Woodland Grange appoints new reception manager

Woodland Grange has appointed Ann Langdon as reception manager at the AIM-Gold accredited venue. She joined on 11th May and is now responsible for a team of three.

Ann started her career with a HND in Hospitality Management at West Herts College and went on to hold many positions within the hospitality sector, moving up the career ladder from food & beverage team leader to general manager with Premier Inn.

Commenting on her new role at Woodland Grange, Ann said: "Reception is the hub of any venue so being organised and efficient impacts positively on the venue’s entire team and operation. Most importantly, first impressions count and it is a receptionist’s job to ensure that guests are greeted professionally and with warmth."

“It is a very exciting opportunity for me to join a business that is recognised for its customer service excellence, and I will be working very hard with my team to ensure that this reputation continues.”

Warwick Conferences distils industry research

Warwick Conferences has distilled a range of market research and reports in order to share the key findings with the wider industry, providing a valuable insight into the future of conferencing.

The Looking Ahead infographic serves to make the knowledge gleaned from eight industry reports - including the UK Events Market Trends Survey 2014 and the Global Meetings and Events Forecast 2015 – more accessible to events professionals.

The key findings - as identified by Warwick Conferences - cover the trends predicted to have a significant influence in 2015, the relationship between event planners and agencies, and the role of sustainability in events.

Rachael Bartlett, head of sales and marketing at Warwick Conferences, comments: “The conferencing landscape is constantly shifting and it’s crucial for event professionals to be able to forecast the influencers that will affect business in the coming months and years.

“The number of meetings is expected to rise by 1.2% in 2015, and while expenditure is returning slowly, costs remains a key decision maker for clients. This, coupled with the fact that flexibility is held as high priority means that venues must be adaptable, offering rate package options to embrace varying needs. 

“As a business at the forefront of the conferencing industry, Warwick Conferences is dedicated to making a positive contribution to drive the sector forward. Summarising the reports has helped us to refine our objectives and provide a clearer picture of where the industry is heading. We know the world of market research can be overwhelming, so we hope the Looking Ahead infographic provides a useful, easy-to-digest summary for event professionals to call upon.”

For more information and to view the Looking Ahead infographic, visit http://www.warwickconferences.com/about-us/news-and-blogs/insight-future-conferencing.

Meet the EEF Venues team: Kristen Pilarek

EEF Venues has expanded its hospitality team at Woodland Grange conference centre in Leamington Spa with the appointment of Kristen Pilarek as assistant food & beverage manager.

Before joining the AIM Gold accredited venue on 20thOctober, Kristen was previously food beverage supervisor with Hilton Hotels in Coventry.

Commenting on her new role, Kristen said:” I am really enjoying it so far and look forward to the challenges my new role brings. The team are all very welcoming and have made me feel totally comfortable.  It is great to be working with like-minded people who share a passion for great food and service. “

Kristen is now working closely with Debbie Beecham, Woodland Grange’s food and beverage manager, to ensure that standards remain consistently high in The Lawn’s Restaurant and right across the venue’s food offering, from tasting plates and hospitality to fine dining events.

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, believes that exciting, innovative food drives retention and client loyalty.

He said: “While location, accessibility and the availability of meeting room spaces drive sales, it is food and service that impact on repeat business,” he said. ’Clients remember how well they were treated and the quality of the food - and that is why they come back.

“We view Kristen’s appointment as part of our on-going investment in the venue and its services.”

Kristen, whose other passions are music and fashion, is now using her skills to maximise the food experience for delegates.

She said:” This is a new role for Woodland Grange and I am keen to bring my experience to it. I enjoy a challenge and there’s lots to look forward to in the coming weeks at Woodland Grange, with a whole series of Christmas parties throughout the busy festive season ahead.”

EEF Venues appoints new general manager at Woodland Grange

EEF Venues has created a new general manager post for its Woodland Grange conference venue in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, named ‘Business of the Year’ in this year’s Touch FM Pride of Warwick District Awards. 

Ian Chaplin joined the AIM gold accredited venue on 30th June, where he is responsible for the overall management and commercial success of the venue, including the achievement of financial and customer service targets. 

Prior to his appointment, Ian was operations manager with De Vere Venues at Staverton Park, and before that, operations manager with Principal Hayley Hotels and Conference Venues. 

Commenting on his appointment, David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, said: “This new role is a significant investment in the business and it highlights the importance we place on looking after our clients and our people. Ian’s strong background within the hospitality sector, and particularly, venue management, will ensure that customer service excellence remains a core value while building further on the business growth witnessed this year.” 

Woodland Grange short-listed for four Touch FM Pride of Warwick District Awards.

EEF Venue’s Woodland Grange Meeting and Conference Venue in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire has been short-listed under four categories in this year’s Touch FM Pride of Warwick District Awards.

