Shaken, Not Stirred at Woodland Grange

David Jenkins, assistant food & beverage manager at Woodland Grange conference centre in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, has won first prize for his cocktails at the Conference Centres of Excellence’s Chefs’ Challenge 2015 at Cambridge Regional College on Saturday 24 October.

The 23-year-old competed with Woodland Grange chef de partie, Ian Sutton, as a new element to this year’s competition was a ‘Cook and Serve’ style approach, where each chef was
accompanied by a waiter or waitress who served the food, beverages and made cocktails for two invited guests. The duo competed with thirteen Conference Centres of Excellence (CCE) teams from throughout the UK to showcase Woodland Grange’s high quality food and service standards.

David took first place for his cocktails – a blueberry and ginger mojito and a Paddington Martini made from vodka and marmalade and featuring orange candy floss. He received a trophy, a certificate and a bottle of champagne for his creative efforts.

He said:”I am absolutely over the moon and never expected to win! There was some outstanding talent there and I am really grateful for the opportunity to compete with such skilled hospitality
professionals.” David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, the group behind Woodland Grange, said:”It was great to see junior talent acknowledged and celebrated in this way and to give young hospitality professionals an opportunity to shine. This latest success for Woodland Grange shows the emphasis we place on acknowledging every team member’s contribution to our reputation for excellence.”

October 27th, 2015

The prestigious CCE Chef’s Challenge welcomed 9 member venues on Saturday 24th October to enjoy a feast of culinary competition as Junior and Senior Chefs created tantalising dishes complemented by a demonstration of superb cocktail and food service skills from their Front of House colleagues.

Best Team – Nicholas and Paul with Stuart Websdale,
Chairman of Conference Centres of Excellence,
from The Møller Centre, Cambridge

Now in its seventeenth year, the Chefs’ Challenge underwent scrutiny by nine accomplished judges chefs including Peter Griffiths MBE President and Jim Eaves MIH Chairman of the British Culinary Federation. This year’s contest was the biggest to date with 13 teams competing across two heats at Cambridge Regional College.

As the temperatures rose in the kitchens, the competitors kept their cool to deliver outstanding innovative dishes demonstrating their culinary knowledge and abundance of local produce. Each Chef must design, cook and serve in 2hrs 30mins four plates of a three course meal suitable for an end-of-conference banquet for 40 people. This year, the starter included plaice, the main course guinea fowl forming the basis of the menu for Chefs to build their creative flair. The dishes are then served to invited guests by a food service team demonstrating their cocktail-making, wine service and food service skills.

Each year, items from the menus are sponsored and this year was no exception, with British Premium Meats and Fishco Midlands providing the guinea fowl and plaice. Other partners and sponsors, including Wilson Vale Catering Management, Tchibo Coffee International, Elior UK, Kent Frozen Foods, Savona and Cambridge Regional College all worked in partnership to contribute to this annual culinary feast.

Competition Chairman Barry Stonham OBE said “This was the first time we have made the competition entirely Cook and Serve, and the first time we have awarded prizes to junior competitors. Both of these changes were very popular and effective, and the quality of food prepared, and the skill with which it was served, were at the very highest standard, making the judges’ task of identifying the winners very difficult. The facilities at Cambridge Regional College were excellent and I am very grateful to them for all their help and cooperation. I would like to congratulate all 26 competitors on their great performance.”

The awards were presented at a gala dinner that evening at The Wellcome Genome Campus Conference Centre, to the following competitors:

Best Starter – Senior Nicholas Harry         Kents Hill Park
Best Starter – Junior Lewis Woodcock         Scarman House

Best Main Course – Senior Stuart Scanlon         Ashorne Hill
Best Main Course – Junior Lewis Woodcock Scarman House

Best Dessert – Senior Jason Turton                 College Court
Best Dessert – Junior Lewis Woodcock         Scarman House

Best Cocktails – Senior Paul Mott                         Kents Hill Park
Best Cocktails – Junior Dave Jenkins                 Woodland Grange

Best Wine Service – Senior Paul Hampton         Ashorne Hill
Best Wine Service – Junior Kimberley Tayler Scarman House

Best Food Service – Senior Paul Hampton         Ashorne Hill
Best Food Service – Junior Zoe Harrup         Wyboston Lakes

Best Team Nicholas Harry & Paul Mott         Kents Hill Park

Food Service Champion Paul Mott                 Kents Hill Park

Champion Chef Nicholas Harry                 Kents Hill Park

Nicolas Harry, from Kents Hill Park was awarded Champion Chef on the evening who with the help of his waiter Paul Mott, presented the following menu:

Kent Hill Park

Chef: Nicholas Harry
Waiter: Paul Mott

Cocktails

Apple and Pecan Mojito
Cambridge Hill Martini

Menu

Pecan Smoked Confit of Plaice
Candied Beet and Caramelised Seed Salad
Fennel and Parsley Purées
Gavi, Tuffolo

——————————————-

An Assiette of Guinea Fowl
Crepinette Crushed Sunflower Root, Chantrelle Beurre Noisette
Rillette Crisp Rosemary Crouton
Wellington Potato and Truffle Mille Feuille
Port Reduction
Chianti Reserva, Campobello

—————————————–

Elderflower Cremé
Strawberry and Yoghurt Cloud

Pride of place for EEF Venues

Woodland Grange, part of the EEF Venues group in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire has won ‘Business of the Year’ in this year’s Touch FM Pride of Warwick District Awards.

From the 150 entries received, the venue was short-listed down to the final three under four categories: Business of the Year, Hospitality Business of the Year, Customer Care Award and Green Business of the Year.

The overall winners were announced at an awards ceremony held on Friday 4th July at The Chesford Grange Hotel in Warwick.

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, said:  “We are absolutely thrilled to have received this recognition. The short-listings alone were a great vote of confidence in our customer care standards and business practices. To stand shoulder-to-shoulder with many other exemplary short-listed local businesses and then walk away with this award was truly beyond our expectations”.

“All credit must go to our team at Woodland Grange but also to 102TouchFM for introducing the Pride of Warwick Awards to showcase and acknowledge local business success”.

In partnership with Warwick Conferences, Woodland Grange Conference Centre hosted the 15th annual Conference Centres of Excellence Chefs’ Challenge Competition on Saturday 9th November 2013.  The event invites chefs who work in any of the nationwide CCE centres to take part in a cook-off competition at nearby Stratford Upon Avon College, where their skills are put to the test with specific criteria for their menu.  This year, the chefs had to prepare a 3 course meal suitable for a banquet, using beef for their main course.  

The competition again included a Food Service Skills award, to encourage food service staff to take part and support their chef colleague.

The competition has proved to be a 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.

The Judges for the cook-off competition were:

• Christopher Basten Craft Guild of Chefs

• Graham Crump (Chair) Executive Chef, University of Warwick

• Graham Day Food H&S Manager, Warwick University

• Jim Eaves Chairman, British Culinary Federation

• Peter Griffiths MBE Director, Le Salon Culinaire International 

• Stephen Lambert University of Brighton and TUCO Food Service Skills

The 11 Finalists were:

• Scott Cawse, Barnett Hill

• Jennifer Chaudhuri-Goff, Maple House

• Ryan Dare supported by Natalja Saveljeva for Food Service, Warwick Conferences

• Robert Gossage, Imago @ Burleigh Court

• Bartosz Kowalczyk, Missenden Abbey

• Ross McMillan, Stirling Management Centre

• Iain Miller, Woodside

• Daniel Park, Kents Hill Park

• Josh Sewell, The Manor House

• Claire Willett supported by Megan Horne for Food Service, Wyboston Lakes

• Matthew Wiltshire, Ashorne Hill

The Awards Dinner was this year held at Woodland Grange Conference Centre in Leamington Spa.  However the Competition was still Chaired by Andrew Taylor, Food & Beverage Manager from Warwick Conferences Scarman.  The dinner was attended by 110 guests from CCE member centres, including a number of the conference industry’s leading figures.  The event was supported and sponsored by:

• 3663 First for Food Service

• Althams Meats

• British Premium Meats

• Kent Frozen Foods

• Knight Catering

• Nisbets plc

• Savilles Audio Visual

• E Sidwells

• Stratford Upon Avon College

• Tchibo Coffee International

• Wilson Vale Catering Management

Plus the following CCE Centres:

• Ashorne Hill

• The Beardmore, Scotland

• Burleigh Court

• Kents Hill Park

• The Moller Centre,

• The Sundial Group

• Warwick Conferences

• Woodland Grange

• Wyboston Lakes

A raffle took place during the Awards Dinner, raising £822 for the “Meeting Industry Meeting Needs” charity.

The winners of each Award category were:

• Best Hygiene:   Daniel Park, Kents Hill Park

• Best Starter:                 Matthew Wiltshire, Ashorne Hill

• Best Main Course:   Daniel Park, Kents Hill Park

• Best Dessert: Scott Cawse, Barnett Hill

• Best Food Service Skills: Natalja Saveljeva, Warwick Conferences, Scarman

• Chairman’s Award for Best Team Work: Claire Willett and Megan Horne, Wyboston Lakes

• Joint Bronze:   Ryan Dare, Warwick Conference Scarman

Claire Willett, Wyboston Lakes

• Silver: Matthew Wiltshire, Ashorne Hill

• Gold: Daniel Park, Kents Hill Park

After much deliberation, the Judges could not differentiate between two chefs for the Bronze Award, so made the decision to award two Bronze medals.

