Double Award joy for Farncombe Conference Centre

Farncombe Conference Centre is in the running for Best UK Conference Centre, after being shortlisted as a finalist in the 2014 Meetings & Incentive Travel Industry Awards. 

The centre, based on the Farncombe Estate near Broadway, will be battling it out for the top honour with ACC Liverpool, Central Hall Westminster in London, ICC Birmingham and Warwick Conferences.

Jilly Jones, Business Development Manager for Farncombe Conference Centre said: “We are absolutely thrilled to be a finalist after a very successful 2013, during which we hosted top companies and organisations including GlaxoSmithKline, Ikea and British Red Cross. 

“The awards are the result of voting by the readers of Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine and  to be recognised by our peers in the industry including venue organisers, is especially pleasing.  We are also proud to be shortlisted alongside the likes of Liverpool’s main conference centre and the ICC in Birmingham.”

The Gala Presentation Dinner, for what is the oldest established awards programme in the meetings industry, is on Tuesday 25 February at Battersea Evolution, London. Farncombe will be recognised in front of an audience of around 1,000 industry professionals.

Meanwhile, Farncombe Conference Centre has achieved a new gold award: The VenueVerdict Gold Standard Accreditation for 2013. 

It is the fifth year in a row that the centre has won this award, one of only four venues to do so. 

The accreditation is organised and given by BDRC Continental to properties recording a 12-month score of +70 or higher from 40 or more business responses. Farncombe Conference Centre joins 30 other UK venues who achieved the Gold standard for 2013.

VenueVerdict features around 360 participating meeting venues and hotels in the UK and Ireland annually and derives its results from about 22,000 individual pieces of customer feedback.

For more information please call us on 0845 230 1414 or email info@cceonline.co.uk

Labour party leader, Ed Miliband, chose Senate House for the location of his speech on Britain’s banking system on Friday 17th January.

The speech, broadcast live on BBC News at 11am on Friday 17th January, took place in Senate House’s Beveridge Hall.

The Beveridge Hall is a highly versatile space boasting not only a stage and excellent natural acoustics, but also audio-visual equipment. Crucially, it is also imbued with a great sense of history.

Inspiration for George Orwell and backdrop for feature films, television programmes and fashion shows, Charles Holden’s Art Deco masterpiece is a unique proposition: rich in history, atmosphere and – most importantly – the facilities associated with a first-rate venue.

For more information please call us on 0845 230 1414 or email: info@cceonline.co.uk

Awards and Gold Standard Accreditations for Conference Centres of Excellence members

Conference Centres of Excellence members have won further acclaim in the VenueVerdict Awards 2013 – the only industry awards programme to be based entirely on the voice of the customer. 

The awards and accreditations provide a comprehensive measure of service standards based entirely on the voice of real customers, and this year's results are based on 22,000 individual responses from event planners across a pool of over 360 participating venues.

EEF Venues, whose three conference venues Woodland Grange, Engineers House and Broadway House are all long-standing Conference Centres of Excellence members, have been named ‘No 1 Small Group’ and ‘Best Value for Money Group’ in the Awards.

All three venues have also gained Gold Standard Accreditation again in the VenueVerdict programme, proving consistently excellent quality standards.

Conference Centres of Excellence is the only marketing consortium to adopt and promote BDRC Continental’s VenueVerdict as the benchmark for its ongoing quality assurance. 

A further four Conference Centres of Excellence member venues have also achieved the highest level BDRC Continental VenueVerdict Gold Standard Accreditation at the end of 2013:

• Maple House, Birmingham

• Farncombe Conference Centre, Cotswolds

• The Manor House, Surrey

• The Møller Centre, Cambridge

Anthony Lishman, Executive Director of Conference Centres of Excellence commented: 

“All our members consistently strive to maintain the highest possible quality standards in the meetings, training and events industry, and this is an excellent example of how important it is for us to provide an exceptional experience for our customers, who recognise the importance of using specialist venues. There’s no better endorsement than that from independently monitored customer feedback and we are delighted at the consistent quality standards our venues achieve. ”

Conference Centres of Excellence venues nominated as finalists in M&IT Awards

Conference Centres of Excellence member venues have once again been nominated as finalists in the renowned annual Meetings & Incentive Travel Awards, with winners due to be announced on 25th February.

Organised by Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine, the awards event at Battersea Revolution brings together the various sectors of the business to measure market reaction in rewarding excellence of service and product and to enjoy fantastic cuisine, fine wines, live entertainment and raise funds for charity. There are 19 awards voted for by the readers of Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine, plus a special award: M&IT Personality of the Year.

Conference Centres of Excellence are once again well represented with several member venues shortlisted as finalists in 5 out of the award categories, and as a group are proud to be sponsoring the award for ‘Best UK Conference Centre’. 

