Further support needed for SLAP

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, has raised £1,400 to date for the Sri Lanka Aid Project (SLAP) by running in Cardiff’s Half Marathon on 6th October, coming in 7,751 out of 19,000 runners. 

He is hoping that a charity auction on Saturday 23rd November will help to meet his overall target of £5,000 to build a new classroom for the children of Bondupitiya School, victims of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami disaster.  

Meetings Industry Meeting Needs (MIMN) charity is supporting him in his fund-raising efforts.

 David Vaughton said: “My deepest thanks to all who supported me in the Marathon. We are hoping that the auction will help us to reach our £5,000 goal and we would be very grateful for any donations of prizes.”  

For further details please contact David on 01926 310504.

EEF Venues strengthens sales team

EEF Venues has appointed a new sales executive to strengthen the group’s in-house sales team.

Kristina Marshall joined on 9th September and is now responsible for business development across the group’s three Aim Gold accredited venues: Woodland Grange in Warwickshire, Broadway House in Westminster and Engineers’ House in Bristol.

Before joining the EEF Venues’ team at Woodland Grange, Kristina was area sales manager for twelve years with UMB Live’s venuefinder.com, the market leading guide serving the meetings and corporate events industry, where she was responsible for looking after 120 key accounts.

Before that, she was sales executive with Studley Castle Conference Centre and a sales co-ordinator with Billesley Manor Hotel in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Commenting on her appointment, David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, said: ”Kristina is an experienced sales professional who has embraced her new role with great enthusiasm and interest. We view this latest appointment as an investment in the business and a reflection of our confidence in the market which is looking far more buoyant and promising than this time last year.”

David Vaughton to run for Sri Lanka Aid Project

On Sunday 6th October, David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, will run the Cardiff Half Marathon in aid of the Sri Lanka Aid Project (SLAP) to raise funds for victims affected by the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami in Sri Lanka.

David has been involved with this project for the past six years. Funding to date has supported repairs to the hospital in Bentota and, more recently, invested in Bondupitiya School on the fringes of the town where facilities and amenities are extremely basic.

“I had the privilege of visiting in December 2012, meeting such humble, charming and grateful people,” said David. 

“We oversaw the installation of running water into the school as a consequence of a significant donation from a major corporate organisation. The next project is to raise £5,000 to build a new classroom to accommodate the growth in numbers of pupils to over 300. We plan to undertake this project during January 2014 and as part of our fundraising activities for that, I will be attempting to complete the half marathon.” 

All materials and labour are sourced locally to support the community and all transport costs are funded at the volunteers’ own expense.

Event industry charity, Meetings Industry Meeting Needs (MIMN) is supporting David to help raise funds for this very worthy cause. 

MIMN trustee, Tim Chudley, commented: ”‘It's great to support David, a leading figure in the hospitality sector, with this very worthwhile project.”

A charity auction will also be held in November as a further fund raising activity to meet the target and prize donations would be gratefully received.

For further details or if you would like to sponsor David, please contact him on 01926 310504.

Hot Sales for EEF Venues

Temperatures weren’t the only thing soaring in July as EEF Venues reports a 16 per cent increase in sales on last year’s figures for July 2012. In fact, it was the group’s strongest performing July to date, placing EEF Venues’ sales for the month ten per cent above its projected target.

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, said: ”Historically, July is usually an average month with regards to sales, particularly the last two weeks once schools have broken up for the holidays, but we have seen a significant rise in bookings this year  across our three venues: Broadway House in Westminster, Engineers’ House in Bristol and Woodland Grange in Warwickshire. We received 800 business enquiries throughout the month, with a high conversion rate of between 60 and 70 per cent. 

“Although still a challenging market, I think this shows increased confidence in the private sector to commit to meetings and conferences. It is also a strong reflection of our reputation for great customer service and demonstrates that our sales and marketing function is thriving,” he said.

“To have achieved ten per cent above our expectations is quite an achievement.  Forward projections are also looking good for well into October.”

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

A golden hat-trick for EEF Venues

Broadway House, EEF Venues’ conference venue at the heart of Westminster, has achieved Gold in the stringent Accredited in Meetings (AIM) assessment – the nationwide 'kite mark' for accredited venues and service providers in the UK meetings, conference and events industry.

