Happy Birthday Scarman!

Warwick Conferences’ Scarman training and conference centre is celebrating two decades of excellence.

Scarman, one of the first purpose-built academic venues in the UK, opened on June 24th 1991 and has been a leader in the sector for twenty years.

Not only do companies and delegates from those early days still come back year after year to use Scarman for their event and conference needs, but more than two dozen staff present on the opening day continue to thrive at Warwick Conferences.

Richard Harrison, general manager at Scarman, said: “Although the venue has evolved over that time, the same core values of professionalism, commitment to service and value have not wavered.

“Testament to that is the fact that our delegates keep returning and our staff stay put. I believe that this is largely based on our values and the fact that we listen to our customers and staff.

“I have no doubt the next two decades will be as successful as the last.”

To celebrate Scarman’s milestone, some facts and figures follow about the venue’s twenty year history:

We have hosted an amazing 77,060 events over 20 years.

We think our breakfasts are delicious and our delegates agree – we have fried or grilled in the region of 721,120 sausages, 2,163,360 rashers of bacon and served 1,442,240 eggs.

A business meeting without tea or coffee is almost unimaginable, so it’s no surprise that our delegates have collectively consumed approximately 3,876,310 teas and coffees.

Where are they now? Well, still here…

Keith Tayler
Then: Head chef
Now: Head chef

Julie Watkins
Then: Assistant front of house manager
Now: Front of house manager

Alison Fox
Then: Restaurant manager
Now: Food and beverage manager at Radcliffe

Amanda Settle
Then: Assistant restaurant manager
Now: Restaurant manager

Dannie Cahill
Then: Catering manager
Now: General manager of Radcliffe

Lyn Foster
Then: Sous chef
Now: Pastry chef

Steve Budd
Then: Chef de partie
Now: Sous chef

Andrea Smith
Then: Chef de partie
Now: Pastry chef

Michelle Hayton
Then: Receptionist
Now: Event manager at Radcliffe

Sara Auckland
Then: Receptionist
Now: Sales manager

Steve Evans
Then: General assistant
Now: Accounts clerk

Steve Dorrington
Then: Customer assistant
Now: Receptionist at Radcliffe

The Møller Centre reaches the highest standard for service and business excellence

The Møller Centre, the only dedicated residential management training centre in Cambridge has been awarded Hospitality Assured’s national 2010 Highest Score award presented this week to The Møller Centre at London’s Dorchester Hotel.

The Møller Centre has been using the Hospitality Assured assessment for 11 years as a business planning tool, by assessing its facilities and procedures using its 10 step process to ensure they offer service excellence to clients. For the last 8 years, The Møller Centre has been within the top 5 highest scoring organisations, last achieving the highest score in 2008. The process focuses on analysing who the target market is, understanding client needs, marketing to the client, tailoring service delivery, follow up and improvements. At the end of each step a score is given, and then an overall score is recorded for all steps. There are currently over 130 organisations across the UK who have Hospitality Assured accreditation.

Recent Investment has been made into continually updating The Møller Centre’s IT facilities and AV equipment to give clients more flexibility with the meeting room space they have. New data projectors, PCs, laptops and software updates have been purchased to ensure we keep up to date with what our clients need and expect from us. In addition, the £225k bedroom refurbishment project is over halfway completed offering brand new bathroom facilities to ensure client stays are as comfortable and relaxing as possible.

“A good operation provides clients with what they need. A great operation always strives to continually better itself by anticipating and identifying client needs, and it’s for this reason that The Møller Centre invests heavily into factors that the Hospitality Assured process identifies to continually ensure we offer clients the very best we can” says Stuart Websdale, General Manager at The Møller Centre. “We, as a team, are delighted to have achieved the highest standard in the UK as part of the Hospitality Assured process. This is a great benchmark for when clients are looking for a great venue to host their next meeting or conference.”

Pictured at the awards ceremony held at The Dorchester Hotel in London. From left to right are: Sarah Mendham - Front of House Manager, Laura Websdale - Staff Development Manager, Stuart Websdale - General Manager, and Gillian Secrett - CEO.

Green Impact Certificate awarded to Nottingham Conference Centre

Nottingham Conference Centre, situated in a beautifully unique and recently transformed Grade II* listed building at Nottingham Trent University, is delighted to have received a Bronze Award Green Impact certificate.

Green Impact is an environmental accreditation scheme run by the Environmental Association for Universities and Colleges. It is designed to encourage individuals and departments to reduce their environmental impact by rewarding and celebrating practical environmental improvements. Those partaking in the Green Impact scheme can achieve either: a working towards accreditation, Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.

Caring for the environment is always high on our agenda at Nottingham Conference Centre and we’re very proud of our strong environmental philosophy.

The Centre boasts over 3,000 square metres of sedum roof - a living moss-like material which absorbs carbon dioxide and provides a haven for insects and other wildlife in the city centre. The roof also helps to reduce flash flooding.

We use fair-trade sourced ingredients where possible and also support local and seasonal suppliers. Our investment in technology allows you to host video conferencing, enabling an international agenda without a large carbon footprint and our city-centre location means that delegates have access to Nottingham’s excellent public transport systems, including the award-winning tram network.

Mark Vater, Nottingham Conference Centre’s Commercial Manager said: ‘We’re very pleased to have been awarded the certificate in recognition of our efforts to reduce our environmental impact. Caring for the environment is a key philosophy for us here at Nottingham Conference Centre. We are keen to continue with the scheme and work towards the higher accreditations in the coming year.’

