The International Convention Centre Wales (ICC Wales) has hosted its largest exhibition to date, as part of the ISBA 2021 Annual Conference (Independent Schools’ Bursars Association).
The two-day ISBA Annual Conference on 23-24 November brought over 1,000 attendees to the UK’s new state-of-the-art convention centre, with more than 170 exhibition stands and 400 delegates.
ISBA’s services are designed to assist school finance managers in the successful administrative, financial and operational management of their schools and the annual conference and exhibition is the perfect place for them to meet suppliers and service providers, as well as share ideas and attend thought leadership sessions.
The conference programme included inspirational education sessions from expert speakers from some of the most influential names in the independent school sector on subjects such as sustainability, diversity, staff wellbeing and artificial intelligence, networking, and the extensive exhibition in the venue’s Main Hall.
David Woodgate, Chief Executive, Independent Schools’ Bursars Association, said: “As a new venue, ICC Wales has clearly been very well planned in terms of the flow of the rooms. The auditorium is state-of-the-art and our exhibitors really liked the ease with which they were able to get all their equipment in and set their stands up in the main hall. There is room for people to spread out which is important, it’s a big capacity facility. The staff have shown a can-do attitude and been very welcoming, co-operative and helpful.”
Ian Edwards, Chief Executive, ICC Wales, commented: “We are delighted that ISBA chose our venue for their annual conference. The event had previously been held at Celtic Manor but it had outgrown the facilities there in recent years, so it was great to be able to welcome ISBA back to Wales and see such a busy exhibition and conference taking advantage of the greater capacities at ICC Wales. We were able to provide them with flexible solutions for their plenary and breakout sessions, and it’s fantastic to see all our facilities so full of activity once again.”
The 5,000-capacity ICC Wales is located within the grounds of the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, South Wales. The venue launched in September 2019 and pandemic restrictions forced it to close its doors for 17 months before reopening last month.
Since reopening, it has also staged the International Golf Travel Market, the first time the event has been held in the UK, the Blas Cymru/Taste Wales showcase linking Welsh food producers to UK buyers, and a number of concerts including a Tina Turner tribute and a Christmas on Broadway celebration.
