Clarion Gaming confirms ICE will not face further delays
Event cannot move again due to ExCeL scheduling and will run in April regardless of withdrawals
Clarion Gaming has confirmed that ICE will go ahead as planned on 12-14 April at ExCeL London, despite a number of high-profile dropouts from this year’s show.
The already rescheduled date will not be moved for a second time despite the recent withdrawals of Novomatic, Zitro, Merkur Gaming and TCSJohnHuxley.
Speaking to the G3 Pulse Podcast, Alex Pratt and Stuart Hunter, group managing director and managing director respectively at Clarion, admitted that it was a blow that some of the event’s highest profile attendees would not be attending and said it “has a duty of care to protect the interests of those who have chosen to withdraw from this show”, however, that same duty of care extends to the “450+ brands” who have confirmed their participation.
Pratt said: “I can confirm the show will go ahead as planned in April.
“I’d like to assure exhibitors that we will do everything we can to support the land-based sector to participate in this year’s ICE and, if that’s not possible, we will protect their stand allocation into 2023.”
He continued: “We encourage exhibitors to get in touch with the Clarion Gaming team to discuss their individual circumstances and we will seek to accommodate their needs on a client-by-client basis.”
Speaking of the logistics of this year’s event, which traditionally was due to start today (1 February), Hunter added: “We have spent a huge amount of time, energy and resources to ensure that the return of ICE is a more advanced spectacle than ever before.”
It was announced in December that the event originally scheduled to run 1-3 February would have to be pushed back amid rising cases of the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Speaking on the podcast, both Pratt and Hunter revealed that the event is running 12-14 April and cannot be moved again as those dates are the only three consecutive days that the ExCeL could accommodate the rescheduled exhibition.
The pair remained upbeat despite the withdrawals of some of the event’s biggest brands, stating that there will be 15 new brands attending this year.
“We have 15 new exhibitors confirmed over the past week and we are supporting their decision to commit to the show in April,” said Pratt.
He also confirmed that ICE will be taking place at ExCeL London in 2023.