The Gold award winner, Daniel Park from Kents Hill Park presented a menu of :

Starter 

Scottish hand dived scallops, charred corn, pancetta, pumpkin

~~~

Main 

Smoked fillet of beef, braised shin, horseradish pomme puree, 

autumn vegetables, truffle and Madeira jus

~~~

Dessert 

Egremont Russet Apple Fritters, blackberry gel, crumble Anglaise

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.”

SAVE THE DATE!!!!

Conference Centres of Excellence is delighted to be holding its 2013 conference and awards dinner at imago.

This annual event provides an opportunity for CCE Members, industry professionals and suppliers to network and discuss the latest issues affecting our industry in a friendly and supportive environment.

The awards dinner is an opportunity for Conference Centres of Excellence to recognise quality venues and suppliers to the meetings and events industry and the celebratory dinner kicks off the conference in style.

Event Date:

Thursday 18th July to

Friday 19th July 2013

Venue:

imago, Loughborough 

Event Schedule:

Further details will be available shortly. 

Click here to view last year's event >

For more details please contact: marketing@cceonline.co.uk or contact 01926 488 020.

Møller Centre is “Best UK Management Training Centre” 2013

The Møller Centre was delighted to receive the accolade of “Best UK Management Training Centre” at the prestigious Meetings & Incentive Travel (M&IT) awards  ceremony this week at Battersea Evolution, London.  The Møller Centre retained its title as “Best UK Management Training Centre” for the third consecutive year. 

The Møller Centre was represented by: Mark Carberry (Head of Sales & Marketing), Stefan Mitham (Key Account Manager) and Rebecca Twinn (Guest Services Manager).  The team were joined by three clients one of which represented Taylor Vinters who have been a client of The Møller Centre for over 10 years.  Debs Kibbler, HR Administrator at Taylor Vinters commented:  "I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and to be there to help The Møller Centre celebrate in achieving both awards, so thoroughly deserved was the icing on the cake – keep up the good work!"  

The Møller Centre team also picked up a silver award for ”Best Conference & Banqueting Staff”.  Based on a business strategy of high service quality, and getting it right first time for the client, The Møller Centre delivers a service that clients trust. 

Gillian Secrett, CEO, The Møller Centre said: “The M&IT awards are based on nominations from our clients and their recognition of our work has great significance to us.  Both awards are a testament to the hard work of our team, the loyalty of our clients and the support of the wider community. We have built a strong business based on quality of delivery, consistent with our mission which is to support our clients to acquire knowledge for professional development and personal and business success in an executive environment.”

The Møller Centre is the only dedicated residential management training centre in Cambridge, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Churchill College, University of Cambridge. The Centre provides both a venue and executive education to clients from across the world offering a unique environment in which to learn, based in the heart of Cambridge’s collegiate community.

Burleigh Court team deemed best in the business at top industry awards

Burleigh Court, imago’s four star conference centre and hotel at Loughborough University, has taken home not one but four awards at the Meetings & Incentive Travel (M&IT) Awards 2013. Judged on customer feedback and votes, the venue received Gold in the ‘Best Conference and Banqueting Staff’ category which supports its on-going objective of having the most customer service focused team in the business. 

Mhairi Newman, Head Receptionist

Following recognition of its outstanding staff, Burleigh Court also went on to claim Silver in the ‘Best Training Centre’ and ‘Best Academic Venue’ categories in addition to winning a Bronze title for ‘Access Excellence’.  

This is the fourth year running that Loughborough-based imago has taken home a host of trophies at the M&IT Awards and follows a momentous year which saw Burleigh Court celebrate its 21st anniversary and welcome Team GB as part of the official preparation camp for London 2012. 

Kay England, chief executive of imago, said: “We’re extremely proud of the entire Burleigh Court team and this award is testament to the fantastic job they do on a daily basis, from assisting every overnight guest to supporting each delegate who visits us for an event, meeting or conference. Recognition of our dedicated staff proves that we are providing the right level of service to our customers; something that continues to be valuable in a difficult economic climate. 

“The M&IT Awards are particularly important to us as they are voted for by customers, so we’re sincerely thankful for all their support in helping us achieve these fantastic accolades.” 

