Manchester Conference Centre and Hotel, in the heart of the University district of Manchester, is undergoing some fantastic new changes which we want to share with you.

Our Audio Visual Department will be launching an exciting new range of services; complete with their very own dedicated brochure – so planning a conference with us has never been so easy.

Dan and his team can now fulfil all your AV wishes and more. They can provide full filming and editing facilities or stream your event to open it up to a larger internet audience.

You can also stream within our venue between theatres to increase your delegate numbers. In addition to all this, you can chat with our technicians about all the finer details from the comfort of your office on Skype.

We will make sure everyone has their caffeine fix throughout the day by introducing our new coffee lounge area in our reception.  Here we will serve coffees, teas, smoothies, cakes and light snacks to delegates, guests and passers-by. We are teaming up with the Illy coffee brand to ensure we only serve you the very best.

Finally – our Day Delegate and 24-Hour packages are getting a facelift too.  We are making flexible conferencing easier than ever with our “bolt on” packages. You can create menus, AV and refreshment breaks to suit you and your event; ensuring every aspect of your day fits in perfectly within your vision.

We can’t wait to showcase all we have to offer and will be holding open days and evenings for regular and new clients to spread the word and shout about our fantastic product.

Ultra contemporary and stylish hotel, Radisson Blu Stansted, proved that it’s not just a great destination for short breaks and luxury pre-flight accommodation; the hotel was awarded gold for ‘Access Excellence’ at the leading meetings and incentive travel awards. 

The M&IT Awards were held at Battersea Evolution to celebrate the very best in meetings and events in the country. The ‘Access Excellence’ award was created to reward excellence beyond compliance and to acknowledge those organisations that are embracing an inclusive and integrated approach to creating accessible events.

Radisson Blu accommodates many disabled visitors including a number of disability charities that use the venue to hold family away days and conferences.

 Daniel Saunders, Director of Operations at the hotel, is delighted with the award win. He says: “We’re passionate about creating bespoke events to meet all our clients’ needs. All of our staff are trained to provide extra assistance to help disabled visitors. Our hotel is well-equipped to deal with wheelchair users thanks to our open reception area, wide corridors and rooms with en-suite wet rooms. ”

He added: “We’re particularly proud to be given an award that is voted by industry peers to crown the top venues in the UK.”

Radisson Blu Stansted opened in 2004 and offers 26 meeting rooms, including the Essex suite which accommodates up to 400 delegates, plus 500 bedrooms with floor to ceiling windows, air-conditioning and complimentary 100MB Wi-Fi. The hotel also boasts a leisure centre and spa, choice of two restaurants and the world-famous Angels’ Wine Tower and bar.

Venues Event Management wins national industry award for fifth year running

Swindon based business, Venues Event Management, part of Capita Travel and Events, has won ‘best intermediary agency’ (more than 40 employees) for the fifth consecutive year at the recent Meetings & Incentive Travel Magazine Awards 2013.

The ‘best intermediary agency’ is awarded to venue finding and event management agencies, which employ more than 40 people, for service excellence. 

These prestigious awards are unique within the event management industry, as thousands of meeting and event organisers from across the UK vote for the winner of each accolade in different categories. Each vote is then verified by an independent auditor.

Anita Lowe, director of meetings and events for Capita Travel and Events, said: “On behalf of the business, I’d like to say thank you to our customers for taking time to vote for us. To win best intermediary agency for the fifth year in a row, especially when faced with stiff competition from five other nominees, is testament to the quality of venue finding and event management service and expertise within Capita Travel and Events. This award also goes some way in recognising the passion and hard work of all our employees.”

The Meetings & Incentive Travel Magazine Awards 2013 presentation dinner, attended by more than 1000 people, took place on 19 March at Battersea Evolution, London, and featured BBC presenter Kate Silverton returning as compere.

Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events will be the primary focus for The Gresham Hotel Dublin and Gresham Metropole Hotel  located in Cork,  Ireland.

 LONDON, ( March 20, 2013) – Travel trade Business to Business sales and marketing company Augustus Collection announces the addition of two new properties from Gresham Hotels to its representation portfolio.  The group named after hotelier Thomas Gresham adds two properties located in Ireland, recently voted by readers of USA Today as a top 2013 destination. 

