The benefits of being part of a venue collection from One Great George Street

Being a stand-alone, independent venue is not always easy. While it definitely has its advantages, such as full control over day-to-day management and procurement which allows us to pass on the very best produce and services to our clients, we do everything ourselves without the helping hand of a sister organisation. Without drawing on a larger pool of manpower, Marion and I need to be selective in choosing which trade shows, forums and networking events will best showcase our fabulous venue, One Great George Street (OGGS).

We jumped on The Westminster Collection (TWC) bandwagon 5 years ago and are still current members due to the excellent ROI we receive year on year. For example, in the last 12 months we have received approximately 77 referrals and confirmed over £25,000 worth of business – a very healthy return on our membership fee of just £1,700! There’s also very real value in the affordable access the collection gives us to exhibition shows, FAM trips and networking events.

For example, The Meetings Show is a very popular industry trade show which we try to attend as part of TWC (offered on a first-come-first-serve basis). It takes place once a year, attracts over 3,000 industry professionals and provides us with pre-scheduled buyer appointments. This year we received 17 new enquiries and over 300 scanned leads which we are now in the process of prospecting for new OGGS business. This is a free event which has provided me with over 300 fresh contacts – sounds too good to be true right? But it’s true and it’s great! The next event will be TWC’s very own showcase which takes place on Monday 3rd October – sign up to our newsletters for more info.

When contemplating the advantages of joining a collection, I can say that One Great George Street has been able to utilize collections such as The Westminster Collection to support us with sales opportunities and also become part of a friendly and constructive environment with our competitors and industry peers.

Please find the original blog post from One Great George Street here.

Central Hall Westminster launches carbon offset programme

Central Hall Westminster has announced an initiative to encourage clients holding events at central London’s largest conference centre to offset the carbon generated by the use of the venue. Having calculated the average daily energy and water use for an event, Central Hall has developed a calculator to provide an indication of the carbon footprint created by use of the venue’s facilities and will offer all clients the opportunity to offset this footprint via a range of tree-planting and carbon offset programmes.

The first event to offset its venue carbon footprint was the Methodist Conference, held between June 30th and July 7th this year, which saw around 2,000 delegates attend the nine-day event. Central Hall calculated that the venue carbon footprint of this event was some 15.81 tonnes, which will be offset by planting 40 trees.

Paul Southern, Managing Director at Central Hall Westminster, comments: “We have been developing a number of initiatives to enhance our sustainability as a venue and are delighted to have worked on hosting the first event this week that will be effectively carbon neutral in terms of its venue energy and water consumption. We have several initiatives under way already this year and are excited to offer our clients the opportunity to quickly and easily reduce the carbon footprint of their events held at Central Hall.”

This new scheme is the latest initiative in Central Hall’s environmental strategy developed over the last five years. In that time, Central Hall has implement a number of initiatives that have reduced its day to day carbon emissions. In recognition of its achievements, Central Hall was awarded a Gold Standard from the Green Tourism Authority in 2016 having introduced LED lighting throughout the venue, encouraged recycling by offering a 25 per cent discount for clients who use their own cups instead of paper cups, adopted a fair trade products only policy and has ensured red tractor sourcing of all food products.

The Clubhouse opens new flagship site

The Clubhouse, London’s leading business club and meeting space has opened a new flagship site on St. James’s Square, one of London’s most prestigious garden squares and one of the Capital’s most prominent businesses addresses.

The brand new building at 8 St James’s Square was designed by renowned architect Eric Parry and sits on a site that was once home to Josiah Wedgwood, founder of Wedgwood Pottery. With an interior designed to a high specification the space redefines the concept of flexible working and boasts a stylish members’ club feel. The new Clubhouse has been designed around the needs of its members and offers a unique, sophisticated and flexible meeting and work space tailored to the needs of today’s entrepreneurs and growing businesses.