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

The overall winners will be announced at an awards ceremony on Friday 4th July at The Chesford Grange Hotel. 

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, said: ”We are absolutely thrilled to have received this recognition. The short-listings alone are a great vote of confidence in our customer care standards and business practices. We look forward to the finals when we will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with many other exemplary local businesses. 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.” 

Woodland Grange donates gym equipment to Leamington school

Woodland Grange, a meetings and conference centre in Old Milverton Lane in Leamington Spa, has donated all of its former gym equipment to North Leamington School in Blackdown, Leamington.

Much to the delight of  6th form and GCSE students, the school’s gymnasium is now equipped with high quality apparatus including two additional rowing machines, three cross  trainers, two upright cycle machines and two treadmills.  

John Turpin, group operations manager for EEF Venues, the group behind Woodland Grange, said: ”Our recent £1 million capital investment in our facilities included the replacement of gym equipment in our Leisure Suite at Woodland Grange. We could have sold the old equipment but felt that it would be far better to put it to good use in the local community. We are absolutely thrilled that our equipment has found a good home and that it is of benefit to the school.”

Prior to donating the equipment to the school, the machines were serviced by local company, Newbody Fitness Ltd in Bedford St, Leamington, who will service the equipment for the school free of charge for the next twelve months.

John Turpin continued:”The units were in excellent condition because of our regular maintenance and repair schedule.  It was a logistical challenge though in that the machines had to be broken down into their composite elements, transferred and rebuilt on site. As the school is very close to our venue, this all happened in less than half a day and I am delighted to report that it all went to plan!”

Joy Mitchell, head teacher at North Leamington School, said:”We are delighted with the gym equipment and want to thank Woodland Grange for their generosity. We have a strong PE department and a high participation rate in our GCSE and A-Level PE courses. The additional equipment means that we can engage more of our students in the practical application of the PE courses and increase opportunities to develop healthier lifestyles and attitudes.”   

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

A taste for success for Warwick Conferences at industry awards

Warwick Conferences certainly proved to cut the mustard last week after its catering team excelled in all five contests at the annual TUCO (The University Caterers’ Organisation) competition, bringing home an impressive seven awards in total.

 

This is the fifth successive year that Warwick Conferences has been recognised at the two-day competition, designed to celebrate the talents of university chefs and catering staff through a range of skills-led challenges.

As a leading collection of conferencing venues, Warwick Conferences prides itself on catering and service excellence, and constantly strives to improve standards both within its own offering and across the industry.

Its recent, independent Value of Satisfaction report highlighted the direct and positive correlation that quality catering enjoys with increased levels of customer satisfaction, with good food exerting an important influence during an event and playing a significant role in determining the defining experience.

This year’s TUCO Competition provided a respected platform upon which to demonstrate the expertise of Warwick Conferences’ catering team with a range of contests to assess flair and technique in a wide variety of areas, from savoury meals to elaborate confectionary.

The Static Salon contest—which showcases the artistic presentation of a variety of dishes—saw Warwick Conferences scoop awards in four of its categories: Pete Fry, for the Bronze award in Plated Fine Dining and Student Meal; Graham Edwards for the Bronze award in Senior Class for Bread Making; Mary Fry achieved a Merit in the Decorative Exhibit; and Jonathan Rackham won Silver in Junior Bread Making.

Gary Crump and Gary Brown were awarded Bronze in the Chefs’ Challenge, which requires contestants to create outstanding menus using a mystery box of ingredients.

Ravinder Kumar was named first runner-up in the Street Food category in the Chef of the Year contest, while Kian Shakouri of Warwick Retail received a Silver Award in the TUCO Barista Skills challenge. Front of house staff Natalja Saveljeva and Kristine Vilcane were also recognised in the Service Skills challenge.

Warwick Conferences’ success at this year’s TUCO Competition is the cherry on the cake following a range of other culinary accolades recently awarded to its catering team. In November 2013, Graham Crump, executive development chef, was awarded the Innovation in Management award by the Institute of Hospitality, while two members of the team were also winners at the CCE Chefs Challenge.

Rachael Bartlett, head of sales and marketing at Warwick Conferences, commented: “We’re extremely proud of the team’s success at this year’s TUCO Competition. Creating world-class dining experiences for our delegates is something we are hugely passionate about, and events such as this help to hone our skills and allow us more of an insight into our competition, as well as ensuring we’re constantly at the forefront of industry development.

“To be recognised so highly across all five contests is an incredible achievement—especially considering the calibre of all those competing—and is a credit to the team’s hard work and dedication to dishing up exceptional food and outstanding service across our venues.”

The TUCO awards were announced at a gala dinner at the Hilton Blackpool on Tuesday 18 March.

