National Boat Shows has been forced to change the dates of the London International Boat Show, following a planning fiasco by Earls Court, which hosts the show. The show, which had been scheduled to take place from January 9-19 will be moved forward to January 2-12.

Earls Court made a fundamental error in allocating dates for the 2003 London Boat Show and the Amusement Trades Exhibition (ATE) which is scheduled to take place during the same month.

ATE was scheduled to open on Wednesday January 21 only 3 days after the original final day of 2003 London Boat Show (Sunday January 19). For breakdown purposes a 6-day run is needed to clear all boats and show equipment from the Earls Court site. An independent arbitrator has now ruled that the ATEI and ICE 2003 shows shall be permitted to take place on the dates previously agreed with Earls Court Limited with the shows opening from 21-23 January 2003. The Arbitrator ruled that Earls Court Limited had agreed to make its exhibition halls available to NBSL from December 19 to January 23 2003 but the earlier agreement with Amusement Trades Exhibitions Limited would take precedence.

It will be open to National Boat Shows to bring a claim against Earls Court for any damages which it suffers as a result of being unable to open its 2003 show on the dates previously advertised.