Conference news: New hotel at The University of Nottingham

The University of Nottingham has announced plans to develop a 200-bed, 4 star equivalent hotel on its main University Park campus. The eco-friendly hotel will be sited next to the East Midlands Conference Centre and will feature at least 50 executive-style rooms, four boardrooms and a gym as well as a restaurant and bar which will be open to the public.

Building work is expected to commence in 2011, with completion due autumn 2012. Funded by The University of Nottingham, the new hotel will complement the existing facilities provided by the EMCC, which celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2010. It will also provide a much needed resource for visitors to the University.

The £20 million project has already appointed architects and interior designers to develop an eco-friendly building. The design of the hotel will feature external walk able rooftop gardens and terraces with maximum use of natural day light. Open spaces will provide superb views of The University of Nottingham’s extensively landscaped campus, whilst using state-of-the-art technology will reduce carbon emissions. Solar photovoltaic panels and an air-sourced heat pump are under consideration, as well as a new assisted-cooling ventilation system to allow temperatures to be client-controlled.

As a minimum, the hotel will aim to achieve an ‘Excellent’ rating under the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) which recognises low impact buildings that incorporate the best environmental practice. The University of Nottingham has developed a series of award-winning buildings that have underlined its commitment to sustainable architecture and construction.

Professor David Greenaway, Vice Chancellor of The University of Nottingham commented ‘The key aspect of the proposed design of the hotel is how well it nestles into the surrounding orchard hillside landscape and its environmental sustainability credentials.

Although the hotel will complement the hugely successful EMCC, it will generate income in its own right, providing accommodation for the general public, local businesses and University visitors. I am sure that the hotel will prove to be a valuable asset for the future development of the University and further enhance the University’s important contribution to the city of Nottingham.’

"Meet, Greet and Prosper" - Roy Sheppard presents at 1st Annual Summer Conference

"Roy Sheppard breaks more ice than the Russian fishing fleet.” delegate feedback

Every conference/event where networking is a vital ingredient will benefit from this keynote presentation “Meet Greet & Prosper”.

A fun, entertaining, interactive session, it teaches delegates how to network more effectively at your event. It is especially appreciated by senior executives. This session is guaranteed to create a ‘buzz’ - Roy’s style is interactive, inspiring, respectful and humorous.

Meet Greet and Prosper is a key note presentation forming part of the Conference Centres of Excellence 1st Annual Summer Conference open to members and non-members within the meetings industry.

The event takes place 21 July at Conference Aston, Birmingham.

For more details visit www.cceonline.co.uk or email summerconference@cceonline.co.uk

1st Annual Summer Conference 21 July: Hotels 2020 - Beyond Segmentation

Rohit Talwar CEO of Fast Future will share the findings the latest report FROM Convention 2020 on how venues are preparing for the future.

Convention 2020 is a global study focusing on the future of business events. The report focuses on how venue strategies and revenue models will need to evolve in the face of global change. The study also highlights key initiatives and innovations being pursued by leading venues as they prepare for the future.

Rohit is the project director of Convention 2020 and a global futurist who specialises in the future of the conventions and travel industries. His clients include the QE II convention Centre, Melbourne Convention and Exhibiton Centre, Adelaide Convention Centre, Qatar National Convention Centre and the convention bureas of London, Seoul, Sydney, Toronto, San Francisco, Abu Dhabi, Durban and Athens.

To sign up for the Conference Centres of Excellence 1st Annual Summer Conference on 21 July, please download a booking form from our website www.cceonline.co.uk

Face to Face is essential for Conference excellence

Bringing people together is essential for the success of business, according to the UK’s leading sales and marketing consortium for specialist venues.

Online interaction cannot wholly replace face to face contact in the business world for building relationships, according to Conference Centres of Excellence. And to underline its commitment to bring people together, Conference Centres of Excellence has just announced its first annual conference.

Consortium Chairman Richard Harrison said the event, which will bring together all 42 members, was part of a commitment to sharing best practice and building relationships between members. “As a voice for the meetings industry, we believe very strongly in the power of bringing people together and encouraging the sharing of information first hand,” he said. “While great advances have been made in technology allowing people to meet virtually, the feedback from our venues and customers is that meetings and conferences deliver far more than just the conference programme.

“The off agenda time at events really delivers in terms of building relationships and networks and allow people to share ideas and best practice in a far less pressured environment. “As part of our ethos to practise what we preach we will be bring together all our members at our own conference, which will take place in Birmingham this summer.”

Keynote speakers at the event include Rohit Talwar of Fast Future who will be speaking on the future of the hotel sector, Roy Sheppard, expert networker who has been described as someone who “breaks more ice than the Russian fishing fleet!”, Martin Lewis of ‘Meetpie’, a journalist with more 30 years in the meetings industry, David Wood of Expotel and Emma Bointon of Venuemasters.

The conference, which takes place on July 21st at Conference Aston, is open to non members and will provide the opportunity to network with fellow professionals in the meetings sector. There will be a series of workshops available to delegates as well as a networking lunch and supplier exhibition.

“It is a flagship event in our calendar and one which I would urge anyone with an interest in the sector to attend, as it will provide an opportunity to hear from some of the most insightful speakers in the industry,” said Richard. “It’s also a great chance to share experiences and make contacts with fellow meetings professionals in the fantastic environment of Conference Aston, a Conference Centres of Excellence member situated minutes from Birmingham city centre.”

Visit www.cceonline.co.uk for further programme information and how to book.