WARWICK CONFERENCES STRIKES GOLD AGAIN IN BDRC CONTINENTAL ACCREDITATION WINS

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

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

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

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

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

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

EEF Venues takes prospective clients on a virtual tour

EEF Venues has produced three individual videos to provide a ‘virtual tour’ of its three distinctive venues: Woodland Grange, Broadway House and Engineers’ House. 

Martyn Bowen, Venue Manager at Engineers House

John Turpin, group operations manager for EEF Venues, said: ” The power of visual imagery to sell a venue cannot be underestimated. Video, in particular, can give potential bookers a real insight into a venue’s facilities, ethos and ambience. 

“Prospective clients can’t always find the time to visit a venue but the beauty of these short videos is that they showcase everything we have to offer throughout the group.”

Each of the three minute videos highlights the versatility of meeting rooms available at each venue, and covers everything from the food offer and audio visual facilities to local amenities and attractions.

“Our goal is to give a flavour of each venue,” said John Turpin. “All of the voiceovers and presenters seen on the three videos are EEF Venues’ staff, who were only too delighted to showcase their superb facilities.” 

Films of each venue can be seen on our venue pages here>

Warwick Conferences awarded Investors in People accreditation

Coventry- and Warwickshire-based Warwick Conferences is celebrating after once again being awarded the prestigious Investors in People accreditation. The achievement places The University of Warwick business amongst an elite group of employers – just a quarter of firms achieve the standard.

The areas in which Warwick’s collection of conferencing venues was recently found to particularly excel are: the apprenticeships programme; staff inductions; the learning and development programme for staff; and the staff Reward and Recognition scheme.

Alan Robinson, Director of Warwick Conferences, comments: “We’re delighted that our efforts continue to be recognised by the Investors in People standard. 

“We believe that it’s our people that really set us apart in the industry, so we’re dedicated to providing a framework of opportunities to progress.

“The fact that we’ve retained the award provides clear evidence of our investment in training and development initiatives for our people, and shows that we are dedicated to continually improving standards.”

Investors in People (IIP) is the UK’s leading business improvement standard, channelling the power of people to transform performance across a whole range of industries. It provides advice and support to organisations nationwide with a view to helping them achieve their goals.

Businesses applying for accreditation are assessed by an independent panel, which not only evaluates existing training and development programmes and other people-related initiatives, but also conducts interviews with staff and management in confidence in order to build a true picture.

Following a two-day assessment, cross sections of staff from the sales department and the Radcliffe, Arden, and Scarman venues at Warwick Conferences were interviewed. 

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

Ashorne Hill's Fam Trip leaves guests stirred, not shaken

Ashorne Hill’s latest agency familiarisation trip was a great success. Agencies from all across the country including, Book-o-Tel , Ellis Salsby, Zibrant and Inntel arrived at Ashorne Hill for reception drinks and welcome in the Great Hall.

The evening began with a tour of Ashorne Hill’s building and grounds. The conferencing and events team led the tour showcasing the very best of the facilities. The agents were able to view many styles of meeting rooms which were set up in a number of different layouts, enabling them to visualise how their clients could utilise Ashorne Hill’s facilities. Looking out over the 3rd floor balconies - the sun was setting as guests took in the view of the rolling Warwickshire countryside and landscaped grounds.

The 80s theme for the evening proved very popular with the agents. The entertainment began with a ‘Tom Cruise’ style cocktail demonstration. Individuals were chosen from the audience to take centre stage and attempt to mix the cocktails in the same flamboyant way as the mixologists causing great amusement amongst fellow guests.

During the course of the evening every guest was given the opportunity to re-create some of the most popular cocktails. With the sounds of the 80s being played throughout the evening, vases filled with retro sweets, glow sticks and the decor to match guests were truly transported back in time. 

Ashorne Hill provided guests with a ‘Bowl food’ offering, enabling the agencies to sample multiple dishes throughout the evening. 

The event culminated in an 80s disco – people partied until the small hours of the morning and good fun was had by all. 

What our guests said...

“A BIG thank you to you and all the team for a wonderful evening and thanks for all the hospitality. We never realised what a great venue you have.”-Linda Mansfield

“The venue was breathtaking and what a super time we had , we will certainly be pushing any future enquiries your way. Thanks again for your hospitality and we look forward to working with you soon” - Derek Storer and Helen Higgins – Hotelsmart

“It was an absolutely fabulous night, the showround was great and very informative. The bowl food, cocktail making and disco were all really good fun too.” Faye Parker – Book-o-tel

“We all had a wonderful time, we felt the trip was of great value. Not only to bring Ashorne Hill back to the front of our minds but to see the fantastic product you have to offer. I would have absolutely no problems recommending you to my client and neither would my colleagues.” - Nichola Silvester – Ellis Salsby

To view Ashorne Hill's film tour, visit: http://www.cceonline.co.uk/venue/ashorne-hill/