Conference Centres of Excellence member venues scoop significant golds at M&IT Awards

Four Conference Centres of Excellence member venues took home coveted gold awards at the annual Meetings & Incentive Travel Awards held this week and celebrated in style with their industry colleagues and peers. 

The Meetings & Incentive Travel Industry Awards was held in on Tuesday 19th March, with record attendance and sponsorship levels. More than 1,000 people celebrated the best in the industry at Battersea Evolution in London, with an event hosted by TV broadcaster Kate Silverton.

Conference Centres of Excellence were once again well represented with several member venues shortlisted as finalists in 6 out of the 8 UK conference venue categories. More than 4,200 votes were cast by industry peers to crown the top venues, suppliers and agencies, with a number of nominees scooping awards in more than one category.

Imago Burleigh Court earned gold for Best Conference and Banqueting Staff, The Møller Centre, Cambridge, won the gold award for Best UK Management Training Centre,and Warwick Conferences also had multiple award wins with gold in Best Value For Money Conference Venue (Scarman) and Best Academic Venue (The Conference Park). 

“We are delighted to see our member venues winning these awards, in some cases for several years running” commented Anthony Lishman, Executive Director. “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.” 

The event also raised in excess of £63,000 for its charity partner Save The Children, with both an online auction prior to the awards, and a table raffle on the night of the event. 

Nottingham Conference Centre celebrates a year of awards

 Celebrating its third birthday this month, Nottingham Conference Centre can reflect on what has been a highly successful 12 months. 


The venue picked up several prestigious awards in 2012 including Best Conference Venue at the Nottinghamshire STARS Awards and Best Non-Residential Conference Venue at the Conference Centres of Excellence Awards. Alongside this, the centre came first out of 89 venues assessed in the Venuemasters Mystery Buyer Report and featured in Event Magazine’s Fab 50 - the best 50 companies to work for in the event industry.


Continuing the success into 2013 the centre reached the shortlist for Midlands Service Provider of the Year at the Midlands Business Awards and most recently achieved the Government Standard in Customer Service Excellence (CSE).

Jillian Miles, Nottingham Conference Centre’s Conference and Events Operations Manager said: “The business has grown rapidly in its first three years and the last 12 months have highlighted just what a success the venue has become. The team are extremely proud of their achievements and we’re all looking forward to continuing to build on that success for many years to come”.

Nottingham Conference Centre



Nottingham Conference Centre is a brand new modern conference facility in the heart the city. Housed in the Grade II* listed Newton building at Nottingham Trent University, the Centre offers state-of-the-art facilities in a stunning Victorian architectural setting unparalleled in the region.

Nine comfort-cooled conference rooms with fully supported audio-visual packages and Wi-Fi provide the ideal working environment, and three unique function rooms are ideal for bespoke events. Award-winning catering solutions and unique eco-solutions help to make every event memorable and environmentally friendly.

Warwick sets its sight on gold...

Warwick Conferences has cause for celebration after being shortlisted in four categories in the prestigious Meetings & Incentive Travel (M&IT) Awards 2013. 

The University of Warwick’s collection of venues has been shortlisted for four awards in total: Best UK Conference Centre, Best UK Management Training Centre, Best Value for Money Conference Centre and Best Academic Venue.

With an impressive track record in securing top awards in the categories for which it is shortlisted, Warwick Conferences is hoping for a repeat of past years’ successes. 

The winners will be announced at the annual awards ceremony on Tuesday 19th March at Battersea Evolution, London. 

Alan Robinson, director of Warwick Conferences said: “We are thrilled to find out that we’ve been shortlisted in four M&IT Awards categories.
“The awards are extremely important to us as a business – because it is customers who cast their votes to determine both the shortlist and the winners.
“To be shortlisted in four categories is a real honour in itself and is a great recognition for everyone who has worked so hard to make Warwick Conferences world-class. On behalf of the team, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to vote for us.”

Organised by Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine, the awards event brings together the various sectors of the meetings and incentive travel industry to measure marketing reaction in rewarding excellence of service and product. 

The Manor House wins two awards in a week.

The Manor House Conference Centre, Godalming, has won two prestigious awards in the very first week of 2013.

The first is a VisitEngland Silver Award, which followed from the property’s first star rating assessment, at which it achieved a four star rating. The Silver Award is an additional award, given in recognition of exceptional quality within a property’s star rating or for outperforming a star rating.

Under the rating scheme, the Manor House had to be assessed by an independent inspector, who stayed incognito overnight. This enabled the inspector to rate his stay against rigorous criteria, set nationally. These included not only the Manor House's physical aspects, but also levels of service, hospitality and comfort. The better these are, generally, the higher the star rating. 

