New Chairman for Conference Centres of Excellence

Richard Harrison

Richard Harrison, general manager of Scarman - the largest of Warwick Conferences’ three training and conference centres - has become the new Chair of Conference Centres of Excellence. The group is the UK’s leading sales and marketing consortium of specialist conference venues: with 35 members nationwide, it is the country’s largest provider of dedicated meetings space.

He takes over from Steven Crawford, centre director at Missenden Abbey conference centre in Buckinghamshire, who has completed his two-year term in office.

Richard joined Warwick Conferences in June 2006. He has overall responsibility for the Scarman operation, including the meeting and exceeding of financial and guest satisfaction targets and the effectiveness of its ongoing investment programme. The centre, which has 54 meeting rooms and 204 bedrooms, currently holds the ‘Best UK Management Training Centre’ and ‘Best Value for Money Conference Centre’ gold titles in the annual Meetings & Incentive Travel awards.

Before his appointment at Warwick Conferences, Richard was deputy manager with Corus Hotels in Solihull. His previous positions include a period as general manager at Dunchurch Park in Rugby, and roles at Hayley Conferences’ Ettington Chase, Sedgebrook Hall and Horwood House. He joined the board of Conference Centres of Excellence in 2008, and was appointed vice chair in 2009.

He becomes Chair at a critical time for the meetings venue sector, but believes that the place of specialist conference and training centres is being reinforced by current trends. “In times of pressure, organisations want to maximise the effectiveness of their workforce through training and team building, and dedicated centres optimise that process,” said Richard: “At the same time, specialised venues enable organisers of all kinds to demonstrate their determination to create cost-effective, fully focused events, which is now more critical then ever. I look forward to helping the consortium to communicate these benefits.”

Two new members have been elected to the Conference Centres of Excellence board. David Vaughton is managing director of EEF Venues, a group of five venues which includes the award winning Warwickshire venue, Woodland Grange. Stuart Websdale is general manager of The Møller Centre, Cambridge’s only residential training and conference centre.

New Chairman for Conference Centres of Excellence