Eynsham Hall welcomes David Cameron to unveil “New Look” Boutique Country Hotel in Oxfordshire

Today marked the first Experience Oxfordshire networking event of 2016. Held at Eynsham Hall, there were over 150 local business and organisations in attendance as well as the Rt Hon David Cameron, Prime Minister and MP for Witney.

The informal event offered Experience Oxfordshire partners a chance to meet other business from across the visitor economy sector and network as well as well as an opportunity to catch up with the Experience Oxfordshire team. The event was also the grand unveiling of Eynsham Hall's £2.5million refurbishment to the local industry.

After speaking to the invited audience Mr Cameron did a walk around taking the opportunity to speak with many of Experience Oxfordshire's Partners and local businesses and also presenting B4's Richard and Colin Rosser a celebratory certificate on behalf of Experience Oxfordshire congratulating them on their 10 years in business.

The event is part of a series of annual events and programme's that Experience Oxfordshire runs for their partners.

On the event David Cameron MP said:
"It has been a pleasure to attend today's event here at the stunning, newly refurbished Eynsham Hall and to speak with local businesses. I am passionate about the tourism sector -- as shown by the drive I have given to the government's plans, including the excellent "Great" campaign -- and I am extremely proud to see the sector doing so well here in Oxfordshire".
"I was delighted to hear of Experience Oxfordshire's plans for the future and to see true public and private sector collaboration. I would urge any business with an interest in the visitor economy to get involved with Experience Oxfordshire and the great things they are doing. I will watch how this further develops with much interest and my support for the sector remains strong"

Hayley Beer-Gamage, Chief Executive of Experience Oxfordshire added;
"This has been a fantastic start to the year to have both the Prime Minister in attendance, showing how collaboration is key to success. At Experience Oxfordshire we are delighted to see so many of our Partners and Ambassador's here today to celebrate with Eynsham Hall and make exciting plans for the year ahead. We are an ambitious organisation who are looking to engage and grow the visitor economy across Oxfordshire and we are delighted to be receiving so much support. We have only touched on some of the exciting plans for the year ahead today and there is much more to come!"

Shaun Bowles, the General Manager of Eynsham Hall who welcomed everyone to the event said:
"This was a fantastic opportunity to showcase the work recently completed at Eynsham Hall, especially the new main hall bedrooms which are a real credit to the hotel. It's also incredibly warming to receive such strong support from Experience Oxfordshire and fellow members"

Richard Rosser, Chief Executive of B4 said;
"We are tremendously proud to receive this award from Experience Oxfordshire and the Prime Minister to mark the 10th anniversary of B4 magazine. On the behalf of the team I'm delighted to receive this honour and recognition of our work."

imago makes new business development appointment

imago has appointed Natasha Hughes to the role of Business Development Manager as it seeks to take advantage of sales opportunities in the market.

Natasha, who was included on the miaList in 2014 and is a graduate of Loughborough University, previously worked at Customer Relations Manager at Burleigh Court where she managed conference clients and hotel guests and was a duty manager responsible for the day to day operations at the four star hotel and conference centre.

In her new role, Natasha will be responsible for building relationships with existing and new clients and winning business for imago’s portfolio of venues – Burleigh Court, Holywell Park, The Link Hotel and Loughborough University Campus.

Natasha commented: “Over the past few years I have become passionate about hospitality and customer service and its ability to completely change a customer's journey and perspective alongside improving business reputation, sales and revenue. My previous role means I have built strong relationships with imago’s client base which will be of great benefit when retaining clients and understanding their event requirements and how our venues can best meet their needs. 

Emma Boynton, Head of Sales and Marketing at imago, said: “We are delighted that Natasha has joined our business development team. She is already well known amongst our client base and will be a great asset to our team as we look to increase sales across imago’s portfolio of venues.”

imago unifies Loughborough University’s conference and events venues under one brand which offers high quality meeting spaces, venues and accommodation along with excellent sports and leisure facilities. imago manages Burleigh Court, Holywell Park, Loughborough University’s conference and events facilities and The Link Hotel.

imago to present research into face to face communication at CHASE

imago, the conference and events arm of Loughborough University, is once again exhibiting at the leading third sector exhibition where it will be presenting its findings into the value of face to face communication.

