Competition Heats Up For Cook and Serve Challenge

Venues of Excellence hosts its annual culinary competition ‘The Cook and Serve Challenge’ in October, and the heat is on with a record entry of 15 teams from within the venue consortium.

Now in its 18th year, the competition previously known as the Chefs’ Challenge, has been renamed to reflect the addition of the team element to include a chef and waiter or waitress. This format reflects the team ethos in member venues, where the production and delivery of the finest cuisine is one of the most fundamental and distinguishing features of the consortium’s members.

Taking place on October 29th at the Cambridge Regional College, the competition asks each team to prepare and serve to two invited diners a three course meal, suitable for an end of conference banquet, accompanied by cocktails, appropriate wines and coffee.  

Judged on the day by a panel of industry experts, the event continues into the evening with a celebratory gala awards dinner to be held at Wyboston Lakes. The event is a fitting celebration of the skills of all the team, and has traditionally proved to be a very successful networking event for the membership group.

“Our food and beverage offering is a fundamental element of our service and it is therefore no surprise that this event is one of the key dates in our year”,  Barry V Stonham OBE, Cook and Serve Chairman. “It’s an invaluable experience for young and talented F&B teams and they more than rise to the challenge, with standards being exceptionally high year after year. We rely on the extremely generous support of our sponsors, judges and host venues without whom this longstanding event could not take place. We wish every team the very best of luck and look forward to a great competition."

Follow the competition and awards announcements on social media using #VenExCookandServe

For sponsorship opportunities or to book your place at the awards dinner please contact Barry V Stonham, Cook and Serve Chairman: barrystonham@venuesofexcellence.co.uk

Wyboston Lakes Hotel completes “deluxe” bedroom refurbishment

 The final phase of the £1million bedroom refurbishment project at Wyboston Lakes hotel is now complete and guests will now be occupying the brand new Deluxe Oceania bedrooms.

“The final phase of bedroom refurbishment has been especially exciting as the Deluxe Oceania rooms offer an added level of luxury with the new amenities and mini bars. It was important to us that these rooms continued to compliment the overall leisure and spa experiences available to guests whilst delivering an indulgent and unique feel. We have continued to work with the best designers and contractors on this project and feel the results we’ve achieved will continue to improve the guest experience” - Mark Haynes, Director of Property.

Continuing the already successful partnership with Butterscotch Designs, the new Oceania rooms offer a luxurious and stylish space for guests to relax. These include super king size beds with Hungarian down-topped mattresses, a new pillow menu, 50inch smart flat screen televisions, Espresso coffee machine and Canton tea stations and in-room mini bars with fresh milk and various alcoholic and soft drinks. The en-suite shower rooms feature LED rainfall showers, luxury toiletries and illuminated make-up stations.

Guests staying in the new Deluxe Oceania rooms will also benefit from evening turn down service and complimentary hire of GHD hair straighteners, Xbox game stations and DVD players on request.

The new bedroom designs stem from 138 guest reviews on a number of sample bedrooms created in 2015. From this essential feedback, Wyboston Lakes has once again worked to ensure guests will continue to receive the best experience when staying at the hotel.

Wyboston Lakes takes pride in being an independent eco-friendly company, donating much of the existing soft furnishings and loose furniture to the Emmaus Cambridge Charity as part of the refurbishment programme. 

The exceptionally popular in-room technology and guest services platform, Crave, will continue to be available in all hotel rooms via tablets with software created exclusively for Wyboston Lakes. Guests can view menus, order room service, book spa treatments and access local information from the comfort of their own rooms. 

This has been an incredibly exciting project for Wyboston Lakes and the team looks forward to guests enjoying the new Deluxe Oceania rooms.

Wyboston Lakes confirms its place in The Sunday Times ‘Best Companies’ Awards 2016

Conference, training and leisure venue Wyboston Lakes has achieved  43rd position in this year’s The Sunday Times ‘Best Companies to work for’ List. This is the third consecutive year that Wyboston Lakes has ranked in the top 100.

“We are truly delighted to be recognised for the third consecutive year, it brings an enormous sense of pride, throughout the organisation, to be ranked within the top 100” said Mark Jones, managing director of Wyboston Lakes: “Our employees are the best and most valuable asset we have, so it is vitally important to us to know that we have a happy and engaged team.”