All three EEF Venues now have AIM Gold status: Broadway House, Engineers’ House in Bristol and Woodland Grange in Warwickshire. 

Broadway House, which features twelve distinctive meeting rooms, with a maximum room capacity for up to 120 delegates, is the final venue in the group to join AIM’s elite group of 17 UK venues to have been awarded gold status to date.

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues said: ”AIM has embedded itself into the industry as the ultimate benchmark for quality so we couldn’t ask for a better endorsement of our quality and service standards. 

“AIM gives essential, third party credibility - which is crucial for client confidence. Customers know straight away that there is a certain standard, and when that standard is gold, they know that their event will be impeccable. It’s about providing peace of mind and that’s an incredible advantage to have in a highly competitive sector.”

Amanda Sutton, venue manager at Broadway House said:” AIM Gold is the best accolade any venue could wish for. It is the ultimate benchmark of quality so to have achieved this gives us an incredible advantage over other venues in Westminster. We are absolutely thrilled and view this as a vote of confidence in our facilities, in our service levels and our people.”

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

David Vaughton joins the Conference Centres of Excellence board

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, has been appointed to the board of Conference Centres of Excellent (CCE), the UK's only marketing consortium to represent specialist, quality conference and training centres in the UK.

CCE now has 34 members nationwide, including many of the country’s best known specialist conference and training venues, covering a geographical area extending from the South East of England to Scotland. Before joining, venues have to meet stringent criteria in terms of quality, facilities, accommodation and customer care. 

Commenting on his appointment, David Vaughton said: “Having previously served on the board of CCE, I am delighted to be involved again with this quality-driven organisation which promotes best practice throughout this niche sector, allowing members to market themselves on a shared ethos of high quality standards.  

‘I see my appointment as a great opportunity to help shape CCE’s future strategy and growth and build on the superb job the Consortium has done to date in attracting like-minded, specialist venues to come together under one umbrella to provide a targeted solution for discerning meetings buyers.”

The majority of CCE’s members are independent operators, all of whom avail of the Consortium’s venue sales team and marketing support.

David Vaughton continued: “CCE’s strengths are many, not the least of which are its emphasis on the transparency of relationships and understanding of buyers’ needs.  CCE’s geographical footprint and shared ethos and vision give independent players an additional arm to their marketing strategies, as well as strength by numbers. Most importantly, independent quality mechanisms such as BDRC Continental’s bench-marking scheme give CCE members industry credibility, allowing them to compete on par with bigger operators and chains in this challenging and busy marketplace.”

David Vaughton is director of venues for EEF Venues, a group of three conference venues dedicated to meetings, conferences, team building, training and corporate events: Engineers’ House in Bristol; Broadway House in Westminster, and Woodland Grange in Warwickshire.  

“We are delighted David Vaughton is joining the board – his wide experience of dedicated training centres, both residential and non-residential will further enhance the wealth of experience brought together with the existing board members. David is well known and respected within the industry as having a clear quality focus in all of his previous work and we are sure that he will serve the board well.” commented Anthony Lishman, Chairman of Conference Centres of Excellence.

For more information please contact pr@cceonline.co.uk or call 0845 230 1414.

£1 million refurbishment investment for EEF Venues

EEF Venues is investing £1 million in a major refurbishment project at its Westminster venue, Broadway House, and at its Woodland Grange Conference Centre in Warwickshire. 

The company has commissioned Coventry-based McCarthy Interiors, leading specialists in corporate refurbishment and space planning, to manage the project, which is due to start on 4th March 2013. 

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, said: "This refurbishment project is a considerable milestone for us. We view it as a huge vote of confidence in EEF Venues and also in the marketplace itself, which despite challenging economic times, is still buoyant.  Competition from other venues, particularly within the Westminster area, is strong. However, as approximately 75 per cent of all of our business comes from repeat bookings, this drives the business during difficult times. But there is no room for complacency; it’s vital to keep improving facilities and investing to meet increasingly high delegate expectations."

At Broadway House, a six-storey, Edwardian building in the heart of Westminster, EEF Venues is up-grading all of the public access spaces and conference areas within the building. This will include lighting, décor and new carpeting throughout.