The 24th Charities and Associations Event - CHASE 2016 - will take place on 16 and 17 February at the Business Design Centre, London, where imago will also be showcasing why its portfolio of venues are ideally suited for events organised by charities and associations.

The research – Does the future have room for face-to-face communication - measured the value of meeting face to face amongst a sample of more than 750 event organisers, delegates, graduate and undergraduate students. imago will be discussing the results to see if its findings match the thoughts and requirements of meeting planners in the third sector.

Emma Boynton, head of sales and marketing at imago comments: “CHASE brings together senior decision makers from one of our target markets and is an ideal platform for us to discuss the importance of face to face communication. It will also allow us to gain further insight into what is important for event organisers in this area in relation to the value of meetings.”

Key findings from the research included:

• 96.6% of meetings attendees cited small face to face meetings of fewer than 10 participants as their favoured form of communication.
• Group interaction and discussion is considered the top benefit of face to face communications by 78.4% of delegates and 69.4% of students.
• On a scale of 0 to 100, delegates ranked engagement during face to face meetings at an average of 85%, with students at 73%.
• An interactive format as a tool to retain information was most favoured by both delegates (81%) and students (72.1%).

Emma adds: “As well as presenting our research, the exhibition provides us with the opportunity to showcase our venue offering and how our experience in organising meetings and events can benefit them and their members. It was highly successful for us last year which is why we have chosen to return, and we are even more delighted to be part of its education programme.” 

The research was undertaken by Loughborough University and imago.  The Right Solution provided methodology, analysis and validation of the research which was conducted using a mixture of focus groups, online and face to face questionnaires.

imago unifies Loughborough University’s conference and events venues under one brand offering high quality meeting spaces, venues and accommodation along with excellent sports and leisure facilities. Its venues and services have achieved industry wide recognition, including achieving AIM Gold, the highest level of venue accreditation - and are widely acknowledged as some of the best academic facilities for meetings and events in the country. For more information visit www.welcometoimago.com or call 01509 633030.

imago is on Stand 30 at CHASE. Does the future have room for face to face communication will be presented on Tuesday 16 February (10.45am).

EEF Venues takes the title for the third consecutive year

For the third year running, EEF Venues has been named ‘No 1 Small Group’ and ‘Best Value for Money Group’ in BDRC Continental’s VenueVerdict Awards 2015 – the only industry awards programme based entirely on the voice of the customer.

In addition, Engineers’ House, EEF Venue’s Bristol venue, has been named ‘No 1 Overall Venue’ and ‘No 1 Conference Centre’ for the second year running.

This year's results are based on 20,003 individual responses throughout 2015 from event planners across a pool of over 375 participating venues nationwide.

EEF Venues was ranked in top place within key people-related areas of the customer journey such as understanding client priorities, friendliness & helpfulness of staff, flexibility & responsiveness and meeting & greeting performance. Other areas also scored top marks such as technical facilities, Wi-Fi speed & connectivity and meeting room size, comfort and temperature.

David Vaughton, director of venues for EEF Venues, said: "People skills and engagement are vitally important issues for customers on their journey with us because that is what they remember so to have gained this important accolade three years in a row shows the consistency of our standards and satisfaction levels. 

“Achieving world class customer service is an integral part of our business model and it continues to reap sustainable business benefits such as trust, loyalty, repeat business, increased revenue and recognition such as this. We couldn’t ask for a better start to the year."

The results underline a recent report by the Institute of Customer Service on 2016 trends which highlight that focusing on the customer experience impacts positively on business outcomes.

“It’s all about people”, said David Vaughton. “If you have passionate people who embody your values, it is bound to impact positively on return of investment and on the bottom line. That is why we place so much emphasis on growing talent through our apprentice and trainee management schemes to instil our values for succession planning.” 

