Category: Events

Broadway House explore the true value of gold

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Following Broadway House’s recent Gold award in BDRC’s VenueVerdict Accreditation Scheme, Amanda Sutton, venue manager at EEF Venues’ BDRC and AIM Gold-rated Broadway House, shares insight into how achieving gold benefits events and return on investment.

A warm glow

Great customer service starts with tuning into needs and wants. It’s also about being warm, welcoming and anticipating clients’ requirements. A gold rating is based entirely on the voice of customers, so showing a venue’s absolute commitment to making the customer journey enjoyable and memorable. Delegates will remember how they have been treated. If you want a venue partner driven by customer service excellence, go for gold.

Shiny, happy delegates

The quality of the food at a venue can have a significant impact on overall satisfaction levels – and can even compensate for other weaker elements of the experience. If it is poor, there is every chance that it may bite you right back by word of mouth.  Share your vision with the venue team to give a clear specification of your expectations so that they understand your ethos and standards. By choosing a gold-rated venue you can expect well thought-out, balanced menus that reflect the seasons and contemporary eating trends. Find out if the venue uses farm assured meat and if the fish served comes from sustainable sources.   Traceability, due diligence and health & safety kite marks all tell a story of a venue with high food standards.

A glittering performance

You should be looking for proactive support, advice and attention to allow you to get on with delivering your event without having to be concerned with any administrative or technical issues. Industry benchmarking schemes like AIM and BDRC ensure consistently high standards and best practice, from the expertise and professionalism of the venue team to the quality of the facilities, technology and the overall venue experience.

Worth its weight

A little due diligence before making a booking could make a big difference to your budget and ROI. Ask about any hidden extras. For example, at Broadway House, flipcharts, projectors, laptops and microphones are all available on a complimentary basis. Again, it’s all about world class customer service. But the return of investment on your event goes far beyond net profit. It covers everything from client and delegate satisfaction to reputational awareness and enhancement. If you are looking for better control of the outcomes and less risk, choosing gold is invaluable because peace of mind is everything.

Church House hosts special reception for honoured British Citizens

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The British Citizen Awards chose Church House Westminster to host its bi-annual awards reception for the fourth year running, on Thursday, 25 January.

The event at the Westminster venue took place in the Assembly Hall, and a presentation ceremony followed at the House of Lords. 36 individuals were recognised for the exceptional impact they have had on the community and presented with a British Citizen Awards Medal of Honour.

Hosted by Matt Allwright, eight individual category medals were presented for services to industry, education, arts, business, healthcare, volunteering and charitable giving, community and international achievement. All categories are underpinned by the overarching qualities of transparency, integrity, determination and achievement.

General Manager, Robin Parker commented: “We were delighted to welcome back the British Citizen Awards to Church House, we have hosted the post-awards reception since its inaugural event in 2015, and it is always a pleasure to be involved in such an inspiring event.”

Church House Westminster is one of London’s most versatile event venues. The AIM Gold accredited venue offers 19 flexible event spaces, which accommodate between 2 and 664 guests, and hosts a wide variety of events including meetings, conferences, awards ceremonies, gala dinners and receptions.

For more information call 020 7390 1590 or click here.

QEII Centre hosts illuminating showcase of excellence

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More than 200 event planners came together at London’s QEII Centre on Tuesday, 6 February to see the venue present a sparkling showcase of its flagship evening events space.

One of central London’s largest event venues, the QEII Centre invested in the refurbishment of its fifth and sixth floors as part of a £12m capital investment project, creating a combined space perfectly suited to evening receptions, banqueting events and award ceremonies.

Guests arrived into the Cambridge room on the fifth floor through a glimmering tunnel of lights, to see the blank space area totally transformed into a classy cocktail bar ‘The Light Lounge’, where they sipped on lychee and violet martinis and matcha mojitos.

Event theming partners Event-Trees pulled out all the stops to use the theme of ‘illumination’ to showcase the versatility of the event spaces, with a rainbow-coloured backlit staircase leading the way to the sixth floor Mountbatten, where the views of the London city skyline were almost as dazzling as the room itself.