In the same week, The Manor House also received a VenueVerdict Gold Standard Accreditation from BDRC Continental, who collect feedback to measure how likely the Manor House’s meetings customers are to recommend it. Of the nearly 400 hotels and venues nationally who took part in the scheme in 2012, only 26 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.

“We're delighted to win the Visit England Silver Award and VenueVerdict Gold Standard Accreditation and get a 4 star rating all in one week – it’s a great start to 2013!”  says Centre Manager Howard Canning, “for customers, the 4 star rating is a real indication of quality and hospitality, whilst the Gold Standard Accreditation is an indication that many others are happy to recommend the Manor House’s meetings facilities and services.” 

The Manor House

An atmospheric venue, professional staff and excellent facilities combine at The Manor House to create a unique business environment.

Eleven meeting rooms range from the small and intimate to airy and spacious, each with its own character and fully equipped. The tranquil setting offers fabulous views across the surrounding countryside yet The Manor House is very accessible, just 12 miles from M25 (junc 10, A3), 45 minutes from London Waterloo by train and under an hour from Heathrow and Gatwick.

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

An exclusive insight into how specialist venues are embracing opportunities, and tackling challenges ready for 2013

 

Conference Centres of Excellence is the only sales and marketing consortium in the UK with a wide range of dedicated meeting, training and conference centres.

Our 33 members include many of the country’s most respected providers, enabling us to reveal a comprehensive and up to the minute insight into industry trends as we look towards 2013.

Investment

Recognising the importance of an outstanding quality of facilities, our venues are continuing to invest with plans in 2013 for major refurbishment programmes, adding bedrooms and increasing capacity and flexibility of meeting space, ensuring that their facilities remain at the very forefront of meeting and event requirements.  

Our venues are consistently improving their venues, with major capital investment for substantial projects, and amongst this they never overlook the smaller details. For example, with trials of furniture to ensure all-day comfort of delegates currently taking place at Conference Aston.

See more details of some of the venues undergoing continued improvement projects in 2013:

• Wyboston Lakes, Bedfordshire
• Cotswold Conference Centre, Midlands
• Maple House, Birmingham
• Ashorne Hill, Warwickshire
• Conference Aston, Birmingham

Technology

Heavy investment in technology and continued improvement to Wi-Fi/ AV capacity opens up opportunities for internet based events where connectivity is vital to success.  With the rise of streaming, twitter feed boards and twitterfalls, contribution from ‘virtual attendees’ or ‘virtual speakers’ can bring added benefit to those on-site event delegates, and widening the audience.

All Conference Centres of Excellence venues offer free Wi-Fi to delegates but many go much further, with greatly increased capacity allowing reliable, consistent, fast broadband with a dedicated secure connection for individual events.

This has been demonstrated at several of our venues, including the award winning Wyboston Lakes. Please click for further details:

• Wyboston Lakes, Bedfordshire
• The Beardmore, Glasgow 
• Stirling Management Centre, Stirling

Quality Standards

Despite continuing pressure on rates -  the majority of event organisers are facing the challenge of ‘doing more for less’ – our venues remain focused on offering the best possible service and driving standards up.

The majority of Conference Centres of Excellence members have embraced BDRC Continental’s VenueVerdict, demonstrating their commitment to quality by having their service standards independently audited.  At the end of Q3 2012, 7 of the CCE portfolio had achieved VenueVerdict’s Gold Standard Accreditation, given only to those venues delivering consistently excellent meeting experiences over a twelve month period.

For a selection of other awards and achievements across the group:

• Cotswold Conference Centre, Midlands
• Wyboston Lakes, Bedfordshire
• Maple House, Birmingham
• Stirling Management Centre, Stirling
• Nottingham Conference Centre, Midlands
• EEF Venues, London, Bristol and Warwickshire

Anthony Lishman, Executive Director of Conference Centres of Excellence commented:
“2012 was a fabulous year for events and whether you believe that the various spectacles put the UK in a very positive spotlight or were just welcome distractions, it means that 2013 can only benefit from UK Plc getting back to business and ultimately that means more meetings, training and events.
Certainly enquiry levels are significantly ahead of last year at this time, so customers are already investigating and budgeting for more events in 2013 / 14. Whether that is training to support an increase in employment, up-skilling the existing workforce, or larger and more frequent company communication meetings –the forecast is looking good for occupancy levels.“

2012 sees award wins for Wyboston Lakes

HBAA Venue Award

In September, Wyboston Lakes won the HBAA Venue IT Award 2012 for its investment and development in technology over the last year. A major contributor to this success was that, in the spring of this year, the company doubled the strength of its broadband service to 200 mbps, believed to be by 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.  The system also opens up new horizons for internet based events. It is a benefit that is already producing some dramatic results for clients. 