Home to businesses of all shapes and sizes and across all industry sectors, The Clubhouse offers a range of individually designed meeting rooms, hot desks, lounge areas, dedicated desks, flexible meeting areas, a Club deli, event spaces and conference facilities for up to 80 delegates. In addition, The Clubhouse has launched its first innovation hub with a fully interactive video wall in partnership with MultiTaction.

For more information or to enquire about your next event click here.

RSVP now for special showcase at Cavendish Venues

You are invited to a special showcase at Cavendish Venues on Thursday, 29 September 2016, open to all event bookers. The event will begin at 6.30pm and will include champagne, cocktails and canapés alongside plenty to keep attendees entertained including a fantastic, fun photo booth.

RSVP now to [email protected] to receive confirmation and secure your place and see for yourself how member venue, Cavendish Venues consistently surpasses expectations through a warm, personable and efficient approach to hospitality.

QEII to create new banqueting floor with stunning city skyline views

The QEII Centre is continuing its £12 million refurbishment and rebranding project this summer by transforming its 6th floor into an open-plan banqueting space with breath-taking views of Westminster and the London city skyline.

Work has commenced and will be complete by September, when the renovated space will be revealed at a dazzling dinner to celebrate QEII’s 30th birthday.

QEII’s ongoing programme of refurbishments is focused on improving the customer experience and opening up the venue to a wider variety of events including banqueting, awards ceremonies, cocktail parties, product launches and other corporate and private special events.

The renovation of the 6th floor will give event planners greater flexibility for how they wish to use the space, with a retractable wall opening up what is now the Mountbatten room into one large, open-plan floor with a stunning glazed elevation providing dramatic views out towards the Thames, capturing Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, London Eye and the Shard.

The 6th floor refurbishment, which has been designed by architects AHMM, the 2015 winners of the RIBA Sterling prize, comes as QEII celebrates its 30th year at the heart of the UK’s event industry, contributing £122 million to the economy annually.

QEII’s in-house catering team, QEII Taste by Leith’s, has recently appointed Jean Michel Viala as its new head chef.

For more information about the QEII Centre visit www.qeiicentre.london

Get on your bike at 110 Rochester Row

110 Rochester Row has teamed up with the magnificent Virgin bikes to make sure you get to your event on time.

Dodge the traffic, slip on some leathers and a helmet and ride like the wind all the way to the flexible meeting space. It really is that simple, when you book a suite in September 2016 at 110 Rochester Row.

Just contact the team and let them know where you need picking up from within London and the motorbike will be dispatched.

To find out more or to make a booking please visit www.110rochesterrow.co.uk or call the team on 0207 828 2888.

Event buyers enjoyed business breakfast at Victory Services Club

On Friday, 15 July, member venue Victory Services Club (VSC) showcased its newly refurbished El Alamein & Trafalgar Suite to event buyers, industry professionals and fellow member venues, at a breakfast networking event.

Guests enjoyed delicious breakfast samples prepared by the venue’s executive chef and a chilled glass of prosecco while they networked with other attendees and explored the new and improved events space.

Rosa Davies, events manager at VSC commented on the event: “After investing £1.5 million into the new space and adjoining state-of-the-art banqueting kitchen, we were very proud to share the new rooms with fellow event professionals and would like to thank all those who attended. It was a pleasure to host you and we look forward to seeing you at the many more TWC events in the future.”

And the winner is…

Awards season is now in full swing throughout the industry and our member venues have been getting in on the action.

Congratulations to member, RIBA Venues which was voted the Best UK Conference Venue for 300 to 900 delegates at the Conference Awards 2016, which recognise and reward excellence in the UK events industry.   The judges picked RIBA Venues, with its conference facilities and auditorium for up to 400 delegates, due to the impressive approach and strong commitment to customer service and flexible food concepts.

The QEII Centre was also recognised at the Conference Awards 2016, receiving a mark of excellence in the Best Conference Venue Customer Service Over 600 Delegates category.

