ExCeL London venue announces three new appointments with Diana Frederiksen, Declan Cassidy and Kornelia Kaczynska.

ExCeL London has announced three new appointments to its Conference & Events team, in response to growing client demand. Bringing over 35 years of MICE industry experience, Diana Frederiksen joins the venue as Head of Business Development, Declan Cassidy as Head of Sales Development, and Kornelia Kaczynska as Account Executive. The three will further bolster ExCeL’s commercial team and business development, focusing on the venue’s forthcoming 25,000 sqm expansion opening later this year that will see it become the largest fully integrated conference centre in Europe.

Beginning her career at Stockholmsmässan Congress & Exhibition Centre, Diana Frederiksen has also worked for leading brands such as the Hilton London Metropole, the largest hotel outside the US, where she headed up the ESG committee. She is a founding ICCA Future Leaders Council member and she will focus on longer-lead, large-scale, city-wide conferences and events.

Meanwhile, Declan Cassidy has worked for brands including the PPHE Hotel Group, the Strand Palace Hotel, and the Kia Oval and for almost 15 years he headed up the sales team at Etc. Venues – a leading meeting venue provider in the US and UK. He will review ExCeL’s commercial offering across its key convention spaces and develop inclusive packages for the state-of-the-art meeting hub CentrEd and the new Maritime Suite.

Kornelia Kaczynska, who has several years of experience at various venues and Park Lane’s London Hilton Hotel, will provide wider support for the C&E team, particularly across inbound enquiries.

James Rees, ExCeL’s Executive Director and President of JMIC, added: “2024 is undoubtedly a milestone year for ExCeL, with more than £300 million being invested in our venue, infrastructure and, subsequently, London’s event industry. This is due to increasing demand from event organisers across the UK, Europe, and North America, so much so that 65 per cent of 2025 space in our new expansion has already been booked.

“We’re also investing in our people, so we’re delighted to welcome Diana, Declan, and Kornelia. They will further strengthen our existing team and help provide the very best experience to our clients.”

ExCeL hosts around 400 events a year and welcomes four million visitors, out of which one million are from overseas, and the venue experienced its busiest year in 2023, with that trend already continuing into 2024. Key upcoming events include the European Society of Cardiology (30 August–2 September), Elevate24 (11–12 September), PCR London Valves (24–26 November), and Hyrox London (29 November–1 December), plus a variety of major corporate events.