 “These awards are particularly important in the meetings and event calendar as they measure success from a customer’s perspective and demonstrate consistent quality standards in both service and facilities” commented Anthony Lishman, Executive Director. “Sponsoring this award fully compliments our principles of supporting consistent quality standards within the meetings and event industry.

Full details of the awards and finalists can be found HERE> 

The Manor House Gains Gold Once Again

The Manor House, the independently owned meetings venue in Godalming, Surrey has been awarded another prestigious accreditation.

The Manor House received a VenueVerdict Gold Standard Accreditation for 2013 from BDRC Continental, who collect feedback to measure how likely the Manor House’s meetings customers are to recommend it. There were around 360 hotels and venues nationally who took part in the VenueVerdict scheme in 2013 and of these only 31 got the net promoter score of +70 or more necessary to win the Gold Standard Accreditation. The Manor House is the only venue to win in the Surrey area.

“It’s great news that the Manor House has received the VenueVerdict Gold Standard Accreditation for the second year on the trot” says Centre Manager Howard Canning, “and we feel as if gold is running through our veins these days! In October we learned we had also maintained our Green Tourism Gold Award for environmental awareness for the second time too. The BDRC Accreditation is a fantastic endorsement for new or potential customers as it’s is an indication that many others are happy to recommend the Manor House’s meetings facilities and services.”

About The Manor House:

The Manor House is an independently owned conference and training centre in Godalming, Surrey, where the traditions of hospitality, comfort and friendliness are blended with first class facilities to produce a unique, professional business environment.  With ten flexible meeting rooms and 31 bedrooms, the venue is set in the beautiful Surrey Hills yet is within easy reach of the A3, M25, mainline stations and international airports.

For more information please call us on 0845 230 1414 or email info@cceonline.co.uk

WARWICK CONFERENCES STRIKES GOLD AGAIN IN BDRC CONTINENTAL ACCREDITATION WINS

Warwick Conferences is celebrating its venues achieving BDRC Continental VenueVerdict accreditation for a third consecutive year, including Gold and Highly Commended for its Radcliffe and Scarman venues.

Judged by customers over the course of 2013 as part of the VenueVerdict Accreditation programme, Warwick’s venues are among just a handful of conference and meeting venues in the UK to be awarded these prestigious accolades. Warwick Conferences has held BDRC Continental accreditation at venues within the group since 2011, and achieved the standard yet again in 2013, despite the substantial renovation work carried out at Radcliffe training and conference centre during this period.

Rachael Bartlett, head of sales and marketing at Warwick Conferences said: “We’re thrilled to have been recognised again by BDRC Continental.  Reaching this standard is in itself an achievement, and maintaining it on a consistent basis is a challenge for any venue. At the time customer feedback was gathered, refurbishment was being carried out at our Radcliffe location. We hope to maintain this standard, indicative of the outstanding customer service we continually pride ourselves on delivering, for a long time to come.”

James Bland, senior client services manager at BDRC Continental added: “This quarter, only 31 properties achieved the Gold Standard, so Warwick Conferences should be very proud. Net Promoter can range from -100 to +100 so to achieve and sustain a score of +70 requires consistently excellent customer service.”

Warwick Conferences, part of the University of Warwick, is one of the leading providers of conferencing space in the UK.

For more information please call us on 0845 230 1414 or email info@cceonline.co.uk

Gold for imago from Investors in People

imago has reached another milestone in its pursuit of achieving the highest standards of service. The conference arm of Loughborough University has been awarded the Investors in People Gold standard. imago is one of only a handful  of venues from the meetings industry to achieve the standard. 

Employing 180 people across the four venues, Investors in People is particularly important to imago, and it places a high value on providing its staff with excellent working conditions which it believes contributes to its success. 

Investors in People is the UK's leading accreditation for business improvement through people management, and provides a framework to help businesses get the best from their people. To achieve the standard, imago worked with an Investors in People specialist from emb-x; the organisation that delivers the Investors in People service for Central England.

Tatjana Walker, Front of House Manager at Burleigh Court, says: “The Investors in People framework has always been an essential external benchmark which exhibits imago’s commitment for growth, support and engagement of every member of our team. Over the years it has become quite clear that our people are our success. Their contributions and dedication has enabled imago to grow and go from strength to strength.

“It has been a team effort involving members from all areas of our business and a real journey which makes this Gold award all the more important. Through this accreditation we have improved our business processes, communication and most of all staff engagement in establishing and embedding best practices in everything we do. Our plan for the future will ensure that we further develop our strategies and plans in order to continually review, evaluate and improve performance. The core Investors in People principles – Plan, Do, Review - will push us to a whole new level within the market place.” 