The project will also involve a complete refurbishment of the 114 en-suite bedrooms at EEF Venues’ Woodland Grange in Leamington, Warwickshire. 

David Vaughton continued: “We will be completely stripping out the bedrooms and en-suite bathrooms to provide more contemporary and stylish facilities for our delegates and guests, in keeping with our four star accommodation standards. This will include everything from changing the flooring, tiling and sanitary ware to décor, bed linen and soft furnishings. We are not just looking at the aesthetics, but have focussed on the design element from a practical, housekeeping viewpoint also, such as having wall-mounted toilets and sinks for ease of access for cleaning.”

Roger Day, general manager of McCarthy Interiors, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be working closely with EEF Venues on this exciting and substantial contract. For the past six months we have worked very closely with the team to help realise their vision. One key element of the design process has been a ‘demo room’ at Woodland Grange where we have refurbished one of the bedrooms as an example of how the rooms will look. We now look forward to taking our concepts to completion at both of these impressive venues.”  

Bristol Venue Takes Gold

Engineers’ House, a Grade 11 listed conference venue in Clifton Downs, Bristol, has achieved gold standard accreditation in the VenueVerdict Awards run by BDRC Continental, the leading hospitality research specialists. The results are based entirely on independent customer feedback taken throughout 2012.

Part of EEF Venues, Engineers’ House is now placed in the top 6% of all of the 400 venues assessed under the Awards scheme.  The elegant 19th century building is set in picturesque grounds overlooking Westbury Park yet has all of the conference facilities one would expect from a contemporary venue such as free Wi-Fi, nine distinctive meeting rooms, quality on-site catering and capacity for up to 170 delegates per day. Its two sister venues within EEF Venues’ portfolio – Broadway House in Westminster and Woodland Grange in Warwickshire – received high commended accreditations in the same Awards.

Commenting on Engineers’ House success, Martyn Bowen, venue manager at Engineers’ House said: “The gold accreditation was based on clients’ feedback – for which we are incredibly grateful.  We are absolutely thrilled that Engineers’ House has achieved gold and   our aim is to continue to strive for excellence.” 

David Vaughton, venues director of EEF Venues said: "Great credit must go to Martyn and his team for their consistent passion and commitment. We have always been very proud to have Engineers’ House in our portfolio and it is truly great to get this endorsement from our clients. The feedback covered all aspects of our service including our in-house catering operation. "   

Engineers' House

Engineers’ House is a Grade II listed conference centre in Clifton Down, a prestigious suburb of Bristol.

It was built in 1831 by Charles Dyer, a leading Bristol architect. The most famous owner of the house was Charles Pinney, who was the Mayor of Bristol during the Bristol City Riots, and although it is sometimes referred to as ‘The Mayor’s House’, it was actually the private home of the Pinney family between 1835 and 1867.

Half Term Incentive at Engineers House, Bristol

It's all back to business this month, but Half Term is coming soon.  Get ahead of the pack with our latest incentive. 

24th October - 2nd November - get 5 free delegate places

We're offering 5 free delegate places on all new bookings of 30 delegates or more, between the 24th October and 2nd November.

We know the pressure is on to keep your costs down and your productivity up, so we're keeping our offers rolling on the dates that you need.  We've put together this special package around the Half Term week, and we know that places will go fast.

Expect warm Bristol hospitality from the exceptional team at Engineers’ House. Quality is assured with AIM accredited facilities for up to 170 delegates and a prime location just 3 miles from Bristol Temple Meads train station and minutes from the M4 and M5.

For more information or to check availability contact the hotline on 0845 230 1414 or info@cceonline.co.uk.

EEF Venues appoints Kanga Marketing

EEF Venues are pleased to announce the recent appointment of Kanga Marketing to help drive their business development, increase sales and realise marketing targets for the foreseeable future. 

Woodland Grange, Warwickshire

With three outstanding conference and meeting venues in London, Warwickshire and Bristol EEF Venues have a great reputation within the conferencing and events industry and a passion for hospitality and exceptional service. Kanga Marketing have been commissioned to build awareness of these venues and develop fresh business opportunities in new market sectors.

