Bournemouth International Centre

The Bournemouth International Centre (commonly known as the BIC /ˈbɪk/) in Bournemouth, Dorset, was opened in September 1984. It is one of the largest venues for conferences, exhibitions, entertainment and events in southern England. Additionally, it is well known for hosting national conferences of major British political parties and trade unions.

Bournemouth International Centre
Exterior of venue (c. 2018)
Address	Exeter Rd Bournemouth BH2 5BH England
Coordinates	50°43′00″N 1°52′41″W
Owner	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council
Operator	BH Live
Built	1982–84
Inaugurated	16 August 1984
Opened	6 September 1984 (1984-09-06)[1]
Renovated	2004
Expanded	1990
Construction cost	£19.5 million (£86.9 million in 2023 pounds[2])
Classroom-style seating	10–50
Banquet/ballroom	2,500 (Purbeck Hall) 1,300 (Solent Hall)
Theatre seating	6,500 standing or 4,045 seated (Windsor Hall) 1,100 (Tregonwell Hall)
Enclosed space
• Total space	6,982 m2 (75,150 sq ft)
• Exhibit hall floor	1,973 m2 (21,240 sq ft)
• Breakout/meeting	1,000 m2 (11,000 sq ft)
• Ballroom	2,748 m2 (29,580 sq ft)
Parking	650 spaces
Website
Venue Website

In June 2022, it was announced that the building would undergo a £1.8 million refurbishment.^[3]

Conferences

The BIC has hosted national conferences of political parties and trade unions. Neil Kinnock attacked the militant tendency at the Labour Party Conference there in 1985, and Margaret Thatcher made her last Conservative Party Conference speech at the venue in 1990.^[4]

In recent years, both Labour and the Conservatives have held their conferences at larger venues in urban centres, such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool, but the BIC has continued to host the Liberal Democrat Conference.^[5] In 2025, the BIC will also host the Green Party of England and Wales autumn conference.^[6]

Venues

The BIC's location on the seafront

Purbeck Hall in August 2018

At opening, it comprised two halls, the Windsor Hall and the Tregonwell Hall as well as a leisure swimming pool which has since been closed to provide further conference and exhibition space.

The venue's Windsor Hall has a concert capacity of 6,500 (standing) or 4,000 (seated) and is one of the bigger indoor music venues in England,^[7] often included on the arena tours of major artists. This hall has the largest tensile grid in Europe – a tensioned mesh comprising 30 miles of steel wire hung above the stage which can suspend approximately 90 tonnes of weight.^[8]

In 1990, the circular Purbeck Hall was added at a cost of £6 million.^[8]

The Solent Hall can house exhibitions or hold up to 2,000 people for standing music concerts. As part of a refurbishment costing £22 million, this hall controversially replaced the popular swimming pool and wave machine in 2004 after an unsuccessful campaign to save the facility.^[8][9]

Managed by social enterprise BH Live in partnership with Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, the BIC is operated alongside its sister venue, The Pavilion Theatre and Ballroom.

See also

• Pavilion Theatre and Ballroom
• List of venues in the United Kingdom