London, UK (September 21, 2001)--Plans for a major two-week exhibition of British design in the heart of Manhattan next month are going ahead, despite the recent terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

Announcing its intention to open the exhibition in New York's Grand Central Terminal as planned, on October 16, the UK Design Council said the staging of the event would be "a tribute to the close relationship between business communities, and in particular the creative industries, on both sides of the Atlantic."

The Great Expectations exhibition was originally intended to be the dramatic centerpiece of a two-week-long festival to promote Britain called UKinNY. Earlier today, (during the visit of the Prime Minister Tony Blair to New York), it was announced the program will go ahead, in a revised format, as a show of solidarity and support for the city. The decision was taken after New York City authorities made it clear they did not want such events to be canceled. The festival will be re-named UKwithNY.

Andrew Summers, Chief Executive of the Design Council said, "Obviously we considered calling off or at least postponing the New York opening of Great Expectations in the wake of last week's horrific attacks on the World Trade Center. But in the last few days, our colleagues in New York have made it clear that they want it to go ahead if at all possible. They wish to demonstrate that their great city has not been cowed by the terrorists, and that as far as possible it's getting "back to business."

"In the light of this, we have decided that the exhibition will go ahead as a powerful symbol of Britain's solidarity with the people of New York, and a tribute to the close relationship which exists between business communities, and in particular the creative industries, on both sides of the Atlantic."

A number of leading figures from the world of British design are planning to attend the official opening ceremony of Great Expectations, including architect Lord Richard Rogers, Julia Barfield (designer of the British Airways London Eye) and the Rector of the Royal College of Art, Sir Christopher Frayling, who is also Chairman of the Design Council.

The specially built $1 million exhibition and its contents are due to be shipped from the UK to New York at the end of this week. A number of logistical hurdles will have to be overcome if its to open on time. But the Design Council team responsible for installing the exhibition is working flat out to ensure that it does.

Great Expectations, the biggest exhibition of its kind ever staged in New York, features 100 examples of the best of British design and creativity. It includes a diverse range of innovative products and services covering film and new media, engineering and transport, consumer and medical products, fashion and textiles, advertising and architecture.

The exhibition is based on the concept of a banquet, with the exhibits displayed on a 180-foot dining table glowing with white light. Visitors will be encouraged to sit at one of the many place settings, where they will be able to hear more about the exhibits through speakers built in to the table and chair backs, and through computers. The exhibition will fill the huge Vanderbilt Hall, which runs alongside the main station concourse at Grand Central. On average, half a million New Yorkers pass through Grand Central every day.