MyVenues Blog

by Tom Mayers, director, Mayfair Cavendish Conference Centres

As I walked to the underground station from work last night, I passed two small groups of men rummaging through the bin bags outside Eat the sandwich shop and the Langham Hotel. They were salvaging good food that, an hour before, we would all have been prepared to pay for. The bags were being broken, food and packaging was spilling all over the payment, and Portland Place – to my mind one of the grandest streets in London – was being turned into a tip.

It’s a problem that we all know exists, have known for years. But what can we do about it?

There is a simple solution.

Within a mile radius of us at the Cavendish Conference Centre there are more than 100 venues offering conference facilities, and there there must be at least a thousand restaurants and food outlets. Between them they must produce tons of food waste every week, all of which goes to landfill.

The solution? Set up a nightly collection of organic kitchen and food waste, and compost the stuff. Use that very compost to grow the stuff we eat.

I cannot understand how everyone – from venues to governments – can triumph grandiose and often dubious carbon-offsetting schemes involving planting trees in far-off places when there are really simple things we can all do right here. Things that not only help promote sustainability, but also keep the place looking decent and provide jobs.

We are opening a new conference centre in Hallam Street, London W1, where we are trying to promote as many of these small things as possible. Carpets made from recycled materials, energy recovery heating systems, minimal use of oil based paints, etc. This is an evolution from policies long put in place at our Mayfair Cavendish and ICO Centres, such as the strict measurement and reduction in waste streams.

We aim to be landfill neutral by the end of 2008. A long-standing and enforceable community policy, and on it goes.

We would like to partner someone – anyone – who's interested in setting up such a scheme, even if it means paying a little more to get rid of the stuff. If you're interested, and you're serious, get in touch with me on 020 7706 7700.

by David Meli, commercial development manager of residential and commercial services, University Of Leeds

Are we finally getting over the north-south divide when it comes to event organisers searching for venues? Do they realise it doesn’t in fact take eight hours and 10 changes to get a train to the centre of the UK? In fact, we even have several international airports now – so delegates and organisers can come from all over the world!

In recent surveys of organisers and buyers, more northerly cities are now appearing in the lists of potential destinations. Here in Leeds, we were delighted to see our name appear in an MIA survey – and this is in no small way due to the efforts of many different organisations in the region. From Yorkshire Tourist Board, through Conference Leeds, to the venues themselves, the city now has a broad reach and appeal that is beginning to shake the foundations of the more traditional locations.

We’ve got four-star hotels, conference centres, sporting venues, academic and unusual venues – indeed, a complete ‘where’s where’ of the venue world. All within about two hours of London and Edinburgh. Together with direct flights to many European cities, this is making organisers sit up and take notice.

But it still needs some explaining and convincing. At an exhibition in London not too long ago, colleagues were trying to get visitors to come on to their stand. When asked 'Are you looking for a venue in the North?', one lady responded in the affirmative and was immediately pulled on to the stand with great gusto in order for the sales pitch to begin.

After much enthusiastic talk about the venue and the surrounding area, the lady asked, 'Where exactly are you?'

'Leeds!' came the beaming response, which was followed by a pregnant pause.

'Leeds? I thought you meant North London!'

Hopefully, though, that was just a one-off, and people are now venturing out of their comfort zones when it comes to venue finding. Clients are asking for something different. Delegates want to visit new places and remember where they’ve been. So why not give the North a try? We promise to keep our whippets and flat caps locked away in a cupboard for the day!

by Mick Talbot, marketing director, Whittlebury Hall

According to a recent survey conducted by a top marketing event agency, it would seem that businesses will soon find themselves in the midst of a decade of corporate anniversaries, with around 18,000 anniversaries being celebrated across Europe by 2010, and around £1billion being spent on these celebrations.

These findings were of great interest to me as 2008 marks the centenary of Scalford Hall, and they got me thinking about the powerful opportunities that these naturally occurring events provide a company with.

Corporate anniversaries enjoy a high level of credibility in the ‘self-presentation’ of a business to the world outside and, if made the most of, can offer a year-long possibility to highlight and promote your company.

Often marketers struggle to find opportunities for strategic corporate communication, usually to cater for an overly generous marketing budget. However, it seems that when presented with naturally occurring opportunities such as the corporate anniversary, many still fail to exploit these.

A corporate anniversary is the perfect opportunity to increase the profile of your business with your key audiences, thus strengthening your position in the marketplace. Businesses can focus on and promote all of their company’s achievements, underlining the company’s longevity and credibility, and look ahead to what the future will bring.

