Westminster Venue Collection showcases the best of the borough

London’s leading venue consortium, Westminster Venue Collection, welcomed event buyers to a show-stopping showcase at IET London: Savoy Place this week (29 October).

The ‘Wizard of Westminster’ showcase offered event planners the chance to meet and network with 36 of London’s finest venues while enjoying a night of wondrous wizardry with themed activities and culinary delights.

The venue, offering unparalleled views over The Thames, was decked out with striking themed props and state-of-the-art projections of the event’s branding with support from the collection’s preferred suppliers, Rosetone, Event Prop Hire, Guardian Display and Effect Event. Designed to project the undeniable magic of Westminster, event planners were welcomed over the yellow brick road into the Riverside Room at IET London, boasting large windows and a private balcony overlooking the lit-up city.

While some guests had their faces painted by Annie Newman, others marvelled at the live demonstrations as dessert was served and adorned directly onto a large sharing table following the popularity of a bustling sushi station.

During her welcoming address, Rachel Azzopardi, chair of Westminster Venue Collection, said: “The theme, Wizard of Westminster came about through our desire to show you all that there really is ‘no place like Westminster’, given the tremendous breadth of venues that we have in the borough.

“We’ve had another really positive year, growing both in size and reputation with the addition of One Birdcage Walk, Lincoln’s Inn, The London Library, Vue West End and Lumiere London. Each of these is totally different from the next, and able to cater for a wealth of events of all shapes and sizes, which is what we love about the collection.”

As the evening drew to a close, a range of experiences were up for grabs in a prize draw featuring scrumptious afternoon teas, a private cinema screening and three course meals at various member venues.

For more information about Westminster Venue Collection and all its member venues, please visit www.wvc.london.

Photography credited to Andrew Lunn.

Award-winning collection

Westminster Venue Collection’s member venues had a very successful time at the London Venue Awards last month, with nine awards and many more shortlisted.

Winners included:

BEST CONFERENCE VENUE – under 400 theatre style – National Gallery (silver award)

BEST AWARDS VENUE – Royal Institute of British Architects (silver award)

BEST HISTORIC VENUE – less than 400 reception style – RSA House (winners)

BEST VENUE CUSTOMER SERVICE – up to 500 reception style – One Great George Street (winners), RSA House (silver award)

BEST VENUE CUSTOMER SERVICE – over 500 reception style – Church House Westminster (winners)

BEST WEDDING VENUE – Dartmouth House (winners)

MOST VERSATILE LONDON VENUE – QEII Centre (bronze award)

BEST EVENT VENUE – less than 500 attendees – One Great George Street (bronze award)

BEST EVENT VENUE – over 1000 attendees – QEII Centre (winners)

 

Church House Westminster celebrates win at London Venue Awards

Church House Westminster won the category ‘Best venue customer service – over 500 reception-style’ at the London Venue Awards on Friday 4 October.

Church House Westminster general manager, Robin Parker, who collected the award together with Marina Papadopoulou, said: “We are incredibly proud of the team’s achievements. It is a real reason for celebration, to recognise the hard work of our team, who always put clients at the heart of everything they do. Church House really is the combined effort of brilliant people. From our head of client relations, Sue White, to each one of our expert and friendly event coordinators – Sharnez, Rianne, Lauren, Alex, Olivia as well as Sarah and Leah who are currently on maternity leave.”

The London Venue award is the latest in a long line of accolades awarded to Church House. The AIM Gold Accredited Venue, holds the BVA BDRC VenueVerdict Gold Standard for 2018 and Q1 2019 and recently achieved a bronze award at the COOL Venue Awards in the category for COOLest Sustainable Venue. The Westminster venue also holds a Silver Award from Green Tourism as a formal recognition of the event venue’s ongoing commitment to operate in the most sustainable way possible.

Church House Westminster has also been nominated for the Event Technology Awards in the category: ‘Most Innovative and Tech-Friendly Venue’ which takes place on 6 November. The Westminster venue prides itself on offering a full event service for event organisers including their own team of five in-house audio-visual professionals.

RSA House wins ‘best historic venue’ for the second time at London Venue Awards

At the recent London Venue Awards RSA House scooped up two awards winning Gold for the second year running in ‘Best Historic Venue for less than 400, reception style,’ and Silver in the ‘Best for customer service for venues up to 500’ categories.

