CEEQA organisers have announced that iconic band The Boomtown Rats led by frontman Bob Geldof together with original band members Garry Roberts, Peter Briquette and Simon Crowe will headline the live entertainment at this year’s CEEQA Gala on 15 May in Warsaw.

Hailing from rural Ireland The Boomtown Rats exploded onto the music scene in the late 70s with post-punk era defining chart hits "I Don’t Like Mondays", "Rat Trap", "Diamond Smile" and "Banana Republic". The band’s frontman Bob Geldof went on to dominate TV screens and global consciousness in the mid-eighties and beyond with his Band Aid, Live Aid and Commission for Africa projects in response to a ravaging drought and famine in Ethiopia in 1984. Geldof went on to co-found the Live 8 concerts in 2005, their success catapulting him to global icon status. In 2013 the band stormed the Isle of Wight Festival stage, and what was meant to be a brief “regrouping” turned into the ‘The Rats’ triumphant second coming.

In its 16th year, CEEQA is the leading market insight platform and most trusted industry awards for commercial real estate investment across 18 countries in Central & Eastern Europe and Southeast Europe, organised in association with Deloitte to recognise business excellence and showcase the achievements and opportunities of the sector. 

The CEEQA Gala is attended by 900 business leaders from more than 50 countries and is renowned as one of the major calendar dates in European and global real estate for its unique blend of elite business, unparalleled hospitality and world class entertainment, in recent years attracting the likes of Morcheeba, Macy Gray, Bonnie Tyler, Kim Wilde, Bananarama and Hot Chocolate to perform live at the event among a wide range of production and entertainment highlights. The short list for the 2019 edition of the awards will be announced on 10 April. The global Marketing Partner is The Economist.

Further entertainment highlights to be announced shortly.

The Boomtown Rats’ frontman Bob Geldof said: “The rebuilding of Central & Eastern Europe after the successive ravages of the second world war and Communism is an important cause as well as a capitalist opportunity, we’re delighted to be invited to perform for this crowd and look forward to this great event.”

Founder and Managing Director of CEEQA, Richard Hallward, said: “We’re excited and hugely honoured this year to welcome a global icon of Geldof’s stature, together with original Boomtown Rats members Garry Roberts, Peter Briquette and Simon Crowe to lead the entertainment and production highlights that make the CEEQA Gala the European real estate calendar date it is.”

The awards are completely open and free to enter and all aspects of the entries and judging process, from jury selection to voting and announcements, are structured to ensure balance and fairness in the results without commercial or other bias, rigorously overseen by Deloitte to ensure total and auditable transparency – the hallmark of CEEQA and the pillars of its success and durable market value. The CEEQA Jury is comprised of highly experienced, senior representatives of market leading companies active in the sector [see Annex 3]. 

The last edition of the awards attracted more than 500 entries. Standout winners included Skanska (5 awards), CBRE (4 awards), two awards each for Skanska’s “FIVE” and Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s “Wroclavia” projects, awards for continued dominance in their categories by Dentons (Legal), Panattoni Europe (Industrial Developer) and Cushman & Wakefield (Retail Agency), and the rise of locally born sector stars CPI Property Group (Investor), Sentient (Development Services) and Wilsons (Rising Star). The year’s garland award for Lifetime Achievement in Real Estate was presented to Gordon Black of Heitman. 

CEEQA continues its path of strong growth in delivering a universally trusted industry awards and world-class gala event showcasing the sector to international institutional arena. Deloitte continues its role as Lead Partner and awards supervisor in 2019, working alongside the CEEQA team to push the boundaries of integrity and fairness, with the world’s two largest real estate companies, CBRE and Cushman & Wakefield, continuing as Elite Partners of the platform. 

New to the commercial partners roster this year are Echo Investment, Savills, BNP Paribas Real Estate, Generali Real Estate and Wilsons law firm, a roster which already includes regional and global market leaders Skanska, Helaba, Dentons, Panattoni Europe, CMS, TriGranit, White & Case, pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank EPP, Erste Group Bank, Arcadis, Strabag and Sentient. Industry and delivery partners include RICS, GRI, Warsaw Business Journal, Property Forum, AMI, Belvedere Catering, Raffles Europejski Warsaw Hotel, Mielzynski Wines & Spirits Specialties and Lacrosse Translation Services.