As part of the process, employee feedback is rated according to a Best Companies Index (BCI) score on a scale of 1 to 1000. Michelin-style star ratings are then determined from that score, with one star acknowledged as ‘very good’, two stars as ‘outstanding’ and three stars as ‘extraordinary’.  In the results of this survey it was also revealed that 85% of employees believe the organisation is run on strong values and principles, with 79% being excited about where the organisation is going and 84% stating they feel proud to work for Wyboston Lakes.

On the basis of this employee feedback Wyboston Lakes were also awarded the two-star accreditation status, this means that the venue is considered an ‘Outstanding’ employer in terms of the way it engages with its staff.   

Chelsey Hutchinson, People and Culture Director said, “We are delighted about the score this year, we scored exactly as we did last year and just 2.2 points away from being in the top category of ‘Extraordinary’, which is incredibly encouraging for a small privately owned business.   The feedback has also been very rewarding, telling us that 82% of our employees love working for us – it makes me feel much fulfilled to work with such a great team.”

This year marks the 16th year for the Best Companies ranking.  Best Companies have been producing the Accreditation standard since 2006 to acknowledge excellence in the workplace. Accreditation is a focus on Workplace Engagement as an integral component of an organisation's success and growth. This accreditation is regarded as among the UK’s most reliable and thorough processes for assessing the merits of organisations from all sectors in terms of the way they encourage, motivate and generally engage with their employees.

Wyboston Lakes are looking for continual improvement and they will continue to offer a fantastic place to work for all of their employees.  

Wyboston Lakes Announced as South East Regional Finalist in National Red Ribbon Awards 2016

Conference, training and leisure venue Wyboston Lakes is proud to announce it is the South East Regional finalist in the National Red Ribbon Awards 2016.

The Red Ribbon Awards are the most prestigious accolade awarded to British family-owned companies.  They seek to recognise the incredible contribution that enterprising families make to our economy.

Chelsey Hutchinson, People and Culture Director says, “The Red Ribbon awards are the only UK awards that purely acknowledge the achievements and entrepreneurial spirit of Family Businesses.  I feel especially proud of this achievement as it not only recognises Wyboston Lakes as a great place to work, but also recognises the effort, commitment and individuality that comes with being a family business.”

The National Award Ceremony takes place on Friday 15^th July at Wembley stadium where the National winners will be announced.

Chelsey concludes, “We are truly delighted to be recognised as South East regional finalist,  to achieve such an accolade is source of enormous pride throughout the organisation.”


Wyboston Lakes has also achieved success in the Sunday Times Best Companies to work for 3 years running.

Wyboston Lakes Announced as Finalist in M&IT Awards 2016

Wyboston Lakes, the leading conference and training venue, has achieved significant recognition in this year’s international M&IT Awards. It has been shortlisted in two categories – Best UK Management Training centre and Best UK Conference Centre’.

Organised by Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine, the Awards are amongst the most sought-after annual accolades to be given within the industry.  There are 19 awards voted for by the readers of Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine, plus a special award: M&IT Personality of the Year. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Friday 26 February at Battersea Evolution, London.

“The M&IT Awards represent an important recognition of venue standards across the country,” commented Wyboston Lakes’ managing director Mark Jones: “To be shortlisted in such a highly competitive category underline that the impact of our latest investment is widely recognised by our clients.”

While Wyboston Lakes has been established for many years as the UK’s largest privately owned single site specialist venue, the quality of its facilities and overall services has been recently enhanced through a comprehensive £3.5 million investment programme. Its two residential conference and training venues, the Wyboston Lakes Executive Centre and the Wyboston Lakes Training Centre, have been extensively improved to enable the company to offer a uniquely wide choice of facilities, services and delegate packages for conferences, meetings and training events.

Users of both venues benefit from sector leading 200 mbps broadband network, believed to be in some way the most powerful available in any specialist conference venue in the UK. The improved broadband facility has brought a completely reliable Wi-Fi service in all working, residential and rest areas, which is free to all conference clients and delegates. These developments are also represented through strong team morale which has led to Wyboston Lakes achieving a position in The Sunday Times ‘Best Companies to work for’ List for 3 consecutive years.

 “Our advanced technology can now illustrate to our guests that events of major dimensions need no longer be held with fingers crossed.  With the right facilities, carefully managed and monitored, they can be achieved with total consistency. That means our clients can, as they require, create solutions that are at the same time truly ground breaking, for them and their delegates, whilst being totally reliable.” Concludes Jones.