Lit with the warm glow of bejewelled chandeliers, branches radiating light and glowing orbs as table centrepieces, it was a world away from the traditional conference set up many were used to seeing, and provided the ideal backdrop for the three-course dinner served by QEII’s in-house caterers, QEII Taste by Leiths.

Speaking at the event, chief executive of the QEII Centre Mark Taylor said: “Creativity has always been part of the fabric of this great building; it’s one of those stimulating environments that fires the imagination and allows truly imaginative ideas to turn into reality. It’s not just the rooms or the stunning views that spark the imagination and make clients return time and again, it’s also our continued commitment to the latest cutting-edge event production that’s helping brands push the boundaries.”

More information about the QEII Centre can be found here.

The Army & Navy Club’s insightful open morning

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The Army & Navy Club is offering event planners the chance to discover its fantastic range of event spaces and banqueting services while enjoying a scrumptious homemade breakfast.

Guests are invited to visit the private member’s club situated at 36-39 Pall Mall between 8-10am on Thursday, 1 March 2018 to experience its fantastic fine-dining facilities, sophisticated accommodation and excellent business and event spaces.

A selection of delicious homemade breakfast pastries, freshly pressed juices and coffee and tea will be available to relish offering the perfect backdrop for buyers to learn more about the Army & Navy Club while networking with their fellow London event organisers.

To register your attendance, please email [email protected]

Places are limited to one guest per attendee.

A spook-tacular Hallo-Westminster showcase!

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The ‘Hallo-Westminster’ event at One Great George Street offered over 200 event planners the chance to meet the collection’s eclectic mix of 35 scarily good venues whilst enjoying some ghoulish trick or treat fun.

The entertainment came alive as Viva Live Music’s opera singers performed Phantom of the Opera classics whilst some guests had their faces painted by UK Facepainters & Community Giants and others piled into Effect Event’s spooky photo booth. The event space was transformed into an Autumnal affair with floral arrangements by TBR Floral Designs and equipment from Thorns Furniture & Catering Hire and Eclipse Presentations, setting the perfect Halloween scene.

Big prizes were on offer in the trick or treat prize draw, including; dinner cruise for two with Bateaux London, a tour of the Royal Society with afternoon tea for two and dinner for two in The Lansdowne Club’s Dining Room.

Nouvelle Afriyie-Aidoo from The Chartered Insurance Institute commented on the evening: “Venue is really pretty, the evening has been good, there’s lots of suppliers and all in all it’s been an informative night – I’ve seen venues we didn’t even know existed!”

See you at Square Meal

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WVC will be exhibiting at Square Meal Venues and Events Live for the very first time this year.

Taking place at Old Billingsgate, London, on 20 and 21 September, we will be located at stand number G32 and representatives from our member venues will be ready and waiting to help you save time while finding the very best Westminster venue for your next event.

Visitors to our stand will also get their hands on the hottest ticket in town – an invite to our spooktacular Hallo-Westminster showcase on October 24 at One Great George Street.

Entry to the event is free and you can register to attend here. We look forward to seeing you there!

You’re invited to the spookiest showcase in town!

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Things are set to get pretty spooky this October when all our member venues come together at One Great George Street for our annual showcase – and you’re invited to attend… if you dare!

Creep along on Tuesday, 24 October at 6.30pm and meet with our selection of scarily good venues – all based in London’s iconic borough of Westminster. On your way, you may even bump into the phantom monk said to walk the tracks at Westminster Tube Station.

In true Halloween tradition, not only will you have the chance to meet and chat with representatives from our 34 venues, but you’ll also be invited to take part in a ‘Trick or Treat’ lucky dip where you could win some spooktacular prizes and experiences.

With fashionable townhouses and private members’ clubs to luxury hotels, celebrated attractions, historic institutes and societies, we can help you find the perfect venue for your next event quickly and efficiently, no matter what you’re planning.

