Tag: events

A French Group Competes with Ifema to Resurrect Madrid’s Palacio de Congresos

2 January 2018 – El Confidencial

The French group GL Events (which manages more than 40 centres around the world specialising in business events, fairs and conferences) and Feria de Madrid (Ifema) are bidding hard to resurrect the abandoned ‘Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos’ in Madrid, located at number 99 Paseo de la Castellana, right opposite the Santiago Bernabeú stadium. In July, the French group notified Turespaña (which forms part of the Ministry of Energy, Tourism and the Digital Agenda) that it was willing to invest €40 million in a first phase to restore the property and make it viable in exchange for a 30-year concession.

GL Events has already met with experts from the Secretary of State for Tourism’s team and its Chairman is expected to travel from France to Madrid over the next few weeks to meet with the Secretary of State herself, Matilde Pastora Asían González. Nevertheless, sources close to El Confidencial have reported that Ifema (a consortium between the Town Hall of Madrid, the Community of Madrid, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Fundación Obra Social y Monte Piedad de Madrid) have taken the lead in this race and have already signed a pre-agreement with the Ministry of Tourism to invest more than the French firm has offered in exchange for managing the property for 50 years.

Madrid Foro Empresarial, which has been asking the public administrations to bring the complex back to life for some time now, given that the capital “needs more spaces to promote new fairs and conferences”, is now asking Turespaña “to convene an international public tender to allow the property to be managed by the best conference operator possible (…)”.

If Ifema does end up taking over the management of the property on Paseo de la Castellana, then it would have a monopoly on the Community of Madrid’s event, fair and conference spaces. Besides the exhibition halls that it already manages in Campo de las Naciones, Ifema has also signed another agreement with the capital’s Town Hall to operate the Palacio Municipal de Congresos, located right next to Ifema’s facilities, for 25 years (…).

In this way, Ifema would control all of the larges spaces in the capital: the exhibition halls, the municipal hall (‘el Palacio Municipal’) and the conference hall (‘el Palacio de Congresos’) on the Castellana. But as Marc Rodríguez, Director General of GL Events in Spain, (…) explained, his firm is still planning to present its proposal to operate the Madrilenian hall if a public tender is organised in the end. “We are a solvent financial operator with experience in the sector. Our construction project would last for 18 months and our initial investment would be €40 million”. The French group recorded revenues of €953 million in 2016 and employs almost 4,000 people. It also manages the Centro de Convencions Internacional de Barcelona (CCIB), whose concession period ends in November 2021 (…).

Original story: El Confidencial (by David Fernández)

Translation: Carmel Drake

EY Gets Ready To Move 2,500 Professionals To Torre Azca

1 December 2016 – Expansión

EY is preparing to move into Torre Azca, previously known as Torre Titania, and is completing the final details of its move, which will be completed next March. The professional services firm will occupy 22,000 m2 of this 100-m tall building, which is owned by El Corte Inglés.

EY will occupy eleven office floors in this property, whose lower floors are occupied by the distribution group’s department store. EY’s employees will have direct access from the street. Specifically, 2,500 professionals will be located on floors 10 to 18, and the 19th floor will be used for external client meeting rooms, with more than 15 meeting rooms and an auditorium. Meanwhile, the 9th floor will house a canteen and a space for events and training. EY will also have a room with panoramic views of Madrid where it will hold presentations and events.

The firm will place is logo at the top of the tower, which will include more than 28 LED modules and will be visible from the Paseo de la Castellana and from Paseo del Prado. EY has been advised by the real estate consultancy CBRE regarding the design of the new offices and the logo, which is currently being installed.

Besides Torre Azca, EY will also lease 2,000 m2 of additional space in Torre de Mahou for its reprographic team. The President of EY España, José Luis Perelli, explained to Expansión that the move to the tower will be completed in several phases. “Two floors have already been occupied by employees from the finance team, who moved in in October. They are busy resolving questions and ensuring that everything is working property, in an effort to minimise problems when most of the staff move in”.

Perelli explains that the move to the new headquarters responds to a change, not only in the building needs, but also in the culture. “We need collaborative spaces that allow us to prioritise the resolution of clients’ needs with multidisciplinary teams”.

The Director of Human Resources at EY in Spain, José Luis Risco, explained that EY’s staff will be able to work on “any floor in the building because the technological means will allow it”. The company is committed to “paperless, open spaces, without any offices”, which promote flexibility and interaction between workers.

Nevertheless, to facilitate the need for so-called Chinese walls, workers will be able to use soundproof rooms on every floor so that they can work with their teams and have confidential conversations.

In line with current intelligent buildings, EY’s new offices will be equipped with the latest technological solutions. For example, there will be a wifi connection throughout the tower, and the building will have 25 video-conference rooms as well as a centralised system for booking meeting rooms, which will allow users to reserve a meeting room from anywhere in the world using an app.

The new offices are located in the heart of the financial district, just a stone’s throw from Torre Picasso – EY’s headquarters until now – and are well connected in terms of public transport. The property also has a car park.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake