Central Hall Westminster has seen a 15% increase in the number of events booked at the venue by Chinese businesses during 2015, compared to 2014. The venue attributes the increase, which included event wins from Huawei and Juangsu, to a number of marketing campaigns as well as the development of the Mandarin version of its mobile website.
From intimate meeting rooms for five delegates, to 1400m2 of conference and exhibition space for up to 1,000 guests, Central Hall Westminster offers a flexible and diverse portfolio of rooms, including the 2,160-person capacity Great Hall auditorium with its magnificent pipe organ. To book an event at Central Hall Westminster simply contact the events team on [email protected] or 020 7222 8010.
Former head of hospitality at English Heritage, Neil Parry, has joined Central Hall Westminster as its Director of Sales and Events. This newly created role comes as the venue celebrates significant success achieved in the last two years.
Parry’s previous roles include general manager at London Aquarium, trade marketing manager at London Zoo and trade marketing manager at The Tussaud’s Group. He held his most recent role at English Heritage since 2008.
“I have been very fortunate in my career to have worked at some great venues and buildings,” said Parry, “so to get the chance to work at Central Hall Westminster with all its associated history and iconic status is an amazing opportunity for me. I am really looking forward to joining the team and continuing to deliver the huge success they have already achieved.”
Commenting on the appointment, Paul Southern, managing director at Central Hall Westminster, said: “We’ve had some great results at Central Hall over the last couple of years and I’m delighted that we can reinvest this success by growing and developing our team. Neil will bring a wealth of experience to the venue and I’m looking forward to him taking the venue in new, bold directions.”
The appointment of Parry comes together with the promotion of Maria Schuett to the newly created role of head of marketing. Schuett joined Central Hall as marketing manager in 2011, a role in which her achievements included the venue’s rebranding, the launch of a dedicated mobile website and a win at the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute Awards for ‘Best Internet/Media Campaign of overseas business in China’.
Schuett also developed the award-winning ‘Meet The Future’ campaign, a multi-faceted campaign that culminated in a dedicated event technology conference, helping the venue achieve a 53% increase in turnover in the 2013/14 financial year.
Commenting on her promotion, Schuett said: “I am passionate about the Central Hall brand and my industry. I am grateful to be working with such a forward-thinking team and venue that can help to shape the industry’s journey into the future with a real educational drive to progress and facilitate change.”
Southern added: “Maria’s enthusiasm and passion for her role is infectious and has played a big part in helping our venue achieve some of its best results on record. I’m delighted that we can recognise her achievements with this newly created role.
Central Hall Westminster (CHW) is central London’s largest purpose built conference centre, combining historical elegance with cutting-edge technical capabilities. The unique Edwardian landmark building, situated adjacent to Westminster Abbey, has engaged high profile conferences, special events and local business meetings since 1912. It has 22 event spaces available for hire.
We’re delighted to announce that The Westminster Collection’s 2014 venue showcase will this year take place at the celebrated home of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, in the David Lean Room which overlooks St James’s Church Garden. The date for your diary is Friday 10th October, 8:00am-11:00am.
The breakfast showcase event, which is free to attend, is an opportunity for anyone in the business of booking corporate and private events, meetings and conferences to spend a morning with the sales and marketing teams at more than 45 of central London’s most iconic venues. The Westminster Collection is renowned for its eclectic portfolio of member venues, which encompass everything from historic institutes and societies, colleges, museums and private members clubs, to luxury hotels, concert halls, modern training venues, churches and Thames river boats.
To register your attendance and for all updates about the showcase programme, special showcase incentives and competitions, please click the link below.
Three talented events professionals join The Westminster Collection’s Board of Directors today as we, London’s only venue marketing consortium exclusively promoting the City of Westminster, ready our plans for investment into direct and digital marketing, face-to-face events and website development through 2014.
Tom Walsh, director of MICE sales at St Ermin’s Hotel, Anna Glazebrook, marketing manager at One Great George Street and Rob Chambers, head of event sales for London Film Museum (LFM), join the board with immediate effect. It’s an exciting trio of appointments for the collection, which has been eager to bring bright, new talent in to support the work of the existing directors, ready for the busy year ahead.
Walsh, Glazebrook and Chambers join existing board directors Robin Parker of Church House Conference Centre, Allyson Hargreaves of St Martin-in-the-Fields, Jonathan Morris of No.11 Cavendish Square, Wendy Greenhalgh and Karin Parkinson of Central Hall Westminster.
Commenting on the new appointments, Allyson Hargreaves, TWC board director and executive director at St Martin-in-the-Fields, said:
“Having the support of TWC members is vital to ensure we achieve our objectives as a collection. Anna, Tom and Rob each bring valuable skills and experience in sales and marketing which will be a great support to the board as we roll out our programme of developments and initiatives for 2014. Anna and Tom have already been instrumental in some of TWC’s successes to date, as active members of TWC’s marketing committee, assisting with projects including our new website launch, our presence at trade shows and our own Destination Westminster venue showcase last September. We are delighted to now welcome Anna, Tom and Rob to the board of directors.”
Click here for more information about The Westminster Collection or to explore the full collection of venues available for hire, click here.
Don’t miss incredible nuggets of creative wisdom from true experts in their fields at a special panel debate taking place at Destination Westminster, The Westminster Collection’s annual venue showcase and networking event.
At 9:00am, a specially selected panel of marketing, food, social media and live event gurus will kick off the Unleash Your Creativity forum in the Old Billiard Room. They aim to open your mind to what can be achieved when you inject imagination and resourcefulness into event planning and focus on creating new and memorable experiences.
Katie McPhee, Senior Community Manager, Eventbrite UK
Katie joined Eventbrite from the BBC in 2011 and was the company’s first employee in Europe. She runs the UK’s social media, co-ordinates all Eventbrite events, sources partnerships and manages a growing community of event organisers in the UK. Katie also works closely with event organisers advising on social media strategy.
Jez Paxman, strategy & creative director, Live Union
Jez helped found Live Union in 2009, based on a belief that the role and potential of events within the business and internal communications landscape was rapidly shifting.
An approach anchored in understanding where the true delegate value lies for a particular audience has seen Live Union build a client base that includes EDF Energy, Oracle, AXA, TripAdvisor, Nokia and Amnesty International.
A particular passion for Jez is the merging of live and digital channels to redefine what an event can be and what it can achieve for audiences.
Jez regularly participates in industry forums, blogs on all things live and contributes to the Narrative Environments MA course at Central Saint Martins.
Katy started her career in London after four years of studying Hospitality Management at Manchester University. She quickly became the Event Manager for Searcy’s at the Royal Opera House which saw her organise many high profile and glamorous events including the BAFTA awards for over 1000 celebrities, Condé Nast flagship GQ Man of the Year Awards and Chelsea Football Club’s Centenary Dinner.
Wanting to develop her skills further, a move into outside event catering led to experiencing a career defining moment…Lewis Hamilton arriving by helicopter to Exxon Mobile’s Silverstone Grand Prix party for 650 with oysters and amazing cocktails.
Katy’s career path then entered the world of contract catering where she joined boutique and sustainable catering company Harbour and Jones as a General Manager in 2010 working at 76 Portland Place before taking a short career break to travel. She re-joined Harbour and jones in January this year firstly working on projects and then becoming the General Manager at the Royal Society of Arts.
Katy is happiest when she is putting together creative quotes for clients, organising events and sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm for food.
Sam founded Chinwag in 1996 to support the nascent digital marketing industry. The organisation has grown alongside the industry, whilst Sam has held positions as arguably the UK’s first paid webmaster for Time Out magazine, part of the founding management team of the UK’s first web agency, Webmedia and the start-up team at digital off-shoot of TV firm Carlton (now part of ITV).
He’s launched numerous events including Chinwag Psych, international startup series Digital Mission and he’s the Executive Director of Social Media Week London, part of a global collaborative event series taking place in 26 cities wordlwide. Sam is a member of the global advisory board. Consultancy clients include UK Trade & Investment, Open Data Institute, the BBC, the Technology Strategy Board and he’s an active participant in a number of start-up accelerators.
Stephen has 25 years’ experience in business, founding, financing and operating a number of companies, including IP-Config.com, a business performance consultancy specialising in innovation and growth. Stephen is also chairman of 8 Northumberland Avenue, HarvestDigital and Visual Voice. He believes that innovation is an evolutionary process for survival, differentiation and sustained business growth. An essential component of every business, the skill is running innovation effectively and making it a core cultural component of the organisation.
Jonathan Byrne, chief operating officer, Royal Aeronautical Society at No.4 Hamilton Place
Jonathan Byrne has a wealth of experience in the Events and Hospitality industry, culminating in his current role as Chief Operating Officer of the Royal Aeronautical Society where he is responsible for the operational functions of the learned society, including marketing its Park Lane, Mayfair, headquarters No. 4 Hamilton Place as a meeting and events venue.
Jonathan joined the Society from Westminster’s Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre where, as Commercial Director, he oversaw the planning for the Chilcot Enquiry. He worked previously with Mint Hotels in the group-wide role of General Manager – Meetings & Events, developing the hotel group’s meetings and events product. For the seven years prior to this, Jonathan was Group Sales & Marketing Director, responsible for driving the brand and leading the sales and marketing functions at a strategic level across the nine businesses of the Crown Group.
To register for FREE, and for more information about the timings and full programme for the showcase and panel discussion, click here.
It’s a misconception that cost limits creativity, says Robin Parker, marketing director for The Westminster Collection (TWC). Venues face this challenge daily but it’s incredible the impact you can make when you deconstruct each stage of the planning process and apply a little imagination.
Not every event organiser has the luxury of large event budgets at their disposal. Fortunately they needn’t panic that they have to work miracles alone. Just because funds aren’t excessive doesn’t mean events have to present any less of a wow-factor.
Venues are used to their clients’ tightened purse strings. In the same way that event organisers feverishly brainstorm for the hook that will snag delegates (who are dubious about whether it will be time well spent), so too do venue event teams and their suppliers. We’ve become extremely resourceful at conjuring up alternative ways of working to deliver maximum value.
The real definition of being creative is being resourceful, practical and (dare I say it) original. At Church House, generally we can be more flexible with our hire prices on Mondays and Fridays. Buying into a package with a fixed day delegate rate (DDR) is not always the most cost-effective option. Sometimes it is worth looking at the breakdown of costs and questioning if you really need everything that is included.
Plan ahead and think about what comes next. Expressing interest in booking a series of events in one go creates great bargaining power, as does trying to negotiate with people face-to-face whenever you can. It’s a lot easier to be shot down with a ‘no’ over the phone.
If entertainment is on your agenda, be smart about how you source your act. Is it really essential to blow so much of your budget on a big-name, high-cost performance? How about unearthing an act that’s less well known? Showcase new talent, introduce something new.
The Westminster Collection will be discussing the challenge of cost versus creativity and bringing practical solutions and advice within a dedicated ‘Unleash Your Creativity’ workshop at Destination Westminster 2013, our annual London venue showcase event, featuring all 50 members of TWC. The event will take place from 8.30 – 11.30am on Friday 13th September, at 8 Northumberland Avenue.
Here’s what some of our venue members have to say about how to marry resourcefulness and creativity:
“Creativity in the event industry is about bringing a brand or someone’s vision to life. Increasingly we are being asked by our clients how they can make their events more impactful, punchy and memorable.
“Providing an ‘umbrella’ concept, under which all activities fall, helps the event become more focused and effective. Taking 1920s style influences from The Great Gatsby and Bugsy Malone, we recently created a themed conference for our client Pret. Delegates were invited to dress the part with feather boas, spats and headbands galore and they were welcomed into our townhouse with Prosecco served in saucers. After lunch, a flapper girl troupe performed the Charleston and blackjack and roulette tables encouraged team play and socialising.
“Styles and themes are particularly successful for private conferences where we are seeing companies combining their annual conference with an away day, by adding an entertainment element to an information based day. Holding the two events together saves on time and budget and maximises the benefits of having all staff or delegates together.”