Kanga Marketing have worked with some of the biggest and most successful venues in the UK and will work alongside EEF Venues to help deliver the plan, which will use both traditional and digital marketing. With their many years of experience in business development and a great marketing team, Kanga will work on a campaign which will push the PR in a new direction, utilise new and patented technology previously unused in the events industry and work closer with EEF’s sales teams to create a more integrated approach.

Broadway House, London

Karl Neal, Kanga Marketing Client Director, said “We’re very proud to be working with EEF Venues. Having met many members of the EEF team at all three UK locations we have been hugely impressed by their commitment to outstanding customer service and their obvious desire for growth; we are really looking forward to taking the company to the next level. We have already completed our initial review and we can  see a number of opportunities that will impact in their business on a big way, really making a difference to bookings both on B2B and B2C.”

David Vaughton, EEF Venues Director, said “We are thrilled to have appointed Kanga Marketing to help us drive and deliver a bigger and better plan for the future. The growth of our business is an important factor and we’re positive about the changes we’re making. Our current clients can be assured that they will still receive the same exceptional service we pride ourselves upon. We are looking forward to opening our doors to some fresh new faces and welcoming back familiar clients at our venues.“

Engineers House, Bristol

For more information please call the Conference Centres of Excellence Hotline 0845 230 1414 or email info@ccceonline.co.uk

4th July Garden Party Venue Showcase and Bristol Supplier Expo at Engineers House

Engineers’ House announces 4th July garden party venue showcase and Bristol supplier expo 

Bristol’s Clifton Down favourite, Engineers’ House, will treat clients new and existing to live music, personal conference venue show-rounds and open-top bus tours on 4th July, as it hosts a free networking showcase from 5.30 – 9.00pm within its picturesque gardens, overlooking Westbury Park. 

The garden party venue showcase is expected to bring together up to 350 professionals for summer drinks and networking over a feast of delicious foods from Engineers’ House’s brasserie dining menu. 

On your show-round, take in the spacious spread of meeting rooms, with their high ceilings and period features and envisage your next meeting, conference, team building event or networking lunch in the light and airy surrounds of Engineers’ House. Make the most of a summer’s evening with newly extended opening hours, from 7am til 11pm, seven days a week, introduced to service the growing demand Engineers’ House is seeing for out-of-hours functions. 

All guests attending the open evening will be entered into a prize draw to win an all-inclusive all-day corporate hire of an Engineers’ House meeting room for up to 30 people, worth more than £1000. The prize will be drawn on the night. 

Guests can mingle with colleagues, other local businesses and friendly Engineers’ House staff, while making the most of a valuable opportunity to learn about the products and services of up to 20 scheduled exhibitors. These will include Engineers’ House tourism partner CitySightseeing Bristol, which will be inviting guests to cruise the sights of famous Clifton Downs in style in a bright red open-top tour bus. Hear all about the quirks and character of the city on a fun and educational ‘Hop On, Hop Off’ trip, led by an energetic and knowledgeable guide. 

Speaking of the history of this Engineers’ House showcase and supplier exhibition, Martyn Bowen venue manager, says: “This is the eighth year we’ve run this garden party venue showcase and Bristol supplier expo. In the past we’ve welcomed up to 180 different organisations, who all attend to support this opportunity we’ve created for businesses in Bristol and the south west to come together and network. It’s all about raising the profile of Bristol as a business destination and building rewarding relationships between businesses. We also treat guests to free food and drinks while they’re here, to showcase the fantastic service and surroundings of Engineers’ House.” 

Attendance at this garden party venue showcase is by registration only. If you would like to attend, please call the Hotline on 0845 230 1414. 

Engineers’ House is an AIM accredited conference and training centre. It has 14 well-equipped meeting rooms and can provide tailored packages for up to 170 delegates. Engineers’ House is just three miles (10-minute drive) from Bristol Temple Meads station, five miles from the M4 and 10 miles from the M5.

EEF Venues 3 day flash sale

For 3 days only, claim exclusive and generously discounted day delegate rates when you book any JUNE 2012 event at an EEF Venue.