It is not always just those multiples of five or 10 anniversaries that can be celebrated; potentially every anniversary is a marketing opportunity that you can make the most of. As an example, the low-cost US airline Southwest Airlines used its 33rd birthday to successfully market a number of $33 fare flights. If you take full advantage of your anniversary a 33rd birthday can be equally as memorable as a 100th birthday.

Holding events is probably the best way to create relationships with all of your stakeholders. Marking a birthday with an event can provide the perfect platform for developing bonds and communicating your messages to your customers, suppliers, local community, the media and also your employees.

In addition to this, you can further take advantage of the occasion by developing an anniversary specific logo or branded material, or if relevant you could launch a new product or a specially created version of your product to mark the occasion.
For those who choose to successfully use your business anniversary and the associated promotional opportunities it brings to its maximum potential, you can successfully use it to reach out to your target audience, increase the awareness and strengthen the reputation of your brand, which will ultimately, in turn, drive sales.

by Lisa Hatswell, chairman, Unique Venues of London

Event organisers today are demanding more and more originality when it comes to choosing a venue. Bookings for unique venues are doubling, and the Business Development Research Consultants' UK Meetings and Market Survey 2007 found almost half of all corporate organisers booked an event at a unique or unusual venue in the past 12 months – a sign of the incremental growth unique venues have contributed to the industry.

Unique venues offer individuality and instantly deliver an immediate appeal to both the client and their guests, making them the prefect choice for organisers who want a venue which is truly exceptional. There is also a certain cache attached to holding an event at such a venue. Buyers are looking for venues to work for them on all levels, rather than the other way around.

The recent UK Conference Market Survey commissioned by the Meetings Industry Association shows that once again London has been voted as the preferred destination to hold events by event organisers. This only goes to highlight what our members are finding – that unique venues in London will continue be the first choice for event planners, and will continue to grow in popularity as organisers continue to look to hold events that truly inspire, excite and engage their audiences.

Unique Venues of London's venue offering ranges from the small and intimate venue like the Fan Museum to the grandest of venues like The Natural History Museum. Competition between venues can only be healthy; smaller venues need to work hard to attract more business and remain competitive by marketing themselves as unique, intimate and most importantly exclusive.

Unique Venues of London (UVL) has grown in stature and recognition since its launch in 1993. It has expanded its membership to total of 68 venues, including the recent addition of the National Trust – Osterley Park, Bejamin Franklin House and Christ Church Spitalfields. UVL still maintains a strict selection process, ensuring the integrity of the organisation.

by Sally Dunsmore, director, Conference Oxford

In the past, the perception of universities as conference venues has been somewhat negative, with the view that facilities were not of an adequate standard to host events. The view today has changed rapidly, with increased investment being put into university accommodation and facilities, and as a result more and more event organisers are beginning to realise the quality of academic venues on offer. Lecture theatres are no longer shabby, nor are residential facilities reminiscent of our old student digs. They are in fact high-quality, well-furnished spaces built with not just the student in mind but the conference delegate as well.

Universities offer outstanding purpose-built meeting and accommodation facilities set in unique environments. Many universities have year-round availability with the full range of residential facilities available in the holiday period. Lecture theatres and seminar rooms are available all year, with bedrooms available for up to six months of the year.

More and more event organisers are seeing the benefits of academic venues, as essentially they are centres of excellence for learning – and fundamentally learning is what meetings and events are all about. The facilities usually used for student learning lend themselves to delegate learning too. Lecture theatres have large screens and AV infrastructure, and nearby breakout rooms provide convenient spaces for such events.

Universities also have accommodation available on-site or close to the event location, meaning the process of researching and booking accommodation is simplified and centralised. The standard of accommodation on offer is consistently being raised in line with demand for residential events. Many university bedrooms now come with en-suite facilities and a wireless connection for delegates to be able to carry on their work away from the meeting, or stay in contact with their office.

Importantly the revenue made from holding a meeting or event at an academic venue goes back into making further improvements to facilities, which not only benefits the event organiser for future events but also improves the facilities for students and staff. Buildings can be updated, and research programmes and other learning facilities also benefit from the boost in resources.

