Confusion has arisen over the dates for the next London Boat Show in 2003. Earls Court, which hosts the show, has made a fundamental error is allocating dates for the 2003 London Boat Show and the Amusement Trades Exhibition (ATE) which is scheduled to take place during the same month.

Currently ATE is scheduled to open on Wednesday January 21 only 3 days after the final day of 2003 London Boat Show (Sunday January 19). For breakdown purposes a 6-day run is needed to clear all boats and show equipment from the Earls Court site.

National Boat Shows, which organises the London Boat Show, has been in continuous negotiations with Earls Court on a daily basis to try and resolve the problem. As of today these negotiations are ongoing with NBS striving to reach a satisfactory conclusion with Earls Court. NBS says it has refused to change the dates for the show, however it accepts that one party will have to move. Amusement Trades Exhibition claims that due to commitments at other European shows it is unable to amend the dates.

The stalemate leaves NBS with three options: To refuse to change the dates, a move that NBS believes will undoubtedly lead to a lengthy legal dispute; Open the London Boat Show a week early on January 2; Shorten the show by one day and open on Friday January 3 to ease the show build up.

Should any change of dates be affected it will not impact on the overall number of build-up and breakdown days.

NBS claims a final decision should be made by April 30.

For more details about proposed changes contact James Gower via email at info@britishmarine.co.uk.