The National Exhibition Centre is the busiest exhibition centre in Europe, and with 21 halls totalling 200,000 square metres it is also the biggest exhibition centre in Britain.

The NEC welcomes up to three million people every year to a busy programme of events, on average 175 exhibitions and events each year, ranging from world-famous public shows such as Crufts Dog Show, BBC Clotheshow Live and BBC Gardeners' World Live to international trade exhibitions like IPEX and Spring Fair.

The venue is often described as an exhibition 'village' as it has its own network of roads, four on-site hotels, a lake, 21,000 car parking spaces, and its own security, traffic and fire fighting forces. The NEC is part of The NEC Group, which comprises of the NEC, The NEC Arena, The ICC and The NIA. The Group has a significant economic impact on the surrounding region. A survey published by KPMG identified that the venues generated an estimated £1.3 billion of business and visitor expenditure and supported the equivalent of 22,000 full-time jobs every year.