“Any fool can be creative with a pile of money. It doesn’t matter if it’s £500,000 worth of lights and software or an interesting toilet roll holder, show the client, your staff or your boss that you have engaged your mind positively and have created and tested an imaginative solution that will in turn engage the client and guests.
“But first you need to talk, get into the culture of the company or situation, then ask what do you want to achieve, what are the key concerns, what is the true budget?”
“It is paramount for us to create an environment that our guests want to spend their time in, whether for corporate meetings and press briefings or dinners and drinks receptions. The finer details really are essential.
“I use a lot of references from Pinterest, where I find ideas for DIY event dressing and creative ways to set up the rooms. The 41 Portland Place summer showcase was no different. The theme was Street.Food.Party which took influence from the fashionable street food culture of East London. Our venue isn’t in the east, nor does it resemble anything like a warehouse that could be found in the east end. It was therefore my job to bring Shoreditch to Marylebone.
“My favourite trick is to use fishbowls which I borrow from our florist, fill them with fruit (chillis, lemons, limes, apples) and top up with water. Instantly you have a centrepiece or room filler. We also made garlands from chillies to hang around the venue and we filled every surface with spice scented tea lights.”
“Creativity is a big focus at etc.venues as we try to have both creative and functional space in the venue. We have lots of contemporary art work and bright colours throughout the venue to provide discussion and stimulate the attendees. We also have a few pieces of art work from one of our members of staff that he created him self from recycled coffee stirrers.
“As we do everything in house at the venue it really gives us the ability to work with clients’ budgets closely. Our chefs can do food challenges and really get involved with the delegates and we work closely with teambuilding companies, which means they know the space well and can offer the best value for money. They’re also always happy to come along for a show-round with the client at our venue which means they can rest secure in knowing they are being looked after and can brainstorm face to face in the space they want to use!”
Feed your imagination with ideas for how and where to hold your next event within London’s most illustrious business and lifestyle destination, Westminster, at our special 10th anniversary venue showcase, taking place at London’s most central venue, 8 Northumberland Avenue.
This is a FREE breakfast networking and educational event for anyone* in the business of booking corporate and private events, meetings and conferences. Click here to REGISTER NOW.
Smoking hot jazz and timeless Tom Collins gin cocktails meet authentic props within a rich wood-carved backdrop as 45 Millbank teams up with Seasoned Events and Fisher Productions to present The Walnut Supper Club, a unique party package inspired by booming 1920s America.
All-inclusive packages include exclusive hire of 45 Millbank, props and styling, vintage cocktail on arrival, either a three-course dinner or luncheon, or a bowl food reception, together with a 4.5-hour unlimited drinks package including beer and house wine, event lighting, DJ, music system and dance floor. Rates start at £50pp and are available with or without catering. Call 020 7514 8514 or email [email protected] for more information.
Continuing the glitz in roaring 1920s style is Kent House Knightsbridge, a glamorous townhouse bordering Hyde Park. Imagine you’re Downton Abbey’s Lady Rosamund Painswick as you sip exquisite cocktails and nibble on British-themed canapés at the piano bar in the Marble Hall, before you climb the majestic Grand Staircase to the Sanctuary, beautifully lit by the flickering hues of candelabra dressing the long-table banquet.
After supper, let your kiss curls bounce to the sounds of a top class DJ as the party continues in the bar and lounge. Prices start from £125pp, with capacity for 300 standing. To enquire call 020 7591 3838 or email [email protected].
Over at the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS), the Downton Abbey theme continues within the surrounds of this leading surgical institution. Dine by candle light with an elegant three-course luncheon or supper featuring traditional Christmas fare.
Locations range from the stunning oak panelled Edward Lumley Dining Hall to the prestigious Council Chamber, where visitors are watched over by magnificent oil canvases, including a portrait by Reynolds of the distinguished surgical anatomist John Hunter. Suitable for groups of 10 to 250, prices start at £65 per person. Contact Christmas events planner Charlotte Edwards on 020 7869 6714 or email [email protected].
