more recently strategy and marketing director for Whitbread.

One of the main problems he has faced since taking the ExCel hot seat is persuading businesses that are wary of moving to London's "remote" Docklands that it is, in fact, well served by the Jubilee Underground line and the City Airport. "There's a big marketing job to be done in this location in London," he says. "Like with Canary Wharf, it has been slow; but it just needs a few big names and boom! - everyone wants to be here."

That process has already started. Hotels now open include the 104-suite Sunborn Yacht hotel, the 120-bedroom Custom House hotel, and the 147-bedroom Quality Hotel @ ExCel. By 2003 there will be 1,500 bedrooms on site, as Ramada, Travel Inn, Holiday Inn, Ibis and Novotel, among others, open their doors.

There are already about 26 caf‚s and bars in the complex, but Buchan wants to attract more, including mobile catering units, to get faster turnover. Most of the outlets, such as the Viva bars, are run by Compass subsidiary Payne & Gunter, which has a 10-year contract worth, says Buchan, "tens of millions of pounds". There's also Oi! Bagel, Soup Opera, Costa Coffee and Berli Sandwiches, all of which pay an undisclosed percentage of turnover to ExCel.

Outside the building, plots are gradually being leased off. Last month, the first pub - London City Taverns' Fox @ ExCel - opened with capacity for 1,000 people. It's "a serious-sized pub", remarks Buchan. A Thai restaurant, the Thai Rack, is opening next March, and three restaurant units next to the Accor hotel in the south-west corner have been earmarked by high-street midmarket brands, but Buchan is not naming names yet.

In addition, 1,000 apartments are being built, with starting prices at £250,000. A marina, crŠche, craft market square, nightclub and offices are also in the pipeline, and he says there is potential for future development at the water's edge.

Besides selling existing space, therefore, Buchan needs to complete the infrastructure works. To achieve this, last month he announced an agreement in principle to recapitalise ExCel. The £240m project is privately funded, which Buchan says is unusual in industry, as new-builds tend to be publicly funded - the Birmingham NEC, for example, is jointly funded. Under the refinancing terms, which he expects to be approved at the end of the year, ExCel will receive £25m of new equity from majority shareholder Visionary Properties.

"The level of debt we have is inappropriate for a start-up business," says Buchan. "We have only been going for two years, so we are revising that agreement to have a better balance between debt and equity."

The NEC might be three times the size of ExCel, but the advantage of the Docklands site means that Buchan has room to expand. He plans to increase the leisure quota in the next phase of development. Planning permission has been granted to develop the 20 acres at the eastern end of the site and, besides exhibition and conference space, it will include more hotels and food and beverage outlets. With the business climate the way it is, however, Buchan reckons the work is unlikely to be completed by the original target date of 2004.

"Because of the economic climate, business is not at the occupancy level we had assumed when we put the plan together in 1999," he explains.

Some 300 events were held last year, with fewer this year, but Buchan is bullish about the fact that ExCel has taken 60 shows from other venues, including Hotelympia in 2003 and the Boat Show, which will be held there in 2004.

And he expects more business. To develop start-up events, Buchan has just brought in Rob Mackenzie, formerly chief executive of Emap Exhibitions, as associate director. One of Buchan's ambitions is to host consumer shows for sectors such as gardens and antiques, rather than just trade shows. As he says: "We don't have core competency as an organiser, but would like to ally ourselves to one."

ExCel

Royal Victoria Dock, London E16 1XL
Web site: www.excel-london.co.uk

Opened: November 2000
Cost: £240m (all privately funded)
Rent: land is granted from English Partnerships; ExCel pays ground rent for 110 acres, but the areas around it have been leased

by Rosalind Mullen