We have 4 acclaimed venues in 4 top UK business destinations:


WOODLAND GRANGE, Warwickshire
FLASH SALE DDR: £35.00
Maximum room capacity: 200

ENGINEERS' HOUSE, Bristol
FLASH SALE DDR: £24.50
Maximum room capacity: 170

BROADWAY HOUSE, Westminster
FLASH SALE DDR: £42.00
Maximum room capacity: 120

BROOMGROVE, Sheffield
FLASH SALE DDR: £25.00
Maximum room capacity: 90

Sale begins: 9:00am, Wednesday 23rd May
Sale closes: 5:00pm, Friday 25th May

To book your event contact the Hotline today on 0845 230 1414 or info@cceonline.co.uk

Woodland Grange proves it’s good as gold, despite “very challenging business climate”

A decade after aligning itself with the Meetings Industry Association (MIA), Woodland Grange has sailed through a stringent Accredited in Meetings (AIM) reassessment to retain its clutch on the elite AIM Gold Award – a privileged assurance of quality achieved by just 14 conferencing venues in the whole of the UK. 

Woodland Grange Conference Centre, in Leamington Spa, has been a venue member of the MIA since 2002, first scooping the Gold Award in 2008 with the highest ever score recorded.

In this year’s AIM Higher Accreditation feedback report, assessor David Battersby praised Woodland Grange for exceptional competitor benchmarking, customer feedback monitoring and staff training, combining to create “an extremely impressive venue which displays many examples of best practice”.

“The staff have been well trained, are extremely personable and are thoroughly committed to helping the venue maintain and grow its customer base in a very challenging business climate,” said Battersby.

“It is a well-managed and maintained venue with an extensive range of well thought through and robust operational policies, systems and procedures which are regularly reviewed, updated and improved in light of customer feedback. Regular benchmarking activities against different competitor sets show increasing positive trends in results across all aspects of the business.”

In conclusion, the assessor said that Woodland Grange is “a venue with an extremely strong focus on the customer, identifying customer needs and exceeding customer expectations”.

Significant investment has been made into Woodland Grange in the last six weeks, with an extensive refurbishment of the 230-seat Lawns Restaurant, to transform it into a vibrant, stylish brasserie dining environment. It’s a setting that now gels more fluidly with the outstanding menu on offer, courtesy of the venue’s award-winning chef team, led by Matthew Parsons – 98% of customers rated food at Woodland Grange as “Excellent”, “Very Good, or “Good” in March 2012 alone and 99% of all customers would be very willing to host repeat events at the venue as a result of highly positive experiences in all areas of service.

The AIM Standard became available to non-MIA members in January 2009, but still the number of venues effectively meeting the criteria to be deemed worthy of the Gold standard has remained low.

At a Gold level accredited venue you can expect first-class facilities with the very highest levels of service reflected throughout, from your first welcome to your final goodbye. You can expect exceptional catering using the highest quality ingredients and equipment, efficient staff with an eye for detail and pricing that is reflective of the quality of the venue and service.

Speaking of Woodland Grange’s reaccreditation, David Vaughton, Venues Director for parent organisation EEF Venues, said, “By talking to our customers regularly, we feel we’re really spot on with interpreting what they want from a conference and meetings venue and we go the extra mile to exceed expectations, by investing heavily in our staff training. They’re the ones on the front line, delivering. This AIM Gold accreditation is a real credit to the team for making our excellent facilities come to life. We’re only as good as our people and this actively demonstrates that our people and product are best in class.”

Woodland Grange is the flagship of the EEF Venues portfolio. Its location, nestled in leafy 16-acre grounds, offers access to Royal Leamington Spa and its railway station in less than 10 minutes, to Birmingham International Airport in 30 minutes and to the major motorway network (M40, M42, M6 and M69). 

Businesses from near and far find Woodland Grange a perfect fit for conferences, training courses, team building sessions or corporate events. From the outside it is a building flooded with English country house character, yet Woodland Grange has the best of both worlds. Stroll into the spacious, bright reception and neighbouring coffee lounge to be met by slick architecture, etched glass panelling and bold colours.

Its 26 conference and meeting rooms can be arranged to suit your requirements, with the largest suite accommodating up to 200 people. Within these rooms, air conditioning, soundproofing, natural daylight and blackout facilities meet free WiFi access, convenient laptop connections, in-room computers and audio-visual equipment, with technical support always on hand.