Wyboston Lakes appoints Operations Director

Wyboston Lakes are delighted to announce the appointment of Steve Jones as Operations Director for this £multi-million family business. Steve joins with a brief to further improve the Hospitality skills, operational efficiency and guest care - thereby delivering an even more secure future for this largest of independent specialists.

With over 24 years in hospitality, Steve’s career has followed consistent early promotion and four general management roles in his earlier career.  He was instrumental in creating the enormous success of Four Pillars Hotels through nine years rising to be the Board Director responsible for operations across all 6 properties with over 900 bedrooms. Most recently he has been the General Manager of the prestigious 414 bedroom Beaumont Estate following the purchase of Four Pillars, PH Hotels and De Vere Venues by Starwood Capital.

“Wyboston Lakes is a family business with a 50 year history and a long-term view of the Hospitality industry and the team that makes our success possible. Steve Jones joins us as Operations Director because he embodies all the Values and Principles that are at the core of our business and is hungry for further success and the opportunity to bring his ideas and wide experience to bear on our future.” Mark Jones, Managing Director.

Wyboston Lakes Executive and Training Centres Assessed as "Green Healthcare Venue"

October 30th, 2015

Wyboston Lakes Executive and Training Centres are pleased to announce that they have recently become a “Green” Healthcare Venue, the only one in the Bedford area in the expanding Healthcare–Venues.com portfolio. This is following a rigorous assessment of their two standalone venues, facilities and services by the independent healthcare consultants Compliant Venues Ltd, confirming their suitability to host healthcare meetings and events.

The Healthcare Venues directory is a solution created and promoted by Compliant Venues Ltd and is a directory comprising of venues that have progressed through the audit, assessment and training solution they provide. The assessment solution has been developed to assist venues to understand and work more effectively with the healthcare sector, ensuring they can match the meetings and event compliance aims of transparency and appropriateness outlined by strict regulations across the sector.

Caroline Hill of Compliant Venues Ltd says “we are delighted that Wyboston Lakes Executive and Training Centres have joined our Healthcare Venues directory. We were extremely impressed by the quality and extent of facilities suitable for healthcare meetings and look forward to working with them moving forward.”

The assessment solution also includes key venue staff taking a compliance training programme teaching them about the Healthcare sector, industry regulators and the scope of regulatory codes as they relate to meetings and events. The course also provides tangible practical skills to integrate into everyday venue operations to enhance and support healthcare enquiries and meetings.

Having undertaken the training, Karen Evans, Commercial Director and Tony Knox, Business Development Manager are now considered Venue Healthcare Champions. Karen says,

“We are very proud to be joining a select number of venues in the Healthcare Venue directory and are now better positioned to demonstrate our knowledge and understanding of what is a challenging but important sector. This also underlines our ability to provide healthcare clients our excellent facilities in a controlled environment”.

Whilst Wyboston Lakes has been established for many years as the UK’s largest privately owned single site specialist conference and training venue, the quality of its facilities and overall services has been recently enhanced through a comprehensive £3.5 million investment programme.

Its two residential conference and training venues, the Wyboston Lakes Executive Centre and the Wyboston Lakes Training Centre, have received significant investment to enable the company to offer an exceptionally wide choice of dedicated facilities, services and delegate packages for conferences, meetings and training events. Becoming a Healthcare Venue underlines the commitment to continual improvement.

This investment and such initiatives as becoming a Healthcare Venue, are supported through strong team morale which has led to Wyboston Lakes achieving 35th position in this year’s The Sunday Times ‘Best Companies to work for’ List. This is the second year that Wyboston Lakes has ranked in the top 100, this year moving from 69th to 35th place.

Please see the full venue assessment on www.healthcare-venues.com/venues/4001

Wyboston Lakes’ employee shortlisted in this year's MiaList Awards 2015

Davide Graziano, HR and Training Co-ordinator at Wyboston Lakes has been shortlisted in this year’s MiaList 2015, after being nominated by his Director of HR.

“Davide has only been here seven months and has already shown great dedication and support to his colleagues. He truly cares about the efficiency of the team and is always willing to go the extra mile. It is a fabulous achievement for Davide to have reached the shortlist.” Heidi Pegrum, Director of HR at Wyboston Lakes.