A recent nationwide survey of event organisers by a leading conference magazine highlights that the biggest area of dissatisfaction with venues is the lack of availability of free Wi-Fi. But that’s not a concern of Wyboston Lakes customers, who are reaping the benefits of the venue’s sector leading broadband system. E2BN, the Regional Broadband Consortium for the East of England, recently held an event at the venue which specified that more than 800 devices would need to be connected to the internet concurrently.

E2BN is one of ten consortia set up by the Government to help raise standards in teaching and learning by the use of broadband technology. It used the Wyboston Lakes Executive Centre for a three-day event for more than 450 guests from across the educational sector and dozens more representatives of relevant suppliers. The event used the centre’s main lounge and two large marquees, with guests and exhibitors receiving and responding to a wide range of information on their laptops and i-phones. “Clearly, the reliability, consistency and speed of Wyboston Lakes broadband system contributed in a very useful way to our message about how effective IT can enhance education,” said E2BN’s Val Mogridge. 

Three awards at MIA List event 

Wyboston Lakes has achieved an unmatched three awards at the recent MIA List event, which recognises exceptional achievements by staff working in the meetings and events sector. Operations Director Barry Stonham and Executive Chef Fergus Martin both won places on the coveted MIA List, while Barry also received a special ‘Lifetime Achievement’ award.

The MIA (Meetings Industry Association) List is an annual event which selects ten people from across the meetings sector who have made outstanding contributions to their own organisation and to the sector in general. At the awards event, held at BMA House in London on Monday 19 March, Wyboston Lakes was the only venue to achieve more than one person on the List.

Conference Aston - Achieve the mark of quality in the UK’s second city

Conference Aston, Birmingham city centre’s premier portfolio of award winning conference, hotel and event venues is celebrating after a recent double achievement for quality.

The organisation is proud to offer one of Birmingham’s greenest venues, having being re-accredited with British Standard ISO14001 in November 2012 for a sustainable, integrated environmental management system. The team are also celebrating after gaining recognition as an exceptional organisation by being awarded the Investors in People bronze level, placing it within the top 4% of accredited organisations, nationally.

Investors in People helps organisations improve by enabling transformation through valuing their people and charting the company’s progress through their effective management, training and leadership.

Marketing Manager, Paul Bunce, said: 'As a business, everything we do involves bringing people together, whether it’s for a meeting or a night in the hotel to visit friends in Birmingham, we exist to develop relationships personally and professionally and our team are instrumental in this, helping us to stand out and show that the physical facilities can be anywhere, but the team at the heart of our brand remain unique to Conference Aston.'

Conference Aston have recently announced the appointment of Sodexo Prestige, also accredited with Investors in People, to work in partnership with the venues to manage the provision of catering, cleaning and housekeeping services within the business; the focus moving forward aims to develop joint initiatives to further the existing awards.

Flexible Meeting Venues in the heart of the city

Set in and around Birmingham City Centre, the venues are ideally placed to take advantage of the city’s vibrant shopping, arts and culture, nightlife and restaurants. Conference Aston offers two purpose built conference, hotel and event venues with 30 fully-equipped conference and meeting rooms accommodating up to 235 delegates and 162 stylish ensuite bedrooms.

Both of the venues are located on the Aston University campus, minutes from three mainline rail stations and junction 6 of the M6. Conference Aston welcomes more than 54,000 people a year to Birmingham for training, residential conferences, for weddings and to stay in its high quality hotel facilities and on site campus accommodation.

The conference centres and hotel are located on the campus of Aston University, which is a long established research-led university known for its world-class teaching quality and strong links to industry, government and commerce. As a subsidiary company of the University, all surplus revenues are invested into teaching and research.

From lakeside settings to contemporary, urban chic, the venues are purpose built and offer the perfect central location for a variety of residential and non-residential events including large conferences, meetings, training courses, exhibitions, banqueting and a host of other corporate events, all with the latest technology, onsite car parking and free WiFi throughout.

Aston Business School Conference Centre and Hotel

Aston Business School Conference Centre and Hotel is the flagship year round venue within Conference Aston. The venue is Birmingham’s largest dedicated residential conference centre with 24 conference and meeting rooms accommodating up to 235 delegates, banqueting for up to 260 and 162 stylish ensuite bedrooms.

