ExCeL

ExCeL London opened in November 2000 and has hosted more than 1,700 events during the course of the last five years.
The project began in 1988 when the originating architect, Ray Moxley, was approached by the Association of Exhibition Organisers (aeo) to locate and design a new exhibition and conference centre within the M25.
A turning point was reached when the 100-acre Royal Victoria Dock site was found. This offered three Docklands Light Railway (DLR) stations on the site, the Jubilee line just two stops away, City Airport just five minutes away, and the M25 and M11 just 20 minutes away.
Royal Victoria Dock was originally a working dock opened by Prince Albert in 1855. It was the first design to take iron steam ships and the first to use hydraulic cranes and lifts to raise ships. It specialised in tobacco, South American beef and New Zealand, produce. Traffic through the Royal Docks reached its peak in the 1950s and early 1960s. After that, containerisation and other technological changes, together with a switch in Britain's trade following EEC membership, led to a rapid decline. The dock finally closed in 1981.
Keen to redevelop the Docklands, the London Docklands Development Corporation launched an international competition to appoint a preferred developer, which was won by the ExCeL London team. Today ExCeL London is one of Europe's largest regeneration projects.
ExCeL London is a public company with a significant portion of private funding. Ј130m of bonds are traded on the Luxembourg stock exchange with a shareholding structure that is held 75% by a Malaysian corporate-equity consortium and 25% by major UK financial institutions.