The organiser of the largest event ever to be held at Excel London, Worldskills 2011, claims to have assembled the largest collection of Routemasters in history.
 
The iconic London buses were assembled at Excel on 30 September to transport hundreds of international delegates attending Worldskills for a tour of London’s famous sites such as the London Eye, St Pauls and Hyde Park.
 
Destination windows on the buses were marked WorldSkills London 2011. This one-off convoy also marked the 50th anniversary of the production of the RML Routemaster, the high capacity version of the Routemaster designed for the major central London routes.
 
"The Routemaster is a true icon of London,” said London Mayor Boris Johnson. “They are recognised all over the world and it is fantastic to see them celebrated on their 50th birthday; but also a reminder that it's time for London to move into the future."
 
WorldSkills London 2011 is touted as the 'greatest skills competition the world has ever seen'. From 5-8 October, almost a thousand competitors from over 50 countries/regions will compete to be the best of the best across 46 skills including landscape gardening, mobile robotics, floristry, fashion technology, web design, cooking and car painting.
 
WorldSkills London 2011 brings people from across the globe to compete to become the best of the best. Over 150,000 visitors are expected to attend, from 5-8 October, with over 8,000 attending the opening and closing shows, designed to showcase some of the UK’s most talented young performers and celebrating the communities coming together from around the world to take part in the event.