The London International Boat Show, appearing in 2003 at the Earls Court exhibition centre for the last time, has been the victim of a planning fiasco by Earls Court Ltd. The Show, which was to have started on 9 January and run through to 19 January, has now been brought forward by one week, bringing it dangerously close to New Year hangover territory.

The problems arose after Earls Court made a fundamental error in assigning dates to the boat show, and to the Amusement Trades Exhibition (ATE) which was scheduled to start shortly afterwards. It appears that the dates for the ATE show had already been set for 21-23 January, giving boat show exhibitors and their ATE counterparts just one day to complete the turnaround. It is estimated that the removal of boats and show equipment from the site takes six days.

An Arbitrator has ruled that, while Earls Court Ltd had agreed to make its exhibition halls available to National Boat Shows Ltd (NBSL) from 19 December 2002 to 23 January 2003, an earlier agreement with ATE would take precedence. It will be open for NBSL to bring a claim against Earls Court for any damages which it suffers as a result of being unable to open the 2003 Boat Show on the dates previously advertised.

The 2003 London International Boat Show will now run from 2-12 January.