Jive your way 1940s style into the secret wartime bunker that sheltered Sir Winston Churchill and his government during the Blitz and explore the underground maze of rooms at Churchill War Rooms that once buzzed with round-the-clock planning and plotting, strategies and secrets. Indulge in a sumptuous festive dinner, washed down with Pol Roger Champagne, Churchill’s favourite tipple, before swinging the night away to the nostalgic big band and scat jazz sounds of resident 1940s style four-piece band The Sweethearts.
Book places on a shared party night and enjoy a free round of drinks, or book and pay a deposit on your own exclusive event before 31 August and receive an exclusive Churchill Christmas Hamper. To discuss Christmas at Churchill War Rooms, call 020 3116 4469 or email [email protected].
London Film Museum, Covent Garden’s newest events space, welcomes guests to get festive in its cellar rooms and main gallery, where up to 450 guests can mingle amongst the Lights, Camera, London! exhibition. It’s the first exhibition since the Museum of London’s pioneering ‘London on Film’, showing how London has been the setting of films for over a century.
Using extracts and stills, together with rare costumes and props, Lights, Camera, London! captures the capital’s diverse communities and its working life, including the once-famous markets, which can now only be seen on film. London’s leading role in music and fashion during the Sixties is also celebrated, alongside the writers whose careers it made, from Shakespeare to Dickens and Wilde.
Heroic images of London’s survival during World War II contrast with apocalyptic fantasies of the city being destroyed, while ‘Gaslight’ and ‘Underworld’ sections evoke the most popular images of the Victorian city, with its sinister secrets and the long tradition of London criminals and the detectives who pursue them.
This unique package starts from £95pp and includes private venue hire, a Prosecco drinks reception, a three-course dinner package or canapés and bowl food, unlimited beer, wine and soft drinks, plus exclusive access via Covent Garden Piazza and full access to the exhibition. Contact [email protected] or call 0207 202 7042 for more details.
How can you make more of LinkedIn as a platform for meeting new business clients? Emma Hayes, Business Development Co-ordinator at the Royal College of Surgeons, gives us her top five tips.
A LinkedIn page can seem like a massive undertaking from its inception and so often people are unsure what they should be doing with it or how it might benefit them. With 87% of users trusting LinkedIn as a source of information affecting decision making, here’s how I’d suggest you can and should engage with it more effectively.
1 – Keep your profile up-to-date
This might sound obvious, but so often it’s not a rule that’s followed and profiles are left festering with inaccurate information and job descriptions. Always ask the question: does my page appeal to my target audience? Ensure you always include the key words that you believe your target audience would search for on LinkedIn. If you’re an event manager at a venue, include a detailed and appealing summary of the facilities your venue offers, its location and your specific role at that venue. LinkedIn is giving advice continually about improving personal profiles, so take heed and use this to your advantage.
2 – Share updates regularly
Keep updates interesting and relevant. Think about industry-related articles you have read, ask a question of your connections, or post a link to a blog or other online comment piece to provoke discussion amongst your network. This demonstrates you are serious about being viewed as an influencer and in turn can help to increase your levels of engagement on LinkedIn.
3 – ‘People you may know’
This feature of the site identifies mutual connections you have with your existing network. See them as ‘warm leads’ who are likely to share mutual business interests and consider making an approach to connect with them. They could be anyone from former colleagues to business associates and even potential new clients.
4 – Look to see who is viewing your profile
If someone has viewed your profile, it’s a good indicator that you have shown up in searches they have conducted and they have been interested in your job role and profile. Check this regularly and take interest in those people taking the time to learn more about you. They could be potential clients, colleagues or suppliers and it may be worth considering an official connection request.
5 – Interact within LinkedIn groups
Interacting with your connections and other users within specially formed groups is probably the most important part of using LinkedIn. For event organisers, if you are finding it hard to find a venue for your next event, post it on a group’s comment page and let the venues come to you to detail how they can solve your problem or assist with your requirements.