 The Gresham Hotel, located in the heart of Dublin city, is a landmark building with original period features including stunning Waterford crystal chandeliers.  The property provides event planners 20 conference rooms enabling any configuration of up to 300 persons – all with complimentary WIFI.  Each of The Gresham Hotel’s 288 bedrooms and suites are equipped with complimentary WIFI, the suites include penthouse balconies with stunning views across the city and the Dublin Mountains.

 The Gresham Metropole, a historic and local landmark for 100 years, is located in the city centre of Cork, Ireland’s second largest city.  The property, famous for its conference facilities, provides meeting planners 12 function rooms from intimate receptions to a grand ballroom with catering up to 400 persons.  Complimentary WIFI is available through the property’s conference facilities including the 112 guest accommodation rooms.  

Regardless if you are a travel brand, a hotel group or an independent hotelier, Augustus Collection provides full global representation with our headquarters in the United Kingdom. 

 About Augustus Collection

 Founded in 2011, The Augustus Collection is a travel industry B2B Sales and Marketing consultancy, generating revenue of £2.3 million in 2012 to a dynamic client portfolio of independent hoteliers, travel technology firm BookingCore, the world’s largest hotel services organization Magnuson Worldwide, and global leader performance marketing company AffiliRed. 

Augustus Couture, an Augustus Collection brand dedicated to fashion featuring “Style Me” personal shopping services in London, an online fashion store “The Look”, and online fashion blog “Couture Novus”.

Offices located in London & Las Vegas.

The ‘Tim Gasson Award’ is presented annually to an individual who, in their work and professional life, embodies and promotes the ideals of the HBAA – advancing best practice in the meetings industry and drives for greater cooperation and understanding amongst member agents and venues.

The award was presented at the HBAA’s annual event at The Brewery on Friday 11 January, bringing together over 350 agents, hoteliers and conference venues; many of whom voted for Mia and whose nominations were collectively reviewed by the HBAA’s panel of judges to select her as this year’s annual winner.

Here are just a few of the nomination comments:

 “Mia epitomises what an Agency Sales Manager should be. She is focused and committed to the industry, to her brand and what the HBAA represents. She is a wonderful ambassador for the Sundial brand, a great advocate for the HBAA, and above all, a genuinely lovely person.”

“Mia is always positive, passionate about the industry and an advocate of the HBAA and what it stands for. She will always support and help others, as is shown with her involvement in the HBAA Training Academy. Mia thoroughly deserves recognition.”

“Mia’s passion for the hospitality industry is second to none. She is one of the most dedicated and professional Sales Managers in hospitality at the moment and sets us all a wonderful example of working at your best with clients, team members and industry colleagues alike.”

 About the HBAA

The HBAA represents a collective industry voice for agents, hotels and meeting venues and stives for the best practice in the procurement and booking of accommodation, conferences, events and training sessions. 

 About the ‘Tim Gasson Award’

The ‘Tim Gasson Award’ is named after former HBAA chairman Tim Gasson who was tragically killed in 2007. Tim was a leading figurehead and recognised for his verve, creativity and uncomprising stance in driving professionalism in the hotel booking sector.  The HBAA’s executive committee decided to remember him by creating an award in his name – given annually in recognition of a member nominated by their peers for advancing the values of the HBAA and for commitment to progress.

A GRADE II listed conference venue in Clifton Down has achieved a prestigious accreditation.

Engineers’ House, in The Promenade, has achieved gold standard accreditation in the Venue Verdict Awards run by BDRC Continental, the hospitality research specialists. The results are based entirely on independent customer feedback taken throughout last year.

Part of EEF Venues, Engineers’ House is now placed in the top 6 per cent of all of the 400 venues assessed under the awards scheme.

The elegant 19th century building is set in picturesque grounds overlooking Westbury Park and has all of the conference facilities of a contemporary venue, with capacity for up to 170 delegates per day.

It was built in 1831 by leading Bristol architect Charles Dyer.  The most famous owner of the house was Charles Pinney, who was the mayor of Bristol during the Bristol City Riots.

Venue manager Martyn Bowen 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.”

CEME Conference Centre, a unique, ultra-modern events and meetings venue in the London Thames Gateway, has joined Conference Centres of Excellence, the UK’s leading consortium of dedicated meeting providers.

 The Conference Centre is based within The Centre for Engineering and Manufacturing Excellence (CEME) site, a world-class research, skills, education and business campus in East London, in close proximity to the City, Canary Wharf and Stratford’s Olympic Park.

