HOW BIRMINGHAM LOST ITS CROWN JEWEL

FROM THE QUEEN TO BLACKSTONE

Aug 03, 2025

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By Mike Olley, Former ICC Committee Member

Thirty years ago, Her Majesty the Queen opened Birmingham’s International Convention Centre. Three decades on, the civic pride it symbolised has been quietly sold — and resold — at great public cost.

On 12 June 1991, Queen Elizabeth II came to Birmingham to open the International Convention Centre (ICC) in a mome…

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