The Lakeside Centre

The Lakeside Centre offers a non-residential conference and banqueting venue, available year round, with six air conditioned suites for conferences, exhibitions, product launches and corporate entertainment for up to 200 guests or over 400 when the venue is used exclusively.

Aston Business School Conference Centre and Hotel, and the Lakeside Centre operate as part of Aston University’s commercial services, providing dedicated, purpose built conference centres.

800 Ensuite Bedrooms Available Outside of Term Time

Alongside the two dedicated commercial conference centres, from July to September when Aston University students return home for the summer, Conference Aston offer the University’s teaching and accommodation facilities for large association conferences, international education programmes and other large scale events.

During this period, there are an additional 800 ensuite bedrooms, dining areas and over 50 syndicate rooms, conference suites and lecture theatres available, with the University’s Great Hall seating 650.

Access Routes

The venues offers great road, rail and air links.

There are three mainline rail stations within walking distance: Birmingham New Street, Snow Hill and Moor Street.

The venues are a mere 9 miles from Birmingham Airport and a taxi journey should take approximately 20-30 minutes dependent on traffic.

There are also trains from Birmingham International station to Birmingham New Street (approximately 5-10 minutes journey time).

High 5!!!

Maple House is celebrating 5 great years in Birmingham...so we're giving you 50% off your next booking of over 50 delegates.

Maple House - Birmingham's brightest and most stylish meeting and conference venue is 5 years old and there are lots of reasons why 5 really seems to be our magic number....

5 years of award winning service

5 major venues awards.

5 minutes from all Birmingham's main line train stations

5 minutes from the motorway network

5 highly skilled event specialists to deal with your enquiries

AND.....

Join us at Maple House to celebrate 5 great years in Birmingham on December 5th from 5pm.

Take 5 minutes to pick up the phone and discuss our 50% offer in more detail or to book a showround.

Call our hotline today on 0845 230 1416 or e-mail info@cceonline.co.uk

*small print*

Offer applies to new bookings made after this promotion was launched (Thursday November 1st  2012).  Offer applies to bookings of 50 delegates or more which will then qualify for a 50% reduction in the usual rate of £62 plus VAT.  Events need to take place by Friday March 1st 2013.

Chefs Challenge Competition and Awards Dinner 2012

Warwick Conferences Scarman hosted the 14th annual Conference Centres of Excellence/IACC Chefs Challenge Competition on Saturday 27th October 2012.  

The event invites chefs who work in any of the nationwide Conference Centres of Excellence or IACC centres to take part in a cook-off competition at nearby Stratford Upon Avon College, where their skills are put to the test with specific criteria for their menu.  This year, the chefs had to prepare a 3 course meal suitable for a banquet, using certain cuts of lamb for their main course.  

The competition again included a Food Service Skills award, to encourage food service staff to take part and support their chef colleague, competing for their own best service skills award and the Chairman’s award for best team.

For Conference Centres of Excellence this event is an additional component to their strategy of continuous quality assurance and is a great opportunity to recognise the achievements of their members’ chefs and a celebration of exceptional food.

Anthony Lishman Conference Centres of Excellences Executive Director said “Our venues pride themselves on having the highest professional standards in the meetings and events industry, and this extends across all aspects of dining and food service. We’re pleased to have this opportunity for the incredibly talented chefs to showcase their abilities in consistently creating appetising and flavoursome food, which not only meets the needs of customers in a working environment, but also delights and enhances their overall experience during their stay.”

The competition has proved to be a 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.

This year, the event was opened wider to include members of IACC Europe, so we were delighted that a chef from the Dolce Sitges Hotel & Conference Centre in Barcelona was shortlisted, as well as two chefs from Scotland.  

The Awards Dinner
Hosted by Andrew Taylor, Competition Chairman and Food & Beverage Manager from Warwick Conferences Scarman, the awards dinner was attended by 120 guests from CCE/IACC member centres, including a number of the conference industry’s leading figures.

A raffle also took place during the Awards Dinner, raising £850 for the “Meeting Industry Meeting Needs” charity.

The Winners

http://www.cceonline.co.uk/news/News/Chefs_Challenge_2012 Visit our website for a full list of winners in each award category, and details of the winning menu (photos coming soon!).

Cotswold Conference Centre Claims Tourism Awards

Cotswold Conference Centre continued its amazing year of awards after winning one category and being highly commended in a second at the Worcestershire Welcome Awards.

The ceremony, held on Thursday night at Sixways Stadium, saw the best businesses from across Worcestershire come together to celebrate the county’s visitor attractions and tourism industry.

Cotswold Conference Centre – part of the Farncombe group of businesses, near Broadway – won the Business Tourism Award for the second year in a row and was also highly commended in the Sustainable Tourism category.

