Who are we?
NAEC Stoneleigh, part of the Grandstand Group, is an established exhibition and events centre based in Warwickshire renowned for hosting a variety of events from conference to exhibition and outdoor. Hosting around 300 events per year, NAEC Stoneleigh boasts of 3 large exhibition halls, a conference centre, 250 acres of versatile outdoor space and a 58-bedroom onsite hotel, The Stoneleigh Park Lodge.
What is our history?
In 1994, Grandstand was born under the name Grandstand Media running Horse of the Year Show and the British National Show Jumping Championships from offices based in Harpenden. In 1997, Grandstand took pride in achieving a licence to run Horse of the Year Show until 2012, followed by the shows relocation to the National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham from Wembley in 2002. After great success, in 2004 Grandstand had been granted an extension to run Horse of the Year Show until 2026.
As the years went by, with great triumph and growth of both equine events, in 2013 Grandstand Media gained the opportunity to take over the running of the events venue at Stoneleigh Park from the Royal Agricultural Society of England, known as RASE. Originally launched under Grandstand Stoneleigh Events, the venue rebranded and is now known as NAEC Stoneleigh which is a privately owned company by Chairman, Sandy Anderson. Commendably, Grandstand also achieved the licence to run the prominent agricultural Pig and Poultry and Grassland and Muck for RASE.
Where are we now?
In 2018, NAEC Stoneleigh has been subject to a £1.5 million investment across our exhibition halls and conference facilities. Offering free parking for over 10,000 vehicles onsite, the venue has recently undergone work to maximise parking onsite finalising hardstanding carpark development and expansion.
In 2019, the venue confirmed that it had delivered a 20% increase in the number of large-scale events hosted totalling to over 400,000 visitors across the year. NAEC Stoneleigh has recently launched a new hall adding a further investment of almost £750,000.00 equating to a further 2,400m2 of event space.
Hosting a diverse range of events, whilst still proud of our agricultural heritage, less than 10% of the events hosted at NAEC are agricultural. NAEC Stoneleigh hosts regular conferences for AHDB and Pig & Poultry, also hosting RABDF Dairy Tech which returned to NAEC from the NEC back in 2018.
Interestingly, 78% of the events NAEC host are consumer and trade exhibitions, with a remaining percentage split of conferences and meetings, and indoor or outdoor events. In recent years, NAEC Stoneleigh are hosting more and more events within the automotive sector such as Honda, Vauxhall, Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover and Suzuki constituted from the region having a rich supply of businesses.
Home to a variety events, NAEC Stoneleigh takes pride in accommodating our longer standing clients including Race Retro, Your Horse Live and Pig & Poultry to name a few. Some of these clients have been with NAEC for almost 20 years! In recent years, NAEC Stoneleigh’s portfolio has expanded even further by welcoming new events. In 2019, Let’s Recycle Live launched their brand-new event which even hosts a 2-storey pub with use of NAEC’s exhibition halls and further outdoor space.
Due to COVID-19, like any other venue, NAEC Stoneleigh was unable to run in 2020 however rest assured, we are back this year, with exhibitors and visitors thirsty to participate again.