The miaList Awards recognise the individuals who inspire those around them, to go above and beyond the call of duty and have a positive impact on the business, and Davide embraces all of those qualities.

The miaList was created to celebrate the amazing industry individuals who are prepared to go that extra mile to ensure that their venue, service or product is nothing short of excellent.

Wyboston Lakes is very proud of Davide’s journey so far and wishes him the best of luck in the awards.

The judging lunch is on Wednesday 15 July and the winners will be announced at a celebratory lunch on Monday 28 September 2015, Park Plaza Riverbank, London

Wyboston Lakes 35th place in Sunday Times Best Companies Awards

Conference, training and leisure venue Wyboston Lakes has achieved 35th position in this year’s The Sunday Times ‘Best Companies to work for’ List. This is the second year that Wyboston Lakes has ranked in the top 100, this year moving from 69th to 35th place.

“Engagement is fundamentally about creating energy and building relationships.  If we build positive relationships with our employees that are full of energy, they in turn will do the same with our customers - be they with us for training, a conference, a hotel stay, golf or to use our fabulous Y Spa. We are truly delighted not just to be recognised for the second year running, but to have made such a quantum leap in our position within the top 100” said Mark Jones, managing director of Wyboston Lakes: “To achieve such a high rating is a source of enormous pride throughout the organisation.”

Wyboston Lakes ranked 10th on the list for interesting places to work with staff saying they did not feel put upon reporting one of the highest scores for wellbeing and ranking at 15th overall.  Staff were also positive about the consistent pay increases year on year, despite the recession, with a fair deal ranking of 27th.

On the basis of this employee feedback Wyboston Lakes were also awarded the two-star accreditation status, this means that the venue is considered an ‘Outstanding’ employer in terms of the way it engages with its staff.   Chelsey Hutchinson, People and Culture Director said, “We are particularly excited about the score this year, we scored just 2.2 points away from being in the top category of ‘Extraordinary’, which is incredibly encouraging for a small privately owned business.  I truly believe that our number one customers are our employees!”

This year marks the 15th year for the Best Companies ranking.  Best Companies have been producing the Accreditation standard since 2006 to acknowledge excellence in the workplace. Accreditation is a focus on Workplace Engagement as an integral component of an organisation's success and growth. Every organisation that goes for Best Companies Accreditation is given a Best Companies Index score (BCI). This score (on a scale of 1 to 1000) is defined from employee’s responses to questions within the Best Companies survey. Michelin-style star ratings are then determined from that score, with one star acknowledged as ‘very good’, two stars as ‘outstanding’ and three stars as ‘extraordinary’.

This accreditation is regarded as among the UK’s most reliable and thorough processes for assessing the merits of organisations from all sectors in terms of the way they encourage, motivate and generally engage with their employees.

Wyboston Lakes are looking for continual improvement and they will continue to offer a fantastic place to work for all of their employees.  

Wyboston Lakes suits the business traveller...

At Wyboston Lakes our approach to business travellers has changed dramatically over the years, it’s no longer a simple corporate approach. With rapidly changing global economic realities and a more technology driven world the needs of the individual business travellers have altered significantly. Business travellers increasingly expect combining their business trips with an extensive array of leisure facilities. Whether it be a round of golf, working out in a health club or simply that glass of wine in a relaxing environment; business now definitely mixes with pleasure.

Wyboston Lakes located between Cambridge and Milton Keynes has established a leading position as a provider of specialist facilities for the full spectrum of residential and non-residential events, as well as a quality offering in the serviced office sector. In a recent survey*, over 60 percent of travel managers said the right location was the number one factor in picking a hotel. With a 38 minute rail journey to London, 45 minutes to Luton airport and 1 hour to Stansted, Wyboston Lakes sits in a prime location for the business traveller.

Location combined with strong leisure facilities ensures the business traveller has everything they need to be comfortable in one place. The Waterfront restaurant and bar caters for all tastes and offers any business person that comfort away from home. Further leisure facilities onsite include an 18 hole golf course, a health and leisure club and the award winning spa located within the hotel. Local amenities include a multiplex cinema and 16 lane bowling alley- making Wyboston Lakes the ideal hotel both for location and leisure for the average business traveller.