Pre-register for your place by contacting [email protected] before the witching hour on Friday, 20 October.

Places are strictly limited and Westminster Venue Collection reserves the right to qualify your event planning credentials in order to confirm your place.  

Church House strikes Gold with AIM for the second time

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Church House Westminster has once again achieved the highest level of venue accreditation – AIM Gold.

Securing the nationally recognised accreditation for a second time cements the venue’s position in an elite group of venues and it also demonstrates Church House Westminster’s commitment to capability, compliance and competence.

To achieve the Meetings Industry Association’s AIM Gold, the venue underwent a rigorous independent auditing process which saw a panel of independent industry assessors scrutinise the whole customer journey and business processes including resources, creating the customer environment, service delivery and continuous improvement.

Church House Westminster’s general manager Robin Parker said: “We have always taken pride in delivering a consistently high quality of customer service in all areas of our business. To achieve AIM Gold for the second time is an outstanding achievement that the entire team should be proud of as we are assessed on every aspect of our customer’s journey – from the moment they book and event to the time they leave.”

Jane Longhurst, chief executive of mia, said: “AIM Gold is awarded to venues which offer first-class facilities matched by exceptional catering and the highest levels of customer service. The judges were particularly impressed by the enthusiasm of Church House Westminster’s staff who continually identify ways to improve services to exceed customer expectations.”

Church House Westminster is one of London’s most versatile event venues offering 19 flexible event spaces, which can accommodate between 2 and 664 guests, and host a wide variety of events including meetings, conferences, awards ceremonies, gala dinners and receptions.

For more information, call 020 7390 1590 or visit www.churchhouseconf.co.uk.

RIBA launches new hospitality pop-up for the summer

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RIBA London’s 66 Portland Place has launched a new hospitality pop-up on its 4th floor terrace.

The pop-up will be a unique outdoor space for clients to entertain their teams on a summer’s evening, either as a standalone event or as a part of a meeting or conference.

Designed by Merrett Houmøller Architects Peter Merrett and Robert Houmøller, the brightly coloured pop-up, was selected from entries to the RIBA Architecture Open 2017, an annual architecture competition run by the institute and open to RIBA members, chartered practices, students and non-members alike.

The summer pop-up is available for exclusive use only, and is able to cater for up to 40 people for an early evening networking event. Food will be provided by event caterer Harbour & Jones and will embrace the theme of social dining featuring dishes from around the world.

Moya Maxwell, head of venues at RIBA, said: “We are delighted to be able to utilise this fantastic installation, which has been designed by the talented Merrett Houmøller Architects. The pop-up is in-situ on our 4th floor terrace until mid-September and we hope to encourage companies to bring their teams together this summer to enjoy each other’s company for a few hours in a relaxed, informal environment that encourages a sense of fun, togetherness and sharing.”

For more information or to book the summer pop-up for an event, please email [email protected] or phone 020 7307 3888.

Three reasons to book a Christmas lunch at 8 Northumberland Avenue

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Looking for the perfect venue to host a Christmas lunch party? 8 Northumberland Avenue have rounded up their top three reasons for booking a midday Christmas feast with them:

  1. Value

Your guests deserve only the best Christmas celebrations and you don’t want to be held back by your budget and at 8 Northumberland Avenue you will save around £40 per head just by booking during the day instead of the evening.

2. Dates

Finding a perfect date that suits everyone during the festive season is a difficult task but booking a Christmas lunch party at our central London venue, means you have a better selection of days to ensure you don’t have to compromise on your preferred date.

3. Themes

We take great pride in choosing our themes (this year we have The Lost Palace of Atlantis and Winter Glitz & Glamour) and bringing them to life. Guests at our Christmas lunches will have the same amazing experience as our Christmas dinner party guests meaning they won’t miss out on the immersive theming for their Christmas party.

Festive lunches at 8 Northumberland Avenue start from £95 per person ex VAT*. Contact our team for more information [email protected].

*T&Cs:  price dependent on numbers.