New era for Farncombe Conference Centre

General Manager Gillian has big plans for award-winning venue

Farncombe Conference Centre near Broadway in the Cotswolds has appointed a new General Manager to oversee the operation of its conferences, events, weekend courses and growing leisure business.

Gillian Roe, aged 47, is a leading venue and events manager with experience of launching and transforming hotels and venues around the UK.  She joins Farncombe this autumn with the aim of steering the business through an exciting stage in its evolution.

“I want to redefine Farncombe into a place you can’t define!” she says.  “It has a wonderful history of conferencing and events. But the rule book hasn’t yet been written here and there’s so much we want to achieve. It’s really exciting to be part of the start of something new.”

Gillian’s career began at venues like Alveston Manor in Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford’s famous Randolph Hotel. She has been General Manager of many more, including the Bull Hotel in Gerrards Cross, Bowden Hall in Gloucester, the Mill and Old Swan in Minster Lovell and Warbrook House in Hampshire, the last two for De Vere Venues. She also launched the Holiday Inn, Oxford in 2001.

 “I have always had a leaning towards conferencing and events,” says Gillian.  “At The Bull and Warbrook House we would do 120 weddings a year. I have also been privileged to work in places with extensive grounds. What I love about Farncombe is that this beautiful 400-acre estate has great people and so much potential.”

New wave of leisure guests

At the heart of the estate is the 87-bedroom Farncombe Conference Centre, where companies like Balfour Beatty, Ecover and NFU Mutual meet for conferences, training and team-building. At the weekends, the village of buildings becomes home to Farncombe Courses, a much-loved programme of art and crafts, history topics and music-making.  

Gillian’s brief is to integrate these businesses with a new wave of leisure guests seeking an affordable but wonderfully-located Cotswold break. New business licences mean that holiday makers are just beginning to appreciate the venue’s long views over the Vale of Evesham and its peaceful, well-managed parkland setting. 

She will also be delivering an exciting proposition for business customers looking for new ways to stage their training and inspire their teams. Think giant bean bags, campfire meetings and a wide range of outdoor challenges.

 “Farncombe is different to anywhere else I’ve worked,” says Gillian, “and we need to embrace that.  We are going to let our highly-individual flag fly!”

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. 

Woodland Grange team bowled over by August results

This year’s Bowls England National Championships were held in Royal Leamington Spa, attracting an estimated 20,000 visitors to the area.

While players from across England competed for the top prizes in lawn bowls on Victoria Park’s famous five green arena, the venue team at Woodland Grange were also in top form, welcoming hundreds of supporters who stayed at the AIM-gold accredited venue during the Championships.

Historically a quiet month for the venue, August saw visitor numbers soar by 61% year-on-year during the event, as Ian Chaplin, general manager of Woodland Grange, explained: ”Woodland Grange was buzzing as a result of a targeted marketing campaign leading up to the event. The location of the venue within 16 acres of parkland, our leisure suite and restaurant facilities attracted this very welcome leisure market.”

Golden times for EEF Venues

EEF Venues’ three venues have achieved BDRC Continental’s VenueVerdict Gold Standard for the third consecutive quarter this year.

Accreditation is based on approximately 22,500 individual pieces of customer feedback. The lead measure used by VenueVerdict is the Net Promoter Score, derived from the rating given by customers when asked how likely they would be to recommend the venue. Those scoring higher than +70 are awarded the VenueVerdict Gold Standard Accreditation.

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, said: “To consistently achieve the highest ranking across the group is a great endorsement of our customer satisfaction levels and the emphasis we place on quality.”

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. 

Promotion for Beardmore Hotel Manager

Following a period of sustained growth, The Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre is delighted to announce that Gary Rice has been promoted to General Manager. 

Discussing the appointment, Director of the Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre, Bronagh Bell, said: “Gary has been a fantastic asset to the Beardmore for the past two years, and after 18 months of sustained growth, we have promoted Gary to the role of General Manager.” 

Hotel Manager of the Beardmore since November 2012, Gary previously spent 17 years working in the hotel and hospitality industry, working in a variety of roles for Posthouse, Devere, Mint and City Inn and the Hilton Group. 

In this new role, Gary will focus on delivering the day to day operations at The Beardmore and implementing plans to fulfil the Beardmore’s long term strategy.

Commenting on his new post, Gary said: “I am absolutely delighted to have been promoted to the post of General Manager at the Beardmore, and look forward to continuing to work with our fantastic team to grow and develop our services.

“In my new role, I will be delivering the new operational strategy which aims to support an increase  in medical, healthcare and international conferences and events, allowing us to continue to grow and expand as a conference centre of excellence. 

“This is a very exciting time for all of us at the Beardmore as we continue to grow and develop innovative ways to ensure that all of our delegates, guests and visitors receive the highest possible standard of hospitality and service across the organisation.”

Gary’s appointment as General Manager continues an incredibly successful 2014 for the Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre, recently receiving multiple awards and nominations for excellence. 

As well as receiving International Association of Conference Centres (IACC) accreditation, VenueVerdict Gold Accreditation and a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence, the Beardmore is the only Scottish hotel nominated for the prestigious Green Tourism Goldstar Awards 2014 in the Best Hotel category. 

The Beardmore is also nominated for the People’s Choice Award at the Green Tourism Goldstar Awards. To make your opinion known and vote for the Beardmore, head over to the following link: http://www.green-tourism.com/go-green/events/peoples-choice-2014/. 

Henley Conferences awarded Silver Status for GreenLeaders

Henley Conferences, the riverside conference venue on the outskirts of Henley on Thames has been awarded Silver Status in the TripAdvisor GreenLeaders Programme.

Henley Conferences recognises that the operation of a dedicated conference venue has an effect on the local, regional and global environment and is committed to achieving the highest standards of environmental performance, preventing pollution and minimising the impact of its operations.

The TripAdvisor GreenLeaders Programme identifies hotels and venues that are committed to green practices like recycling, water efficiency and alternative energy.

Accreditations at Henley Conferences already include BSI ISO 14001 and ISO 9001, IACC Platinum Level sustainability accreditation plus Green Business Tourism Gold Award, and the recent addition of the Silver Status GreenLeaders shows their ongoing commitment to these practices. 

Set in its own 30 acre estate in the beautiful Oxfordshire countryside, alongside the River Thames, this magnificent Grade II Listed Building offers excellent conference, meeting and event facilities and provides a spectacular setting for any gathering.

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