The event was organised by Destination Worcestershire and each finalist was selected on the basis of customer nominations. 

Nick Vincent, Chief Executive at the Three Counties Showground, judged the Business Tourism category.

He said: “I was particularly impressed with the website, facilities, policy of supporting and promoting local suppliers and the external methods of obtaining customer feedback. I had no idea Cotswold Conference Centre also won this award last year.”

Cotswold Conference Centre is a modern meeting, training and teambuilding venue. It holds dozens of conferences each year and also plays host to Farncombe Courses, which offers a wide range of leisure and activity weekends. 

Richard Howdle, operations manager at Cotswold Conference Centre, said: “It’s been an incredible year for us, winning numerous awards at local, regional and national levels.

Lesley Stretch, Rachael Buttery and Debbie Sarjant collecting their awards

“The staff are rightly very proud of these accolades. As well as a morale boost, entering these categories is one of the ways that we constantly strive to maintain and drive up our performance by looking to improve each year.” 

Cotswold Conference Centre has won four other prestigious awards in 2012, including the Visit England Award for Excellence, which recognised it as the best business tourism venue in the UK.

The three other titles were the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS) highlighting the centre’s commitment to sustainability, the Cotswold Tourism award venue of the year and the VenueVerdict Gold Standard for outstanding customer service.

The business is situated on the 320-acre Farncombe Estate between Cheltenham and Stratford-upon-Avon. 

For more information visit http://www.cceonline.co.uk/our_venues/our-venues/Cotswold_Conference_Centre or call us on 0845 230 1416

Annual Chefs Challenge Competition

The Annual Chefs Challenge Competition is now in it's fourteenth year. The competition is open to any chef who works within Conference Centres of Excellence venues or whose centre is a registered member of the International Association of Conference Centres and will be judged by a panel of invited professionals from the hospitality industry. 

This year we have received more entrants than ever before.The original entries will be shortlisted and the 12 successful finalists will be invited to a cook off where the best tasting and best presented meal will be decided. Awards will then be presented to winners in a number of different categories including; overall best tasting meal, best main dish, starter and dessert. There is also a special award for the chef who demonstrated the best hygiene practices on the day.

With high quality service levels becoming increasingly important, the competition now incorporates a service element, where food service staff can enter to work alongside the chefs to compete for such awards as best service skills and the chairman’s award for best team.

Anthony Lishman Conference Centres of Excellences Executive Director said “ Chefs in our venues are seriously talented people who work hard to create interesting and appropriate menus for those attending training, events and conferences and as such their focus needs to be on providing a variety of interesting and tasty food that recognises the fact that most of our customers stay for long periods of time at our venues, this obviously includes healthy eating options but also food that can be consumed in a working environment and dishes that are an aid to learning in that they support the individuals concentration levels”

Quality Assurance

For Conference Centres of Excellence this event is an additional component to their strategy of continuous quality assurance and is a great opportunity to recognise the achievements of their members’ chefs and a celebration of exceptional food.



For the first time this year we have also opened entries up to members of IACC Europe and are delighted that Sebastién Lothore from Dolce Hotel and Conference Centre Sitges, Barcelona has been shortlisted as a finalist.

The full list of finalists are

• Neil Astbury from the Royal College of Physicians – who will be accompanied by Valentina Coffetti for the Food Service Skills Award
• Steven Bates from Imago at Burleigh Court – who will be accompanied by Rebecca Wade for the Food Service Skills Award
• Sarah Beardmore from Woodland Grange
• Rob Budd from The Manor House
• Jennifer Goff from Maple House, etc Venues
• Sebastién Lothore from Dolce Hotel and Conference Centre Sitges SL, Barcelona – our first IACC Europe entry
• Lisa Morris from Ashorne Hill
• Alan Read from the Kavli Royal Society International Centre, Chicheley Hall
• Ian Steele from the Beardmore Hotel and Conference Centre
• John Tack from The Móller Centre – who will be accompanied by Piotr Zdulski for the Food Service Skills Award
• Raymond Thomson from the Stirling Management Centre – who will be accompanied by Peter Tedford for the Food Service Skills Award
• Claire Willett from Wyboston Lakes – who will be accompanied by Steven Whitehead for the Food Service Skills Award

The competition will be held during the day on Saturday 27th October 2012. Competitors have three hours to produce a three course meal that would be suitable for an end of conference dinner for a large group.





In the evening Scarman Training and Conference Centre holds the awards ceremony where the winners are announced.

For more information please contact pr@cceonline.co.uk or contact us on 0845 230 1416.