Conference Oxford is the marketing office for the University of Oxford and its colleges. Since starting 11 years ago, the bureau has gone from strength to strength. Event enquiries for its 55 member venues have risen significantly. Enquiries are received for all types of events, from planning for a large meeting to accommodating a small group. The Conference Oxford Service provides a free venue search among the university and its colleges, a support network dedicated to meeting the particular needs of your group, advice and help on planning your event or day-to-day itinerary, as well as providing information on useful external facilities and contacts locally.

by Michael Sloan, general manager, Novotel London West

I was reminded of the importance of the hotel’s CSR policy recently when a potential new corporate client asked for details of our ‘green’ credentials. Her company would only hold events in venues that could prove they were environmentally responsible in line with its own CSR policy.

Of course I was happy to let her know we were the first hotel in the UK to achieve ISO14001 environmental accreditation which we have held since 2005, and the first hotel in the world to partner with The CarbonNeutral Company. In fact I was able to tell her that we have won awards for our environmental initiatives.

Obviously having a good CSR policy is important for reducing a business’s impact on the environment, but I also believe that it makes very good business sense. For the first time I believe we are really seeing that those businesses who have environmental policies in place are reaping the rewards.

The business landscape is changing. Companies not only want to ensure they are adhering to their own environmental initiatives; they are also looking at their suppliers to ensure there are no bad links in the chain. This is something the Novotel London West started a number of years ago. We worked with our suppliers to ensure that they were doing the very best to reduce their impact on the environment. In some instances we worked closely with them to help them to put environmental policies in place. This helped not only to reduce our carbon footprint but those of our suppliers too. The knock-on effect of this can only be beneficial to everyone.

MIA’s recent UK Conference Market Survey highlighted the growing importance meeting planners place on CSR. Those companies that fail to recognise the importance of CSR may find they not only lose business but they are left tying to catch up with those who have been marketing their green and social credentials for years.

At Novotel London West we continue to innovate in the area of environmental and social responsibility. It is an ever-evolving issue, and as new ideas and technologies that offer environmental solutions become available we are committed to adopting them. I believe this shift in businesses' attitude will help to make a real difference. Those that only ‘talk the talk’ will be caught out; those that follow through with their promises will help grow their businesses, while most importantly protecting the environment for future generations.

by Alex Robertson, managing director, GL events Owen Brown


Imagine being able to create your ideal venue whenever and wherever you wish. Build it to any size, any shape and adapt it as many times as you like, and when you have finished, simply pack it away again – just like a box of Lego. But temporary structures are more than just Lego; they are more like the Meccano of the grown-up construction world. Their sophisticated and modular designs mean they have facilities as durable as even the toughest permanent building, fit to tackle the harshest of weather and customised with several unrivalled features.

Temporary venues can be built and adapted on demand, only creating the space that you need and not wasting what you don’t. With the highest number of events being held in the UK for eight years (UKCMS results 2007) and with the country running out of buildable space, keeping up with demand means that people have to turn to temporary to house their events.

Our structures are often the choice for many prestigious sporting occasions, from Royal Ascot to the Cricket World Cup, where the venue is needed only for a short period of the year. They are built specifically to tailor for the occasion, suit its needs and exact number of attendees, and then taken away at the end. When the event comes around again, they can be altered, elaborated to keep up with current requirements, and updated with new technology and construction materials.

But far be it for us to take people away from the beautiful and often historic permanent venues that we have in this country. Temporary structures work alongside these venues, enhancing their features and adapting them to create the right size and shape needed for the event. Somerset House for example, one of the capital's grandest buildings, holds a number of corporate parties housed partly in one of our structures with a clear roof and glazing to fully capitalise on the beautiful backdrop of the venue. Still in keeping with the original building, yet made from such material that incorporates the scenery outdoors to the indoors – perfect also for the unpredictable British weather!

Temporary structure companies like ours will continue to evolve in our operations, think bigger, and lead the events industry in new expertise and facilities that would see temporary structures grow into one of the leading areas in the UK events industry.

Jonathan Huglin, general manager, Radisson SAS Waterfront, Jersey

Jersey’s position as a world-class conference destination has been underlined recently with the announcement that easyJet will launch two new routes to Jersey (from London Luton and Liverpool) next spring. The low-fares airline predicts it will fly 200,000 passengers within the first 12 months of operation. This is an astonishing figure when you take into consideration that a link to Heathrow was reinstated for the first time since 2001 by BMI, which launched a twice-daily service in March, adding to the 20 plus airports that already serve the island, including London Gatwick and Edinburgh.

The Rezidor Hotel Group recognised the potential of the beautiful island of Jersey, and its foresight proved to be extremely accurate. According to figures from the Jersey Conference Bureau, delegate numbers from January to the end of June this year were greater than the whole of 2006 put together.