The most significant shift in the business traveller’s requirements is the need for decent technology - Wi-Fi is expected when staying at a hotel. 44% of hotels in Europe offer a connection that is deemed to be poor (connection speed of less than 2mbs), and over one third of these hotels still charge for the service. We believe the business traveller should expect more from the places they stay. Wyboston Lakes offers free Wi-Fi at a rapid 200mbps over the entire complex, allowing all business travellers to use all their devices comfortably during their stay. We believe the business traveller should expect more from their stay away from home and when choosing their next stop over should assess the facts from the flannel, there is no excuse for poor connections today.

Wyboston Lakes is leading the revolution on Free Fast Wifi connections to all guests and is ready to welcome the modern road warrior!

*National Business Travel Association and Best Western International.

Wyboston Lakes Rates 'Outstanding' in Sunday Times 'Best Companies' Survey for a second year

Conference, training and leisure venue Wyboston Lakes has achieved a two out of a possible three-star rating in the prestigious Sunday Times ‘Best Companies’ accreditation standard. This has been awarded for a second year in a row.  The two-star status, awarded on the basis of employee feedback, means that the venue is considered an ‘outstanding’ employer in terms of the way it engages with its staff.  The company has also been award a place in the Sunday Times Best Companies top ‘100 Best Companies to work for’ ranking.

“We fundamentally believe that a highly engaged team will make the customer experience and we know that a disengaged one will break it. We live or die by the positive experiences we give to our customers - be they with us for training, a conference, a hotel stay, golf or to use our fabulous Y Spa. We are truly delighted to be recognised again for the second year running” said Mark Jones, managing director of Wyboston Lakes: “To achieve such a high rating in these world-renowned awards is a source of enormous pride throughout the organisation.”

This year marks the 15th year for the Best Companies ranking.  Best Companies have been producing the Accreditation standard since 2006 to acknowledge excellence in the workplace. Accreditation is a focus on Workplace Engagement as an integral component of an organisation's success and growth. Every organisation that goes for Best Companies Accreditation is given a Best Companies Index score (BCI). This score (on a scale of 1 to 1000) is defined from employee’s responses to questions within the Best Companies survey. Michelin-style star ratings are then determined from that score, with one star acknowledged as ‘very good’, two stars as ‘outstanding’ and three stars as ‘extraordinary’.

This accreditation is regarded as among the UK’s most reliable and thorough processes for assessing the merits of organisations from all sectors in terms of the way they encourage, motivate and generally engage with their employees.

Wyboston Lakes is now waiting to hear which position they will hold within the Sunday Times ‘100 Best Companies to work for’. The final rankings will be announced at an awards dinner, February 2015.

Wyboston Lakes Chefs scoop awards at Chefs Challenge.

Wyboston Lakes is delighted to announce that two of their chefs won awards in this year’s 16th Annual CCE Chefs Challenge Competition on 25 October.

Claire Willet, Chef de Partie, took home awards for 'Best Hygiene' and 'Best Dessert' and Keiron Toner, Chef de Partie, and Linda Zilberta, Senior F&B Supervisor, won the Chairman’s Award for Best Team Work.

“We are thrilled that both of our chefs took home awards at this year’s Annual CCE Chefs Challenge Competition.  They have both been working so hard in perfecting their dishes and skills for the challenge and their hard work has certainly paid off.  They are brilliant assets to our team and with the support of Linda and our service team the future of Wyboston Lakes looks bright.”  Paul Rhodes – Hotel Manager.

The chefs had to prepare a three course meal suitable for a conference banquet, using game for their main course.  The competition included a Food Service Skills award, to encourage food service staff to take part and support their chef colleague.  Claire Willet who won awards for ‘Best Hygiene’ and ‘Best Dessert’ served pan fried scallops, razor clam, cauliflower cous, beurre noisette purée, pancetta and lemon to start.  For mains she served stuffed breast of guinea fowl, croquette offal and wild mushroom cannelloni, peas, crispy skin and consommé.  Her award winning dessert was an apple bakewell tart with blackberry sorbet, cider jelly and almonds.

The long established competition invites chefs who work in any of the nationwide Conference Centres of Excellence venues to take part in a cook-off competition where their skills are put to the test with specific criteria for their menu, providing an opportunity to test culinary talents in a head-to-head competition with exceptional standards.

The competition is a great stepping stone for young chefs to go on to higher profile competitions nationwide and is endorsed by the British Culinary Federation.  Each chef receives a certificate and one year’s free membership of the BCF. 

Wyboston Lakes has been nominated as finalists for The UK Event Awards 2014.

