LIVERPOOL’s successful bid to host the Eurovision Song Contest on 3-4 May next year has dealt a blow to the organisers of the Christian Resources Exhibition (CRE), which was booked for the city’s Arena and Convention Centre (ACC) that weekend. It cannot now be held in Liverpool until 2024 (News, 7 October).

Steve Goddard, a co-owner and managing director of CRE, said on Tuesday: “We can’t re-schedule at the venue at such short notice, and there’s no other venue available at that time. So, hopefully, we’ll be sitting down with ACC Liverpool as soon as possible to look at compensation. We’ll see what happens.”

The comedian Tim Vine opened the national CRE at Sandown Park this week, which attracted 160 exhibitors and presented a critical opportunity to sell space for Liverpool. An exhibition in Birmingham on 8-9 November next year will, in effect, replace the Sandown Park event.