Emma Boynton, Head of Sales and Marketing at imago, says: “imago values its staff and is committed to the continual improvement of our employees. Excellent customer service is central to everything we do, and our success depends on staff consistently providing the best level of care. By investing in our staff and working to the Investors in People framework we can help our staff grow and achieve their full potential. Attaining the Gold standard is recognition of the systems we have in place and demonstrates our ability to deliver excellence to customers.”

imago unifies Loughborough University’s conference and events venues under one brand offering high quality meeting spaces, venues and accommodation along with excellent sport and leisure facilities. It’s portfolio of venues includes Burleigh Court, Holywell Park, Loughborough University’s conference and events facilities and The Link Hotel. 

New Business Concept for Yorkshire

Peter Chubb, Development Director at Weetwood Hall Conference Centre and Hotel, Leeds, has created a forward thinking concept to bring conferences to life during this tough business market. 

Peter has developed a business model in which people who have a unique concept or special interest for a convention or event can host their idea at Weetwood Hall. The concept is titled Inspirational Conventions and Events (ICE) where conferences are set up on diverse subjects and topics that inspire conversation, feed the imagination and demand to be explored. 

Each event is researched and run by a specialist programme director, an expert in the subject field, who will set the programme, uncover the best key-note speakers and identify external events and excursions, where applicable. 

The conferences give people the opportunity to present their passion to an audience where they would not otherwise be able to. The first conference will take place in July 2014 and is a First World War in Retrospect Conference, remembering the outbreak of the First World War in its centenary year. It will be directed by Dr Peter Liddle who has spent the past 40 years interviewing people who have been in and affected by the First World War. Dr Liddle, along with 18 expert speakers will be presenting various aspects of the outbreak of WW1.

The second of the ICE conferences is titled Appreciating Aspects of Art where eight speakers will discuss the socio-historical background to great Yorkshire names such as David Hockney, Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, interspersed with opportunities to meet and be addressed by contemporary artists such as Margaret Harrison, 2013 winner of the North's answer to the Turner Prize, and Kane Cunningham, who created a studio in Knipe Point Drive, a house falling down a cliff on the eroding coastline of Yorkshire.

Peter Chubb said: “The idea of the concept came to me as I found there was a need to revolutionise the way conferences are held and create a concept in which likeminded enthusiasts could connect in specialised subjects. Most ICE events will take place over a number of days and can be residential or non-residential. They provide the opportunity for people to listen, reflect and gain a fresh perspective on different topics. So far we have received a lot of interest in our two conferences and I look forward to hearing about future concepts.”

For more information call us on 0845 230 1414 or email info@cceonline.co.uk

Major industry awards for EEF Venues

EEF Venues has been named ‘No 1 Small Group’ and ‘Best Value for Money Group’ in the VenueVerdict Awards 2013 – the only industry awards programme to be based entirely on the voice of the customer. 

Venues and groups are benchmarked on a number of measures, and the groups recording the highest headline scores for the year are independently recognised as providing the best customer experience for meetings and events. 

This year's results are based on 22,000 individual responses from event planners across a pool of over 360 participating venues.

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, said: "We couldn’t ask for a better start to 2014. To be recognised in this way is a fantastic endorsement of our teams who consistently exceed customers’ expectations across our three dedicated venues – Broadway House in Westminster, Engineers’ House in Bristol and Woodland Grange in Warwickshire.” 

James Bland, client services director, BDRC, said: "Over the seven years that we have been running this programme, we have seen a consistent increase in quality standards from the many participating venues.  Their participation in independent external accreditation is evidently repaid by closer customer relationships resulting from the better service they are able to provide. The awards are split into three groups; recognising the different operational challenges that face groups of different sizes.” 

EEF Venue’s three venues have also scooped gold standard accreditation in The VenueVerdict Accreditation Programme, a comprehensive measure of service standards – again based entirely on the voice of the customer. 

Administered by BDRC Continental, an independent third party market research agency, and judged by real customers over a 12 month period, the VenueVerdict Accreditation programme is completely unbiased and so a true reflection of customer satisfaction levels. 

David Vaughton said: "Repeat bookings account for 70 per cent of business across our three venues so keeping our customers happy and satisfied is everything as it has a direct impact on our performance as a group. Retention and loyalty drive this business so it is truly humbling that our efforts have been acknowledged in this way.”

For more information call us on 0845 230 1414 or email info@cceonline.co.uk

RNLI College Grows Nationwide footprint for Conference Centres of Excellence

RNLI College, the home of RNLI Training, has joined Conference Centres of Excellence, the UK’s only sales and marketing consortium of dedicated meeting providers.