Wyboston Lakes is delighted to be nominated for ‘Small Venue of the Year Award’ (up to 400 delegates) at the very prestigious UK Event Awards.

Situated midway between Cambridge and Milton Keynes, at the edge of the historic market town of St. Neots and set in 365 acres of rural countryside, thrives the largest, privately owned business and leisure destination in northern Europe. It is the perfect choice for day or residential events, product launches, wet and dry team-building, and offers a wonderful 18 hole golf course.

“We are privileged to be nominated for ‘Small Venue of the Year Award’ in the highly credible UK Event Awards. Wyboston Lakes continues to evolve and progress and nominations like this reassures us that our efforts have been recognised. It is a real honour to be finalists up against other professional venues across the UK so we look forward to finding out the results on November 28th.”- Mark Jones, Managing Director.

The UK Event Awards are now in their 5th year and have grown to become one of the most sought after accolades in the industry. The awards recognise and reward event organisers, suppliers and event marketers.

This year's awards will take place on Friday 28th November 2014. 

Wyboston Lakes Appoints New Commercial Director

Karen Evans has been appointed to a new role of Commercial Director at Wyboston Lakes, the UK’s largest privately owned single site specialist conference and training centre.  She took up her position on 22nd September.

For the past eight years Karen has been Vice President, Business Development EMEA for BCD M&I.  Previous to this role, Karen spent 16 years in the travel and events industry and brings with her a real understanding of venues from the client and agency world. 

Karen’s new role carries commercial responsibility for the entire company managing a team of 15, and will encompass the day to day sales function optimising all sales opportunities, business development and leading the team whilst representing the company’s Values and Principles.  

Karen said: “I am delighted to join Wyboston Lakes as Commercial Director.  My experience in this industry will allow me to develop further the excellent facilities and flexibility Wyboston Lakes offers all its customers.  It is truly a unique complex”.

Mark Jones, Managing Director added: “We warmly welcome Karen into the Company. Karen’s attitude, professionalism, integrity and energy are entirely in keeping with the way in which we achieve success. I have the good fortune to have great colleagues - and Karen will inspire total confidence in our customers for what Wyboston Lakes can deliver.”   

Wyboston Lakes recently completed a £5 million facility investment and offers sector leading IT infrastructure across its two speciality conference venues.  High-involvement leisure dimensions for corporate away-days and team-building events are available on site together with serviced offices, branded spaces, a hotel with a luxurious spa and an 18 hole golf course.

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

Wyboston Lakes achieve AIM Gold accreditation

Wyboston Lakes, northern Europe's largest privately owned single site conference and training centre, has had both of its conference and training venues, The Executive Centre and Training Centre, awarded the Gold Accreditation In Meetings (AIM) standard by the Meetings Industry Association (mia).  

The accreditation is awarded for its first class facilities and high levels of service that are reflected throughout the meeting and conference experience. 

To achieve the AIM Gold standard a venue must demonstrate that it has attained continuous, exceptional standards against the most stringent quality assurance criteria, including rigorous assessments focusing on a venue’s facilities; service and processes, compliance with codes of conduct and corporate social responsibility.

Receiving the accreditation, Wyboston Lakes’ managing director, Mark Jones commented: “To be awarded AIM Gold is a significant achievement for any meeting and events venue. It demonstrates, from the outset, that our business proposition, facilities and service are exceptional, we are very proud of this recognition.”

Jane Longhurst, mia’s chief executive, says: “Wyboston Lakes AIM Gold Accreditation sends out a very clear message to meetings and events buyers/planners about their commitment to delivering a high quality product, professionalism throughout every event and integrity. Equally, the venue has secured itself an advantage within their competitors.”

AIM is the UK’s only nationally recognised standard for accredited venues and service providers in the meetings, conferences and events industry. There are around 500 accredited venues and suppliers at entry level of the scheme and 29 are at the Gold standard. 

AIM is endorsed by Visit Britain, Visit Wales, Meet England, ABPCO, MPI and HBAA. 

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

Business Booms for Wyboston Lakes

Wyboston Lakes conference and leisure venue has seen business revenue soar by 17% in the first half of 2014, as the impact of a £5 million investment in extended facilities and new business directions begins to have its full impact. Overall, revenue for the venues side of the business in the first 6 months of the year has risen from £5.32 million in 2013 to £6.23 million in 2014.