Head of sales and marketing Laura Pearce said “At RSA House we can deliver a wide variety of events that require a range of backdrops from Georgian historic to ultra-contemporary and urban. From conferences to fashion shows, launches, weddings and of course receptions. It is wonderful to be recognised again and a great thank you for our hard-working team.”

RSA House is beguiling; with an historic Georgian front, the five town houses have undergone vast refurbishment remodelling the interior to contain 11 event spaces. Notably the Great Room containing the James Barry murals with built-in speakers and high definition projector; the Benjamin Franklin room and the exposed brickwork Vaults, which have recently been extended to allow for events of up to 220.

Customer retention is high and includes NEXT, Mozilla and Penguin Books; all delivering consistent positive feedback with customer service going above and beyond what is expected. Service is warm, relaxed and bespoke with new enquiries responded to within 1-4 hours. Clients appreciate the high-quality technical services and in-house support, the outstanding catering from CH&CO, the location with a close range of transport links and stylish spaces that need no production and still deliver atmosphere.

Bateaux London launches festive party packages

Bateaux London has launched party packages for its River Room to help groups celebrate the festive season in style on the Thames.

From shared parties to bespoke private charters, the Thames cruises, which set off from Embankment Pier, offer a unique celebration that combines views of the capital’s most iconic buildings with fantastic food, drink and entertainment.

Ideal for shared parties of over 10 or exclusive private charter, River Room, with London’s largest floating open-air deck and riverside backdrop, is offering a three-course Christmas lunch, plus half a bottle of wine, prosecco on arrival, crackers and live music for £69 per person. A four-course dinner cruise with added amuse bouche and luxe dishes such as lobster tortellini is £99 per person.

All food is prepared fresh on board, with dishes to include Caramelised leek, chestnut and thyme tartlet; Norfolk turkey with all the trimmings and Spiced cheesecake topped with mulled winter fruits.

River Room can be booked out for private events for seated lunches and dinners for up to 180 and parties for up to 220. Speak to the experienced on-board events team to find out how they can create a bespoke Christmas party.

Bateaux London’s Glass Room can also be booked out for Christmas parties. The flexible space, designed by Tom Dixon Design, can accommodate 160 seated guests and up to 300 at a standing reception.

To book River Room or Glass Room, and to find out about shared parties on River Room, please contact the Bateaux London team on 020 7695 1800 or [email protected]

Regent’s Conferences & Events launches new autumn and winter brochure

Regent’s Conferences & Events has launched a brand-new brochure for Autumn and Winter 2019-20.

From the tranquillity of greenery on the York Lawns, to the breadth of indoor meeting spaces in the middle of Regent’s Park, Regent’s Conferences & Events has an extensive variety of event packages on offer this season.

Considering the widespread needs of busy event professionals is at the forefront of the new brochure, offering culinary variety to cover all bases, from working lunches, breakfasts and sit-down dinners, to innovative street food and healthy alternatives on the go.

With ten entirely different menus available for the perusal of event planners, dietary requirements are a worry of the past, as vegan and vegetarian options are plentiful. The Mezze Menu, designed by Regent’s’ caterers, Vacherin, offers a fresh new alternative to sandwich lunches, from marinated feta and Mediterranean olives served with flat bread, to chickpea falafels with homemade dips.

Technologically, it’s all covered. The new brochure details how dedicated technicians can be on hand for each event, with audio PA systems, recording packages and presentation accessories to choose from.

For details of the full brochure and the packages available, please contact the events team on 020 7487 7540.

Churchill War Rooms launches new menus as refurbishment begins

Churchill War Rooms has begun refurbishment works across the venue to help freshen up the space and make it more exciting and inviting. Details of the renovations are being kept under wraps until work is completed but it is hoped that updated décor and new furnishings will help transform the venue.

The venue has also launched menus for autumn, winter and Christmas. The new menus are flavour-packed with fine seasonal ingredients that are perfect for the chilly weather and guaranteed to win over guests.

Each room at Churchill War Rooms has been preserved and restored to look just as it did during the Second World War. Guests can walk the same corridors as Churchill, peer into the room where his War Cabinet made their momentous decisions, and marvel at the complexity of the abandoned Map Rooms, frozen in time since 1945.

This once-secret underground wartime headquarters also offers excellent modern meeting and dining facilities. It is an inspirational venue for team building days, dinners, receptions, press launches and seminars, featuring state-of-the-art technology and support services.