RNLI College is the home of training for the charity's lifesavers. Overlooking Poole Harbour on England's south coast, the College welcomes its volunteer Lifeboat crew members and Lifeguards from around the UK and RoI, who visit for training courses and to make use of extensive training facilities – including a unique Lifeboat Bridge simulator, and Sea Survival Centre.

Since opening in 2004, RNLI College has also been used to raise funds for the charity, as the classroom facilities and function rooms designed to train lifesavers are perfect for conferences, meetings, presentations, private dining, training seminars and team building.
The award-winning facilities combined with its inspirational atmosphere and stunning waterside location, make RNLI College a conference venue with a difference and one where every visit supports the charity in saving lives at sea.

Having met stringent criteria in terms of facilities, accommodation and customer care, joining Conference Centres of Excellence enables RNLI College to benefit from the group’s marketing activities, providing customers with a single route to booking one of our nationwide venues, with consistent quality standards.

Anthony Lishman, Executive Director of Conference Centres of Excellence said “We are strengthening our membership and growing our geographical footprint to cater for customer requirements, and having RNLI College join us broadens our customer offering to the South Coast of England. An inspirational venue in many ways, RNLI College aligns itself to our exacting quality standards, delivering customers an excellent meeting, training or teambuilding experience.” 

Conference Centres of Excellence has been working with specialist venues in the meetings, training and events industry for 21 years, and its 33 members include many of the country’s best known specialist venues, covering a geographical area extending from the south coast of England to Scotland.

“We are delighted to be joining Conference Centres of Excellence; this provides RNLI College with a great opportunity to be part of a consortium of specialist venues for meeting, training and business events” commented Perry Simpson, Business Development Manager for RNLI College.  “A totally unique, waterside venue, RNLI College is the home of RNLI training, where our volunteer lifesavers enjoy fantastic facilities, whilst learning vitally important lifesaving skills. We are very much looking forward to welcoming new customers to the RNLI through our membership with Conference Centres of Excellence.”

For more information please call our central sales team on 0845 230 1414 or email info@cceonline.co.uk

An executive decision: Warwick Conferences confirms key HBAA appointment

Chris Nagle, Agency Relationship Manager at Coventry-and-Warwickshire-based Warwick Conferences, has been appointed to the Training Chair of the HBAA Executive Committee.

Chris will replace Rose McDonald with immediate effect, not only chairing the Training Committee, but also taking a seat on the HBAA Executive Committee.

As the trade association for the hotel booking agency and venue community, the HBAA has been helping businesses and individuals within these sectors to strive for ever higher professional standards. The HBAA runs a schedule of training, meetings and networking events for the sector throughout the year. This schedule is overseen by the Training Committee, whose role is to plan the training course calendar and coordinate the delivery of the induction online and the HBAA Customer Service NVQ.

Chris Nagle comments: “I am delighted with this opportunity to assume the Training Committee Chair, and to continue the great work started by Rose in 2013.

“Focussing on delivering training that meets the needs of our membership will be key for the Committee in 2014. I look forward to working to deliver another exciting year of training and development.”

Warwick Conferences, part of the University of Warwick, is one of the leading providers of conferencing space in the UK.

The Manor House Strikes Green Gold

The Manor House, the conference centre based in Godalming, Surrey has retained its Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) gold standard following a recent assessment by the organisation.

The GTBS is the national sustainable tourism certification scheme for the UK and according to a June 2013 report produced by Totem Tourism , is the World’s most credible Sustainable Tourism Programme. Originally developed in partnership with Visit Scotland, it is now the only certification scheme validated by Visit Britain, through the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT). 

"We are absolutely delighted to have retained this gold award" says Centre Manager Howard Canning. "We first achieved gold two years ago, but as the award is all about continuous improvement, we knew that we couldn’t sit on our laurels if we wanted to maintain the standard. We’ve work hard at being green, so this is Mission Accomplished!"

Businesses opting to join Green Tourism are assessed by a qualified grading advisor against a rigorous set of criteria, covering a range of areas, like energy and water efficiency, waste management, biodiversity and more. Those businesses that meet the required standard receive a Bronze, Silver, or Gold award based on their level of achievement. The membership network currently numbers around 2300 organisations in the UK, Ireland and Canada and there is a wide range of business types from hotels to tourist attractions and holiday parks.

“This award is the culmination of everybody's efforts and we’re very proud of some of the initiatives that we have developed and built on over the last two years" continues Canning. "We now use more local suppliers than ever before for everything from food to laundry. Capitalising on new technology, we have also managed to reduce our utilities bills – we use about 20% gas than we did two years ago, for example, which is fantastic, given that the cost keeps increasing."

Although the next assessment is not until 2015, Canning is keen not to stand still. "We have plenty still to do" he says, "not only do we have to maintain our gold standard for a third time, but the assessment criteria are due to change, which will make a gold much harder to achieve."