The company has two specialist residential conference and training venues, Wyboston Lakes Executive Centre and Wyboston Lakes Training Centre. Also on site is Wyboston Lakes Hotel, Spa and Golf, which opened in 2011. The hotel includes a range of leisure facilities, including bar lounge and restaurant, and a premium spa facility, the Y Spa, which opened in November 2012. There is also a challenging 18 hole golf course and a driving range.

Following investment, two of the venues showed significant increases in revenue over the first half of 2014, with the Training Centre up by 20%, and the Hotel up by 28%.

In 2011 Wyboston Lakes decided to further invest in the business by upgrading to leading-edge conference AV and IT infrastructure, and developing a presence in the leisure sector, most particularly with the hugely successful Y Spa. 

In conference and training terms, the enhanced facilities and services have attracted several significant new clients and underpinned a 70% customer retention rate. The number of business events held on the Wyboston Lakes site rose by more than 40% in 2013 and has continued to increase.

“It’s very gratifying that all aspects of our activity are contributing to increased business revenue. The team are loving it!” said Mark Jones, Managing Director of Wyboston Lakes.

The first half of the year has already brought a number of other developments underlining the progress of the Wyboston Lakes business. The company achieved a place in the Sunday Times ‘100 Best (SME) Companies to work for 2014’, while last month it launched a range of water and land based leisure, team-building and corporate away-day activities.

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

Wyboston Lakes launches Thrill Park Dimensions for Corporate Events

Specialist conference and training venue Wyboston Lakes is set to boost the scope it offers for team building and corporate away-days by launching a comprehensive portfolio of contemporary ‘thrill park’ activities.  It makes the most of the venue’s customised water sports lakes and the off-road driving opportunities provided by its 365 acre rural site.

The venue is partnering with specialist provider Ride Leisure, a highly experienced and skilled planner of outdoor corporate events and team building days. Options available to corporate clients include water-based pursuits such as wakeboarding, water-skiing, banana boating, jet skiing – including stand-up ‘SuperJet’ boats - and Zego, the latest powerboat-based activity from New Zealand. On land, delegates can drive on an extensive 4 x 4 off-road course or ride quad bikes. Hovercraft trips on land and water are also available.  The new range of activities complements established options, which include egg catapulting, bungee running, raft building, laser clay pigeon shoots and archery. 

“The demands of team building and away-day clients are changing: companies are looking for more activities that excite, engage and inspire participants,” explains Mark Jones, managing director of Wyboston Lakes: “We are therefore fulfilling the massive potential of our site with what we believe is an unparalleled suite of exhilarating experiences.”

The venue’s experience shows that corporate team building events are not restricted to large organisations, with many small and medium sized firms recognising the value of staff away-days. All group sizes can be accommodated for multi-activity days or specific team building days. The venue will be offering carefully designed corporate packages with activities and refreshments.

As the UK’s largest privately-owned single site specialist conference venue, Wyboston Lakes is already an established base for team building events across many business sectors, for companies of all sizes.  It offers an ideal environment in terms of purpose-built facilities, focus and privacy. Whether activities are based within one of its two completely self-contained centres or outdoors, delegates are never distracted by transient visitors. Residential, dining and relaxation facilities are close at hand, ensuring that camaraderie and mutual support are optimised and the focus remains sharp throughout the period of the event. 

 “Where away-days combine  formal briefings or training, we are able to offer an outstanding combination of dedicated facilities and thrilling, engaging activities – all close at hand on the same private site,” concluded Mark Jones. 

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

Wyboston Lakes appoints IT Director

Having played a key role in establishing Wyboston Lakes’ award-winning technological infrastructure, Craig Warner has been appointed as the venue’s first IT Director. 

Craig, who will be a member of the Board of Management of Wyboston Lakes, was previously Chief Information Officer. He has more than 18 years’ experience in the hospitality IT sector, from business analysis to application development. 

In recent years, one of Wyboston Lakes’ key strategies has been to provide a sector leading IT infrastructure to support the full spectrum of its business and open up new horizons for its clients, capitalising on the latest developments in meetings and communications technology.  A particular priority has been to address the growing demand for ‘internet hungry’ activities, ensuring that all events taking place across Wyboston Lakes’ 365 acre site can be run with complete confidence. To achieve this, it has invested in a 200 mbps broadband facility, at least twice the strength offered by most other dedicated venues. The service not only supports events, but also provides a fully reliable wi-fi facility through which delegates can sustain contact with their offices. 