IET London: Savoy Place offers top tips on how to host a successful celebratory awards dinner

IET London: Savoy Place shares five top tips for hosting the perfect awards dinner to event planners, covering location, space, AV, catering and entertainment.

  1. Consider location. Award ceremonies often attract guests from various locations, so choosing a central location to hold your event can be integral to its success. Consider its proximity to major roads, rail, underground stations, buses and even airports.
  2. Select space wisely. Choose a venue which has an iconic room that helps bring the event to life and convey the grandeur and celebratory feeling you are looking for. The superb views from the Riverside room at Savoy Place add a sense of occasion to an awards evening as guests watch the London skyline twinkle from the room’s private balcony.
  3. Choose high-quality AV. Make sure you choose a venue whose AV will help take your event to the next level. For example, Savoy Place have recently invested £280k into the AV offering in the Riverside Room, with new cameras that allow presenters to be filmed from any angle and live relayed onto new 4k video walls and screens for full visibility.
  4. Cater well for guests. Guests expect to be well fed and watered at award ceremonies. The catering you choose could be anything from a three course sit down banquet to bowl food or interactive food stalls, but ultimately choose something that wows your audience.
  5. Tailor entertainment. From the compère during the ceremony to the music or band afterwards, it’s important to choose something that resonates with the audience. Magicians and acrobatic performers can be a great choice for keeping guests entertained and tend to suit most age groups.

QEII calls on event industry to support London’s most vulnerable this winter

London’s QEII Centre is once again calling upon event professionals and members of the public to donate their old, unwanted or unused coats to provide for the homeless, the elderly and refugees.

Hands on London will be launching its Wrap Up London campaign for the ninth year on 11 November. Last year the charity collected over 23,000 coats and items of warm clothing and hopes to once again bring Londoners together to demonstrate the collective community spirit that unites the capital.

Westminster venue the QEII Centre will be hosting a coat donation point throughout the campaign, which runs from 11 November until 22 November and will be open to the general public as well as event attendees. Last year the venue collected more than 700 coats to support the Wrap Up London campaign, and is calling on the event industry to make this year’s coat drive an even greater success.

Diane Waldron, director of sales and marketing at QEII, said: “Supporting our local London community is a key part of QEII’s CSR strategy, and the Wrap Up London coat collection offers a great opportunity for not just QEII but the wider event industry to give something back. We urge event organisers, attendees and Londoners alike to donate good quality, unwanted coats to those who truly need them the most.

An estimated 320,000 people are homeless in the UK, according to figures released by the charity Shelter. The problem is abundant in London, where one in every 59 are homeless, and so the coats collected are essential and will be distributed via homeless shelters, refugee centres, organisations supporting the elderly, women’s refuges, children’s centres as well as other charities helping those in crisis.

Jon Meech, CEO of Hands on London, said: “Every year the demand for warm coats increases and this year is sadly no exception. As a largely volunteer-led campaign we can only hope of meeting this demand with the help of partners like the QEII Centre who have so generously offered to host a coat collection.”

The QEII coat donation point will be open from 7am – 6pm, Monday – Friday, from 11 to 22 November. For directions and more information about the QEII Centre, visit www.qeiicentre.london.

For more information about Wrap Up London, visit www.wrapuplondon.org.uk/

116 Pall Mall takes F&B offering to the next level with new general manager

116 Pall Mall has announced the permanent appointment of a new management team from Benugo.

Martin Dibben will be taking over as general manager for the F&B operation, supported by Jason Barlass as AGM.

Martin has returned to his regal roots after beginning his career working for the Royal Household at Buckingham Palace, before working for chef Prue Leith (currently a judge on The Great British Bake Off) in several positions, including general manager of the QE11 Conference Centre in Westminster and events manager for Government hospitality, including Number 10 Downing Street.

Having run a successful restaurant for seven years, Martin returned to corporate life as operation director for Ampersand, overseeing landmark venues such as The Tower of London, Kensington Palace and The Law Society. He joins us having spent two years running the catering and events at the Barbican Arts Centre.

Martin adds “Joining the team at 116 Pall Mall is very exciting for me. With a background in running the operations for world famous landmarks, I can bring a wealth of experience to this glorious venue that’s full of history.

“With the opportunity to hire the whole building or individual rooms for any kind of event, the catering must be of the highest standard to reflect the venue and I know Benugo are already delivering that. Taking this to the next level will allow 116 Pall Mall to become a world-class venue.”