Cavendish Conference Centre achieved finalist status in the Best Conference Venue Customer Service Up to 600 Delegates category and One Great George Street were also named as finalists in the Best Conference Venue Up to 300 Delegates category.

In other awards news, we’re proud to have members Denis Hickey of Cavendish Venues, Stuart Drummond and Steven Mann of the QEII Centre and Stephanie Gadd of Victory Services Club shortlisted for a prestigious miaList award.

Run by The Meetings Industry Association the miaList celebrates individuals from the meetings, hospitality and events industry who go above and beyond the call of duty. We wish them the best of luck for the lunch on Friday, 16 September when the winners will be announced.

Victory Services Club invests over £1.5 million in El Alamein and Trafalgar Suite refurbishment

The Victory Services Club (VSC) today re-opens its El Alamein and Trafalgar Suite following a £1.5 million investment to refurbish the space.

The new space, with a capacity to host between 10 and 250 guests, will be used for conferences, awards ceremonies and corporate functions and will be supported by a state-of-the-art, high specification kitchen. The refurbishment has seen the suite fitted out with contemporary flooring and energy saving LED lighting as well as the latest audio visual equipment which includes wireless microphones, two displays that connect to AV wall plates and a Crestron control panel set up to regulate the technology for both rooms.  

As part of the refurbishment, the military members club has created two separate entrances to the El Alamein and Trafalgar rooms enabling the two spaces to be used together or independently, according to the requirements of the event planners and delegates.

The newly refurbished suite will be showcased on Thursday 29th September at the venue’s VSC Vineyard event. Clients and event planners are expected to attend the evening showcase which will include wine tasting, food samples and a tour of the new spaces.

The VSC’s CEO Nigel Beet says: “We’re very excited to offer a fresh new look to the El Alamein and Trafalgar Suite. At the VSC we pride ourselves on keeping all our facilities up to date in order to deliver the best possible service to our members and delegates. It is wonderful to finally be able to showcase the new suite after spending six months transforming the space.”

Ends

 

About the Victory Services Club (VSC)

The Victory Services Club (VSC) is a private military members club, located in central London near Marble Arch. Established in 1907, the venue has a capacity of 10-300 and can accommodate a wide spectrum of events, including conferences, meetings, exhibitions, receptions and award ceremonies.

The Club is a registered charity that re-invests revenue from commercial events to fund schemes, including breaks for injured members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families.  The Club was the first London venue to be awarded the Meetings Industry Association (MIA) AIM Gold accreditation in 2008 and still maintains this status today. The VSC has also achieved Hospitality Assured status, the quality standard created by the Institute of Hospitality for customer facing businesses.

The VSC upholds three key values, which embody its ethos – value, service and courtesy. These values are adopted throughout the organisation and are at the heart of service delivery.

 

Further information is available at www.vsc.co.uk or via Twitter @VSCvenue.

The Westminster Collection makes an impact at The Meetings Show

Last month, leading venue consortium for Westminster venues, The Westminster Collection met with event buyers and bookers from around the world at The Meetings Show at London Olympia.

The stand, which was manned by a variety of event professionals representing venues from across the consortium, offered the perfect place to discover over 35 stunning Westminster venues and find out how the collection can save buyers time when looking for a wow-factor venue.

Announced on the first morning of the show, The Meetings Show also provided the perfect opportunity for the collection to share its plans for a complete re-brand, name change and new website set to launch later on this year and encourage registrations for the launch event.

Throughout the three-day show over 350 contacts were scanned with just shy of 40 specific enquiries generated which were promptly communicated to all member venues to make business proposals.

The collection’s success at the show highlights just one of the significant benefits for membership to The Westminster Collection and provided a dynamic business platform for both the member venues and the event buyers in attendance.

If you would like to find out more about becoming a member of The Westminster Collection, please click here. Alternatively, if you are looking to book a stunning venue for your next event, find our full collection here.