“Craig has been instrumental in establishing Wyboston Lakes at the cutting edge of conference and hospitality technology, and his new role will help us to extend our horizons still further,” commented Mark Jones, managing director of Wyboston Lakes: “His technical excellence and his commitment will help ensure that we sustain and enhance our competitive advantage in this critical area.”

Since it was formed 30 years ago, Wyboston Lakes has progressively developed to become the UK’s largest privately owned single site conference and training venue. Over the last three years, it has also successfully extended its presence into the hotel and leisure sectors: the company recently completed a £4 million investment programme in new and enhanced facilities.

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

WYBOSTON LAKES RATED ‘OUTSTANDING’ IN SUNDAY TIMES ‘BEST COMPANIES’ SURVEY

Conference, training and leisure venue Wyboston Lakes has achieved a two out of a possible three-star rating in the prestigious Sunday Times ‘Best Companies’ accreditation standard. The two-star status, awarded on the basis of employee feedback, means that the venue is considered an ‘outstanding’ employer in terms of the way it engages with its staff.

The independent ‘Best Companies’ accreditation is regarded as among the UK’s most reliable and thorough processes for assessing the merits of organisations from all sectors in terms of the way they encourage, motivate and generally engage with their employees. The surveys are carried out by means of questionnaires and interviews seeking responses from staff on a range of issues: at Wyboston Lakes, the survey took place in September last year, and gave the opportunity to comment to the venue’s 290-strong workforce.

“Our team is our business - the rest is bricks and mortar. We live or die by the positive experiences we give to our customers - be they with us for training, a conference, a hotel stay, golf or to use our fabulous Y Spa. This is a real highlight for us in so many ways,” said Mark Jones, managing director of Wyboston Lakes: “To achieve such a high rating in these world-renowned awards is a source of enormous pride throughout the organisation.”

Feedback is rated according to a Best Companies Index (BCI) score on a scale of 1 to 1000. Michelin-style star ratings are then determined from that score, with one star acknowledged as ‘very good’, two stars as ‘outstanding’ and three stars as ‘extraordinary’.

Wyboston Lakes is now waiting to hear whether it will be chosen as one of the Sunday Times ‘100 Best Companies to work for’. The successful companies will be announced at an awards dinner, which takes place at Battersea Evolution in London on Thursday 27 February.

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Wyboston Lakes shortlisted for two national conference awards

Wyboston Lakes, the leading conference and training venue, has achieved significant recognition in this year’s national Conference & Venue Supplier Awards. It has been shortlisted in two categories – ‘Best New or Refurbished Conference Venue’ and ‘Best Training Venue’.

The Awards are amongst the most sought-after annual accolades to be given within the conference and training sectors. They are judged by a panel of operations directors and managing directors of some of the most successful conference organising companies in the UK. The Awards will be presented in London on 7th June.

“The Conference Awards represent an important independent assessment of venue standards across the country,” commented Wyboston Lakes’ managing director Mark Jones: “To be shortlisted in two distinct and highly competitive categories underline that the impact of our latest investment is already being widely recognised.”

While Wyboston Lakes has been established for many years as the UK’s largest privately owned single site specialist venue, the quality of its facilities and overall services was enhanced during 2012 through a comprehensive £3.5 million investment programme. Its two residential conference and training venues, the Wyboston Lakes Executive Centre and the Wyboston Lakes Training Centre, have been extensively improved to enable the company to offer a uniquely wide choice of facilities, services and delegate packages for conferences, meetings and training events.  

Users of both venues benefit from another key development, the establishment in spring 2102 of a sector leading 200 mbps broadband network, believed to be by some way the most powerful available in any specialist conference venue in the UK. The development was fundamental to the venue’s winning of the HBAA Venue IT award in September last year. The improved broadband facility has brought a completely reliable Wi-Fi service in all working, residential and rest areas, which is free to all conference clients and delegates.  The system also opens up new horizons for internet based events.

“Our advanced technology can now illustrate to our guests that events of major dimensions need no longer be held with fingers crossed.  With the right facilities, carefully managed and monitored, they can be achieved with total consistency. That means our clients can, as they require, create solutions that are at the same time truly ground breaking, for them and their delegates, whilst being totally reliable.”