The International Convention Centre (ICC) is celebrating a milestone in its history as it hosts the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) conference for the 20th time.

Event organisers behind the BSAVA have continued to return to the ICC each year since the annual conference was the first event to be staged at the Birmingham venue when it opened in 1991.

The BSAVA congress is the largest conference for veterinary surgeons outside the US and over the last 20 years more than 80,000 delegates have attended the event.

"When we first opened, the idea that this event would have returned to us for 20 consecutive years was a dream and I'm delighted that it has become a reality," said Catherine Newhall-Caiger, director of international sales for the ICC.

The venue has had plenty of reasons to celebrate recently, securing the Liberal Democrats' spring conference in March, to add to the Labour party spring convention and the Conservatives' autumn event that it staged in 2008.

NIKE