As a venue representative, I find it is also worth commenting on all discussions that you can make a valuable contribution to, whether it is directly associated with what you do, or something that has piqued your interest. Stepping away from the hard-sell tactics and demonstrating a willingness to engage on a knowledge-led level can be a rewarding route to gaining new connections and potentially new business.
Connect with Emma on LinkedIn or follow @RCSvenue on Twitter.
Robin Parker, marketing director for The Westminster Collection, talks us through the design decisions and brand new features of the venue collection’s new website, which launched officially this month.
Venue choice in London can be overwhelming as there are so many locations, building styles, budget options and varying degrees of quality to consider. We know from our clients that efficiency at the venue sourcing stage is absolutely critical, because that’s often the most time consuming part. You have an event theme, an intended date and a full marketing plan ready to get off the ground for your event, but until you find the right venue, very little of it can get underway.
Efficiency for the event planner was central to the rebuild of The Westminster Collection’s brand new website, which I’m pleased to launch this month.
Saying it quickly, saying it well and making it easy to enquire are important aspects of the new design of the site, which was built by Design Incorporated. Event planners were telling us they wanted a speedy foot in the door to some of London’s best and most centrally located venues, and that their initial decisions about which venues to book are driven by venue location, capacity and style.
Taking that feedback, we stripped down our original site and took it right back to basics. Location is a huge lure for The Westminster Collection but the boundaries of this borough are often misunderstood. The City of Westminster is home to some of the finest meetings, conference and events venues in the capital, and it accounts for a huge area of Zone 1 central London, encompassing major landmarks, world famous shopping streets, beautiful parks and an assortment of restaurants, attractions and entertainment.
It borders the London Borough of Camden to the east and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to the west, incorporating districts including Bayswater, Belgravia, Hyde Park, Knightsbridge, Mayfair, Marylebone, Paddington, Pimlico, St James’s, St John’s Wood, Soho, Victoria and the famous West End.
With a responsive design that makes it compatible with mobile and tablet devices, venues can now be browsed and selected from an interactive, Google-based map, which emphasises the breadth of the City of Westminster and the wealth of venues available within it. Venues are pinned to the map and when clicked, give the user the option to view the full profile.
Explore and compare venues side by side
The site’s new venue shortlist facility now enables event planners to add one or more of their preferred Westminster venues to a shortlist, from which they can then compare venues side-by-side according to location, size, room specifications and accessibility. If they’re happy with their selection, they can click ‘enquire with selected venues’ to complete a brief form which will then distribute this single enquiry to all of these venues.
The site is very image-led, which is a way for us to showcase the unique attributes of every one of our venues. Through photography displayed on the venue profiles and with our dynamic, dashboard style homepage, we have developed the website as a full-screen experience to maximise the accessibility from the large array of devices that people use to browse the internet today. The website features a considerable number of interactive features that have been built using JavaScript, HTML5 and CSS3 to ensure that they are usable across as many devices and browsers as possible.
Integrated news and special offers
The special offers page of the site now syncs smartly with the individual venue profiles, so if you view a profile, you’ll see the venue’s most recent corresponding offer appear in the left hand toolbar. The news page is also much more user friendly, with an attractive layout and the ability to share individual articles across social media channels – a feature we now expect when we access content online. Readers can also comment on articles and perform a keyword search of the site’s blog content to find relevant posts.
What we have now is something we’re very proud of and feedback during our recent soft launch demonstration phase at Confex is proving valuable. Although we’re confident the website is a much stronger tool for events planners, we will not stop the site development here. We’ll continue to polish and refine features and site functionality and we look forward to the platform this now gives us to better communicate with the events community and those looking to do business in Westminster.
Any feedback and suggestions are welcomed. Please email [email protected].
Venue Collection
Hire prestigious, unique and unusual London venues and facilities with Westminster Venue Collection.
The Westminster Venue Collection’s venues range from fashionable townhouses and private members’ clubs, to luxury hotels, celebrated attractions, historic institutes and societies.
As the world sharpens its focus on climate change and what we can do to slow it down, the event industry – along with a whole host of other businesses – is raising its game….
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