Guests can relish in a restful night’s sleep in the 114 homely ensuite bedrooms on site, some with idyllic countryside views, which come complete with double beds as standard, complimentary WiFi, toiletries, a 26” flat screen television with Freeview, data points, telephone, ironing facilities and coffee/tea provision. Woodland Grange also has a well-equipped fitness room, with sauna and Jacuzzi, for use by any customer.

Leap into Spring with Broomgrove's delicious £25 day conference deal, with bonus bacon rolls

Our special, all-inclusive package is just £25 per person* and available for meetings held throughout April, May and June.

• Guest registration and a dedicated event manager

• Audio visual equipment

• Unlimited high speed internet access, cabled or Wi-Fi

• Flipchart stand with whiteboard and pens

• Pens, notepads, name cards

• Still and sparkling water, cordials and a selection of sweets

• Unlimited tea, coffee, homemade biscuits and cakes

• Two-course hot and cold buffet lunch

• On-site technical support

• BONUS OFFER:Breakfast roll on arrival

Celebrate Spring with us and choose the pretty Grade II listed Broomgrove, Sheffield for your next meeting, conference or workshop this April - June.

Broomgrove is AIM accredited and has 7 spacious and flexible meeting rooms, including a grand chandelier-hung Ballroom, the Hayloft for up to 15, the Snug for intimate groups of up to 6 and the Upper Court seating 55 theatre style. All rooms come fully equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including free Wi-Fi.

To book, contact the Hotline today on 0845 230 1414 or info@cceonline.co.uk and quote 'Broomgrove Spring Offer'.

*Minimum booking of 10 people applies. Not applicable to existing bookings. Price quoted is exclusive of VAT.

Easter break offer at Engineers House!

We filled up fast this March and April's looking to follow suit. To fill those last minute gaps, how about 25% off our rack rate?

Engineers' House are expanding their Monday and Friday offering of £24.50+VAT DDR on any NEW BOOKINGS up to April 13th 2012.

What you can expect.

• Fully equipped conference room, set-up to your specification

• Dedicated event manager to ensure your event runs without issue

• Bistro lunch in our recently refurbished restaurant

• Hot drinks on tap all day, in our recently refurbished coffee lounge

• Industry leading service from a team that really performs

Contact the Hotline team today on 0845 230 1414 or email info@cceonline.co.uk

Don't be an April fool - pay just £42pp for a full day at Broadway House this April

You'll have a spring in your step at Broadway House this April if you're quick to secure our very special day delegate rate of just £42.

Available across a selection of April dates, this £42pp full-day conference and meetings offer is superb value for premium facilities, exceptionally warm and efficient service and an incredible location just inches from the entrance to St James’s Park tube station, on the District and Circle lines.

Broadway House is a six storey Edwardian building at the heart of Westminster, making it a very popular choice for ministerial meetings and press conferences. It’s only a 10-minute walk from Victoria, Waterloo and Charing Cross stations, so couldn’t be any more convenient for City meetings.

There are 12 well equipped meeting rooms, with the Stephenson Room and the Council Chamber accommodating up to 110 theatre style. The Council Chamber and Westminster Suite are fitted with full PA and recording facilities and all rooms benefit from stationery, flipcharts, phones, photocopying facilities and whiteboards, included entirely as standard, so you’ll never be charged any hidden extras.

Enjoy complimentary high-speed WiFi throughout the building and stay perky with unlimited refreshments, homemade cakes and biscuits. We’ll also satiate your appetite with a tasty finger buffet of your choice.

We will give you all the help and support you need to arrange your conference, team building session, training day or corporate event. We can also cater for evening meetings should you need to organise an event out of working hours.

For more information contact the Hotline team today on 0845 230 1414 or info@cceonline.co.uk

Fantastic Easter Offer from Woodland Grange

You'll go hopping mad for our Easter conferencing offer, available every day in April 2012.

For a fully-inclusive rate of just £32+VAT per person, you can hold your April meeting, conference, training day or team building session at award-winning Woodland Grange in Leamington Spa.

Here are just a few of the excellent things our bespoke service will include.