Over the last two years EEF Venues achieved 19% consolidated growth and forecasts a further 5% year on year growth for 2016, with a projected annual turnover target close to £6 million for this financial year.

EEF Venue’s three venues have also scooped gold standard accreditation in the VenueVerdict Gold Standard Accreditation 2015, with a combined Net Promoter Score of +86.8 from customers in comparison to a national average of just +55.1.

James Bland, director of the Hotels and Hospitality team at BDRC Continental, said: “Our role at BDRC Continental is to ensure impartial, unbiased calculation of results to ensure the VenueVerdict Awards and Accreditations are determined entirely by the customer feedback properties receive.  That means that Gold Standard Accreditations are genuine hallmarks of the service and product that meeting and event hosts can expect to experience.  

“To achieve the high standard required to achieve these Accreditations requires hard work and dedication, but above all an unwavering focus on the guest experience.  EEF Venues are to be congratulated for the consistently excellent standards they maintain.”

Warwick Conferences continues venue investment

Warwick Conferences is set to complete an extensive refurbishment in one of its distraction-free venues this spring.

The £1 million investment will see 154 bedrooms in its Radcliffe training and conference centre entirely renovated and replaced with new carpets, wall coverings, desks, beds, wardrobes and soft furnishings.

Due to be completed in March 2016, this latest refurbishment will precede Warwick Conferences’ £5.3 million investment in ‘The Canvas’ - a new customisable events venue set to open on the University of Warwick campus in Autumn 2016.

Rachael Bartlett, head of sales and marketing at Warwick Conferences, comments: “We’re extremely proud of our diverse range of facilities here at Warwick Conferences and dedicated to continuously improving the events solutions we offer for our clients. 

“2016 is set to be a busy and exciting year for the business, and the investment in our Radcliffe venue plays an important role in our ongoing commitment to enhance our facilities.”

Wyboston Lakes Announced as Finalist in M&IT Awards 2016

Wyboston Lakes, the leading conference and training venue, has achieved significant recognition in this year’s international M&IT Awards. It has been shortlisted in two categories – Best UK Management Training centre and Best UK Conference Centre’.

Organised by Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine, the Awards are amongst the most sought-after annual accolades to be given within the industry.  There are 19 awards voted for by the readers of Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine, plus a special award: M&IT Personality of the Year. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Friday 26 February at Battersea Evolution, London.

“The M&IT Awards represent an important recognition of venue standards across the country,” commented Wyboston Lakes’ managing director Mark Jones: “To be shortlisted in such a highly competitive category underline that the impact of our latest investment is widely recognised by our clients.”

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 has been recently enhanced 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 sector leading 200 mbps broadband network, believed to be in 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. These developments are also represented through strong team morale which has led to Wyboston Lakes achieving a position in The Sunday Times ‘Best Companies to work for’ List for 3 consecutive years.

 “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.” Concludes Jones.

Warwick Conferences Sets Its Sights on Gold

Warwick Conferences is in the running to continue its awards success in 2016 after being shortlisted in four categories at this year’s Meeting & Incentive Travel (M&IT) Awards.

The collection of meeting venues – based at the University of Warwick – has been nominated for four awards in total: Best UK Conference Centre, Best UK Management Training Centre, Best Academic Venue, and Best Conference and Banqueting Staff.

The M&IT Awards are the oldest established awards programme in the industry. Voted for solely by event organisers and the readers of M&IT magazine, they serve to reward excellence in the meetings and events sectors.

Rachael Bartlett, head of sales and marketing at Warwick Conferences, comments: “We are delighted to have been shortlisted in four categories at this year’s M&IT Awards. The awards are a real highlight on the calendar, and as a reflection of the valuable opinions of event industry professionals, are also extremely important to us as a business.

“2016 is set to be an exciting year for us, and we’re exceptionally proud that our facilities and services have been recognised amongst the best in the industry. On behalf of all the team at Warwick Conferences, I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to vote for us.”