New Year new team at 110 Rochester Row

110 Rochester Row has made two key appointments recruiting a new venue and meetings coordinator and a sales and revenue manager.

Alice Desmons joins as venue and meetings coordinator from the fast pace industry of wedding planning and has a master’s degree in marketing from IESEG School of Management in Lille, France. The first-class horse rider enjoys a good hack on a dry autumn’s day and likes to travel the world and experience new cultures.

Meanwhile, Fred Metcalfe who gained an HND in Hospitality Management from Cardiff, has a background in hotels and specialises in events, joins as sales and revenue manager. He enjoys surfing and trying different food and restaurants in the UK and around the world. His favourite sport is rugby and he is very much looking forward to the Six Nations.

A big welcome to both new recruits.

Virtual tours of One Great George Street from the comfort of home

One Great George Street has launched a new and improved virtual tour of the venue for time-poor planners who are too busy to arrange and attend site visits.

Named ‘hibernatour’, the tool, which can be found at the bottom of the venue’s home page, enables planners to enjoy a tour of the gorgeous Grade II Listed venue that features 21 flexible spaces and natural light, from the hibernation of their own surroundings. Buyers can also see its jaw-dropping Great Hall featuring a spectacular ceiling.

Meanwhile, One Great George Street has launched @oggsvenue on Instagram to ensure planners are kept up-to-date with stunning images of its event spaces.

Dracula at The London Library

One of the Collection’s newest members, The London Library, will be hosting 20 performances of Creation Theatre’s acclaimed production of ‘Dracula’ in February and March 2019.

The production will be held in the magnificent setting of the venue’s Reading Room, home to the 26 books recently discovered by the Library, that are almost certainly the original copies used by Bram Stoker to research his enduring classic.

Creation Theatre has established a growing reputation for their innovative theatrical adaptions of famous books with performances taking place in dramatic and unexpected locations. Dracula features just two actors and draws on innovative audio-visual design to tell the story of Bram Stoker’s great creation.

This will be the first time the Library has hosted a theatre performance, but the venue is frequently used for other cultural events and launches and provides a beautiful and historic space for receptions and dinners.

Tickets are available here: https://www.creationtheatre.co.uk/book-shows/

IET Venues donates Lego to children’s charities

IET Venues has donated 45 boxes of Lego to charity after pledging to gift the popular toy for every site visit booked and attended during December.

Thanks to everyone who booked and attended a site visit at IET London: Savoy Place or IET Birmingham: Austin Court last month, the Lego was donated to Alexander Devine Children’s Hospice in Maidenhead and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

Sean Spencer, head of venues and facilities at IET Venues, said: “The IET is passionate about connecting young people and inspiring future generations to understand the exciting possibilities engineering and technology can offer.

“December can be a difficult time of year for families with loved ones in hospital, so we hope the Lego gifts went a small way to brightening up their Christmas and making the young children’s time in hospital a bit more bearable.”

RSA Open House – Friday 8 February 2019

Hailed a ‘must see’ venue, RSA House will be hosting an exclusive open house on Friday, 8 February 2019 from 8am-3pm.

Come along for a show-round and some tasty treats, then leave armed with ideas, having been surprised and delighted by London’s Best Historic Venue.

With the vaults fully back in action and a continuous buzz around the new coffee-house, 2019 is set to be even bigger for events at RSA.

For more information on the exciting sessions taking place and to register please click here.

One session per guest due to limited availability. Last day to register – Tuesday, 5 February 2019.

Exclusive Valentine’s Day showcase at RIBA

WVC subscribers are invited to join RIBA for a Valentine’s Day breakfast showcase event at 66 Portland Place.

Guests will have the chance to sample some delicious food, courtesy of RIBA’s in-house caterer CH&Co, tour the beautiful event spaces, and chat with RIBA’s expert venues team.

66 Portland Place is RIBA’s stunning historic headquarters building in the heart of London’s West End. Dating from 1934, the building offers a unique Art Deco setting for a wide range of events including awards ceremonies, conferences, weddings and private functions.

Please email [email protected] quoting WVC to join the RIBA from 8.30-10am on Thursday, 14 February, at 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD.

Exciting new team experiences launched at The Royal Society

The Royal Society is launching a range of exciting team activities to add some sparkle to events for 2019.