The impressive, contemporary venue can hold conferences, meetings and training seminars from 2 – 200 delegates and product launches, business presentations, receptions and corporate hospitality events for up to 400 people.  The entire range of flexible meeting space has abundant natural daylight, air-conditioning and access to large circulation areas, break-out rooms, landscaped garden space and ample free parking.

The state-of-the-art POD Theatre can hold up to 120 delegates for lectures, presentations or launches and boasts high-tech AV presentation and sound equipment as standard and is surrounded by spacious break-out and circulation areas.

“With its distinctive and modern architecture, adaptable space and exceptional levels of facility and service, CEME Conference Centre is a significant enhancement to our portfolio,” said Anthony Lishman, Executive Director of Conference Centres of Excellence: “In being its own ‘Centre of Excellence’ it aligns itself with our very high quality standards, and provides further evidence that we only accept into membership those venues which will provide event organisers with a truly sector-leading selection of venues.”

Conference Centres of Excellence now has 34 members, including many of the country’s best known specialist venues, covering a geographical area extending from the South East of England, to Scotland. Its members are mostly independent providers, working together to promote the concept of dedicated centres as the optimum solution for meetings, training and business events.  Before joining, venues have to meet stringent criteria in terms of facilities, accommodation and customer care.

 “CEME Conference Centre are honoured and privileged to now be included in the portfolio of quality conference venues within Conference Centres of Excellence,” commented Eamonn Cole, Director of CEME. “As a Centre for Excellence ourselves, membership of this elite group of venues is wholly in keeping with our objective to be a preferred supplier for quality meetings and conferences within London and the South East and we are extremely confident that belonging to Conference Centres of Excellence will not only grow our business, but just as importantly, our reputation amongst events and meeting buyers.”

This is a fantastic achievement, but as expected, it can only get tougher to repeat this success with such strong competition and a broader category than previous years. The only way to achieve continued success in 2013, is with your support. As a division of Expotel who provide your venue finding, events and conferencing, we need your support in achieving this again for 2013 by voting for us as Best Intermediary Agency.

It only takes 2 minutes to complete the form and there is an added incentive provided by the competition organisers; the chance to win a £500 pound voucher for John Lewis, which can be donated to a charity of your choice.

Voting is simple. All you need to do is click on the below button and go to category H. Best Intermediary Agency (more than 40 employees), type Venues Event Management, fill in your contact details and click submit. Simple as that!

The joint business, which started on 1 October 2012, will benefit customers by providing better links between Europe and Japan, greater choice of flights to more destinations, enhanced frequent flyer benefits and the potential to launch new routes.

British Airways and JAL, both members of the oneworld alliance, have been forging closer ties in their evolution to the joint business. Earlier this month, JAL and British Airways began offering codeshare flights between Tokyo (Haneda and Narita) and London (Heathrow). The joint business will now see the two airlines co-operating on all non-stop flights operated by JAL or British Airways between Japan and Europe.

This will not only include the 19 weekly services between the UK and Japan, but also JAL’s services to Paris and Frankfurt. This gives customers the flexibility of using a combination of JAL and British Airways flights and aligned fares on their journey to and from Japan and Europe, significantly increasing their options.

Willie Walsh, chief executive of IAG, the parent company of British Airways, said: “We are proud to have served Japan for more than 60 years and are delighted to cement the relationship between British Airways and Japan Airlines. This new venture heralds a bigger and better service for our customers and the promise of greater co-operation in the future.”

Enter through our grand revolving doors to be transported into the glitz and glamour of the 1920’s. Descend down to the cities best kept secret, no secret knock at the door needed for tonight, the doors are open wide to greet you with a glass of bubbly and get the celebrations started within the famous Crush Bar.

 You will then be lead into the grand ballroom stunningly dressed with festive decor, where you will enjoy the delicious delights of a Christmas feast. Drink, eat and be merry, and as the night draws on, let the party get started with our resident DJ taking you through to the very small hours of the night.

 We guarantee a magnificent night had by all. Let London’s hidden gem be the talk of the office the next day.

 The Bloomsbury Ballroom is London’s newest venue and the perfect place to host anything from meetings and conferences, product launches and photo shoots, as well as those spectacular events and weddings.