Association Congress, the annual conference for association, society and institute executives, is moving from London to Liverpool following a major reorganisation of the event.

Organiser Association Resource said it was splitting the conference into the UK National Association Congress, which will take place in December this year at London's ILEC Conference Centre; and the newly-named International and European Congress, which will take place at ACC Liverpool, 15-16 July next year.

Association Congress executive director Damian Hutt said London’s hosting of the Olympics next year, with the impact that would have on costs, provided a timely opportunity to relocate after five years in London.

The move to Liverpool will mean more space, Hutt added, allowing the congress to look in more detail at issues which affect international associations. It will also allow the event to cater for the differences between professional bodies, individual member associations, and trade associations.

He said: “With the London 2012 Olympics in mind, we started looking at a variety of cities around the UK and chose Liverpool because the venue’s proposal proved to be real value for money, while the accommodation options were less than half price when compared to London.”

This year 225 buyers were registered to attend the two-day congress, which opened at the Business Design Centre in Islington today, compared to 178 last year.

Kerrin Macphie, director of sales at Liverpool ACC, said: “Welcoming delegates from a range of international association will put Liverpool in front of key decision makers and influencers from the sector, helping to position the venue as one of the UK’s pre-eminent destinations for meetings.”