There will be a wide variety of options, from chocolate making to gin tasting and a journey into the foods of the future, or the unique Royal Society science quiz and mystery invention challenge.

These new experiences will offer a fresh look at team-building activities as a new element for conferences or an informal evening with staff or clients. The activities have been designed to encourage friendly competition and provide a fun learning environment.

Subject to availability – minimum of 20 delegates.

To find out more or to book an event, please contact the conferencing team on 0207 451 2612 or email [email protected].

St Martin-in-the-Fields’ sustainability credentials are commended

St Martin-in-the-Fields has been awarded Highly Commended in the category of ‘Most Sustainable Venue’ at the London Summer Events Show.

The points that particularly stood out to the judges about the venue, which is located on the north east corner of Trafalgar Square next to Charing Cross station, were:

  • Efforts to reduce single-use plastic including bamboo cutlery
  • Zero waste going to landfill
  • London Living Wage as minimum is paid to all employees
  • Community engagement with local charities, supporting asylum seekers, refugees and homeless people in London

This is the first year St Martin-in the Fields has had a stand at the London Summer Events Show and they were delighted to receive the honour as well as the chance to meet the wealth of potential clients who attended the show.

The London Library joins Westminster Venue Collection

Westminster Venue Collection is delighted to welcome one of the largest independent libraries in the world, The London Library, to its marketing consortium.

Featuring beautiful 19th century interiors, the fascinating venue that is spread across seven interlocking buildings with 17 miles of open access bookshelves and over one million books, is now available to hire on an exclusive basis.

The London Library’s main space – the magnificent Reading Room – is available for receptions of up to 250 guests while its Issue Hall can accommodate pre-dinner receptions for up to 100, and its Lightwell Reading Room and Art Room are ideal for smaller VIP events of 30-50. Hire can also include tailored tours of the collection, offering an unforgettable experience for guests.

Laura Anderson, the administrator for The London Library’s Development Team, said: “The London Library is one of the greatest literary institutions in the UK, but still remains relatively unknown, which is why we were so delighted to become part of the Westminster Venue Collection.”

She added: “As well as the marketing benefits of joining the consortium, it is an opportunity for us to strengthen our connections with organisations in the collection, and we are really looking forward to working closely with these high-quality venues. More than anything, we look forward to opening up The London Library to new clients interested in holding receptions or dinners in our magnificent and unique event space, right in the heart of London.”

The Chair of Westminster Venue Collection, Rachel Azzopardi, said: “We are thrilled to welcome The London Library with its beautiful architecture and rich creative history. It is a perfect addition to our collection that provides a great service to time poor event planners by bringing together modern and traditional exhibition spaces, museums, auditoria, conference rooms and banqueting halls all in London’s iconic City of Westminster.”

New year, new venue: Westminster Venue Collection reveals the importance of January

January is the key month for event buyers to search for venues, according to Westminster Venues Collection (WVC).

The marketing consortium has revealed 31 January was the most popular day for visitors in 2018 and with the same date this year rapidly approaching, the advice is to get ahead of the crowd and browse before the rush.

In 2018, the week surrounding 31 January (28 January-3 February) was the most popular week of the year for web visits, followed by 28 October-3 November and 7-13 October.

Researching the best venues in central London – from private members’ clubs and luxury hotels to historical institutes and museums – for events is also top of the week’s to-do list for organisers it appears.

Analysis revealed that Monday at 11.56am is the most popular time of the week for visitors to the website located at wvc.london, indicating that event planners make searching for, and booking one of its 36 venues an important enough task to be completed before lunch on the first day of the working week.

And while mobile devices and tablets have overtaken desktop computers as the most popular way to peruse the web, when it comes to researching venues, event organisers prefer to use a desktop computer.

An average of 71% of visits to the WVC website are made via desktop computers, while mobile traffic accounts for 22% of visits and tablet 7%.

Rachel Azzopardi, chair of Westminster Venue Collection, said: “Our central London venues are a popular choice all year round, but it is interesting to see when exactly in the year people are searching for the right one for their event.

“The WVC website allows visitors to search for the perfect venue for their needs – whether it’s a conference for 200 people, a meeting for 20, a wedding or a launch party – but as our web analytics show, savvy organisers are scoping them out early in the year, so it’s a good idea to get looking and booking before 31 January if you want to secure your dream setting.”

To see the collection’s new website or to find out more please visit www.wvc.london.