• Guest registration and a dedicated event manager

• LCD data projectors and in-room multi-media centres, video, CD and DVD

• Unlimited high speed internet

• A flipchart stand with unlimited refills, whiteboard and pens

• Pens, notepads and name cards

• Still and sparkling water, cordials and a selection of sweets

• Unlimited tea, coffee, homemade biscuits and cakes

• Two course hot and cold buffet lunch made on-site by our talented chef team

• On-site technical support

Dates are available on a first come, first served basis so Contact the Hotline team today on 0845 230 1414 or email info@cceonline.co.uk

And if you fancy making a night of it, throughout April we're running a £95+VAT 'Dinner, Bed & Breakfast' package in our 4* deluxe bedrooms, all on site and with the added luxury of free gym and spa use.

Woodland Grange completes makeover of its smallest rooms!

The makeover of the washrooms at Woodland Grange, the Warwickshire conference centre owned by EEF Venues, is now complete – and so far, guests have given nothing but positive feedback.

The venue recently replaced all its outdoor signage with stunning magenta and brushed silver signs - and they looked so good that it was decided to continue with a theme of vibrant, contemporary colours in the smallest rooms.

An eye-catching lime green was chosen for the entrance lobby and the border below the basins and there is a striking striped laminate with chrome trim at the back of each cubicle. The basins and toilets are bright white with clean square lines to give a really modern look and feel. Slate grey wall tiles and a dark stone ceramic floor contrast well with the green and shocking pink.

Comments from guests have included ‘bright and eye-catching’, ‘certainly wakes you up in the morning’, ‘clean and contemporary’ and ‘excellent lighting’.

All four EEF venues are now Conference Centres of Excellence!

EEF Venues has announced that following a recent independent and rigorous assessment, Engineers’ House in Bristol and Broomgrove in Sheffield have joined Woodland Grange and Broadway House as Conference Centres of Excellence!

That means that EEF Venues is the only group in the UK able to offer the high standards that CCE insist on – at all its venues. Conference Centres of Excellence is a consortium of the finest conference and training centres. To become a member, a venue has to meet exacting criteria. Only dedicated business centres can achieve this coveted hallmark which is a guarantee of quality and the very highest standards in terms of service, facilities, catering, residential accommodation and technical support.

'The assessment takes place on a normal working day,' said David Vaughton, Venues Director. 'Two CCE Board Members examine every part of the business to ensure that we are providing a superb working environment, free of distractions and supported by excellent customer service.'

Woodland Grange became the first EEF venue to join CCE in 2004, and has since been continually improving all areas of the business. In the last year alone, Woodland Grange has been re-certified to ISO 14001, has re-launched its website, created a fresh new brand identity – and invested in management training and teambuilding to help the venue offer an even better experience for its customers.

'Our outstanding customer service is one of the things we’re most proud of,” David says. “From the moment you step through the door until the moment you leave, we’re friendly and welcoming. There’s a genuine sense of belonging at an EEF Venue – you’re not just ‘another delegate’

Having dedicated and high quality conference venues in Sheffield and Bristol is good for the consortium because it enhances its geographical footprint.

And it’s certainly good for EEF Venues, enabling it to share best practice and ideas with other members and benefit from the expertise and reach of CCE’s dedicated sales team.

Engineers’ House gets its biggest ever facelift

Following a complete makeover of its Blue Room Lounge and Restaurant in early October, Engineers’ House - EEF Venues’ Bristol-based conference facility - is now re-vamping all its lounges, dining rooms, coffee stations and breakout areas.

The makeover started on the 24th October, and is due to be completed within a single week.

The improvements are designed to take the elegant 19th century building to a new level of excellence and comfort. Engineers’ House is Grade II listed so all refurbishments have to be completely in character with the building. For the coffee lounges, EEF Venues have chosen some classically simple wooden-framed chairs in muted blues and creams and stylish poseur height tables in a deep red. The dining chairs are, again, simple yet elegant with pale green and aubergine upholstery.

Martyn Bowen, the Venue Manager says: 'It’s been a personal ambition of mine to give these areas a complete makeover for quite some time, so I’m delighted that it’s going ahead. The new décor, furnishings, carpets and curtains will add a touch of luxury to this state-of-the-art training facility, which recently became a Conference Centre of Excellence.'

To celebrate the improvements clients past and present are being invited to come and have a tour of the building – with lunch to follow. The tours will be held every day during the week of the 31st October and will include the newly refurbished lounge and dining areas.