The move by easyJet, however, will no doubt open up an even bigger market for Jersey, and the Radisson SAS Waterfront is in the perfect position to take advantage of those extra business visitors who are looking for the best – not only in terms of conference and meeting facilities, but accommodation, service, F&B and incentive offerings. Jersey is not just a bucket-and-spade destination; today it has a true riviera feel to it, with world-class hotels and restaurants ensuring that it has the exclusive feel of a far-away city stop-over.

Jersey has also excelled as a destination because of the joined-up thinking of the major players on the island. Only this week I attended a business conference in London about how we will talk about Jersey going forward into 2008 and the role we will play in the island's success. EasyJet have already said they recognise the great potential for further expansion in Jersey, and I am confident that they and other operators will make the decision to expand their operations to the island as it continues its success story.

Michael Scroop, CEO and founder, Parrimark Technology

It was fantastic to see the results of the MIA’s UKCMS for 2007 reporting a 27% increase in the volume of corporate event business on last year, making this the most significant increase in the industry since 1999.

Although this is fantastic news, it is apparent to me that we need to consider just how we can ensure that the event industry continues to grow to this standard every year.

Obviously, running a technology company, it is easy for me to see the benefits and importance of having the correct technology in place to manage the process behind delivering great events. However, technology is nothing without a face to front it and in such a people orientated industry, it is essential that we have the right people working alongside the right software to create a great experience for all involved.

Despite the great people that we currently have working in this sector as with all industries, we are forever fighting to attract the best new talent to continue to keep it moving forward and fresh thinking.

It is not the case that they are not out there, my colleague Phil Platt recently had the opportunity to speak to a class of hospitality students from the University of Westminster, and he tells me that it was really refreshing to see that tomorrow’s industry professionals really do have a great handle on today’s market place. They came across as eager to learn and passionate to deliver a great service.
The problem comes from the students’ total lack of awareness of the conference and events industry, due largely to a lack of careers information and advice. This is causing the industry to loose out on so much talent and often those who do join will leave within a year or two, because of the lack of a recognised career structure.

Today’s People, Tomorrow’s Potential was launched by Parrimark as an education initiative, aiming to set the standard for the next generation of industry professionals, investing in the future and ensuring that the correct training and education procedures are in place across our industry. We hope to add value to their qualification and help encourage high standards in our industry.

Through the advice and experience of key high profile professionals from both the MICE industry and education sector, targeting these students correctly and providing enough careers information about the opportunities we can offer, I have no doubts that when their courses are complete, there will be a raft of excellent job candidates hitting the streets and the industry will become richer as a result.

Alastair Stewart
Managing Director - etc venues

PricewaterhouseCoopers’ recent creation of an environmental ranking system for the venues it uses is illustrative of a trend that we have witnessed in recent years. Clients are increasingly demanding that suppliers act in an environmentally responsible way and operate an effective corporate social responsibility policy.

At etc.venues we have embraced CSR for over 15 years and it forms the cornerstone of our business ethos. With a ‘Green Champion’ at each of our training, meeting and conference venues we actively strive to ensure energy efficient practices throughout each venue and build energy efficiency into all new venues. We waste nothing and give every used piece of furniture or equipment a new lease of life, with many of our old items being donated to local community groups or organisations where appropriate. These, and other initiatives, recently won us the National Recycling Award for Small Business Recycling Initiatives.

All our Champions have gone through an environmental management course at Greenworks, and successfully completed the Government recognised qualification 'Waste Awareness Foundation Level' that was awarded by The Chartered Institute of Wastes Management (CIWM). This qualification is supported by the Environmental Agency, SEPA, The Environmental and Heritage Service and Sita Trust amongst other organisations.
Our drive towards good corporate citizenship means we think of others constantly and the impact our business has on them. Every part of every ‘delegate day’ from their journey to the venue to the power used, to the food they eat (which our chefs have the freedom to source locally) to what happens to the stuff they leave behind has all been thought about to have the most positive impact on others as possible.

etc.venues’ commitment to CSR is driven by our corporate morals as well as the demand for good CSR from our clients. It is an evolving process – a client recently highlighted a possible CSR issue with our water dispenser supplier and we are now in the process of sourcing a new one, further evidence that CSR issues are becoming as important to our clients as they have always been to us.

We began our green initiatives in June 2004 and are delighted that by November 2006 190 tonnes of waste had been diverted from landfill.