With Birmingham’s transport infrastructure currently undergoing an ambitious and long overdue facelift, accessing the city is set to become much easier.
By 2016, delegates will be able to benefit from Birmingham’s revamped New Street station and Birmingham airport’s new runway expansion project, to be completed in 2014. This will mean arrivals from destinations as far afield as the west coast of the US, China and South ica.
“A transport package is well underway to open up the city region to an even greater audience, making it easier for national and international organisers to use Birmingham for their events,” says Business Development Manager at Meet Birmingham, Caralyn Overs.
The MD of Kidderminster-based Ellis Salsby booking agency, Ellis Salsby, says: “The Midlands has unrivalled access from all over the UK by all forms of transport.”
Birmingham’s drawcards are not all about transport, however. Business Development Director at the International Convention Centre (ICC), Birmingham, Catherine Newhall-Caiger, says: “Birmingham offers cost-effective efficiencies that many people who visit capital cities don’t often experience”.
The ICC is a concentrated conference community with a large hall which can accommodate 3,000 delegates and a 2,000-capacity Symphony Hall. The Mall provides a link from the north to the south of the venue leading to Centenary Square and sister venue, the National Indoor Arena (NIA). There are also 6,200 bedrooms within a 20-minute walk of the ICC.
The venue recently won a number of international conferences including the 7th EMBO Meeting 2015, the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language Conference 2016, and the SAE International, Powertrains, Fuels and Lubricants Meeting 2014; all of which should boost the local economy by £4.8m.
In 2014, the Conservative Party’s autumn conference will be held at the ICC for the fourth time since 2008 and is expected to attract up to 14,000 delegates.
“Advances in technology means a successful venue cannot afford to stand still. The ICC is successful because it is responsive to market trends and continues to embrace change in order to deliver first-class conferences,” Newhall-Caiger adds.
The NEC, near Junction 6 of the M42, is now marketed as a resort destination. It offers over 200,000sqm of indoor space, 34 meeting suites and 2,198 hotel rooms on-site.
Known primarily for exhibitions, the NEC now hosts in excess of 400 conferences and live events a year and is pushing its ‘blank canvas’ opportunities for organsiers.
Steve Richards, Venue Sales Director at the NEC, says: “Our history for more than 30 years of being ‘The National Exhibition Centre’ can sometimes work against us, but we would never change this. This history has given our teams the depth of knowledge and the expertise recognised across the industry.”
Just 59 minutes on the train from London is Coventry’s Ricoh Arena, offering a versatile range of facilities, although, as the new football season kicked off, the venue no longer had Coventry City Football Club as a permanent tenant.
The venue includes 15,000sqm of meeting space across 80 rooms, a 121-bedroom on-site hotel, column-free lounge for 1,000 guests, and a column-free hall for 7,500 delegates.
“The conference market is extremely competitive, location is key and we are just a stone’s throw from Junction three of the M6, and having 2,000 on-site car parking spaces undoubtedly helps,” says Marketing Director at the Ricoh Arena, Liz Cooper. There may be no football in season 2013/14, but Bruce Springsteen packed in near on 38,000 at the Ricoh earlier this summer.
While many venues are opting to offer some cheap alternatives for those on more restricted budgets, Warwick Conferences decided against dropping its rates and risking compromising on quality, despite the recent economic downturn.
“We did have people come and say you’re too expensive, but we stuck to our guns and kept with our prices and good service. Now our numbers have gone back to our 2007/08 figures,” says Head of Sales and Marketing at Warwick Conferences at the University of Warwick, Rachael Bartlett.
The venue offers four separate conference centres: Scarman, Radcliffe, Conference Park and Arden, so there is choice within the brand.
Bartlett believes it is time to get closer to clients and act more like a consultancy.
“We want to get under the skin of what organisers require. We can offer marketing, staff on the day and pre-registration of events. We work with clients to ensure we meet exactly what they want,” says Bartlett.
Katy Flynn, Director of Operations at event agency Trinity Conferences, says the diversity of the venues in the Midlands is a crucial factor for her clients.
“The Midlands is a really key location for our customers, as it offers a wide range of venue styles, from country houses, to four-star conference hotels, academic, historic and conference centres,” she says. “Two venues that really spring to mind as delivering exceptional events are Warwick Conferences and Coombe Abbey Hotel. I have used both and have always had excellent feedback.”
De Vere Venues recently launched the Orchard Hotel, which lies adjacent to the East Midlands Conference Centre (EMCC) in Nottingham. The Orchard Hotel and the EMCC, now under De Vere Venues management, aim to offer an integrated solution for conference and meeting organisers, with 202 hotel rooms and space to accommodate up to 850 delegates, respectively.
The GM at De Vere Venues EMCC and the Orchard Hotel, Lasse HÃ?¶gberg, adds his backing for the Midlands being both a cost effective destination option for organisers, as well as being well connected with transport, but also champions the local service ethic. “The Midlands is good value for money, with easy transport links for the whole of the UK and has a passion to deliver a great service,” he says.
Over in Derby, in the East Midlands, sporting venue Donington Park offers meeting facilities at the home of the British Motorcycle Grand Prix. The venue’s conference offering ranges from meeting rooms for up to 12 delegates, to bigger rooms for up to 600 in the Paddock Suite overlooking the pit lane. VIP packages are also on offer at the venue.
Marketing strategy company, Quiet-Storm Solutions, hosted its ‘Love Business East Midlands’ event at Donington Park this year for the second time and returns again in 2014.
This year’s networking event was attended by East Midlands Airport, East Midlands Trains, and a selection of smaller businesses.
“We got large businesses from around the area to mix with start-up businesses,” says Quiet-Storm Solutions MD, Steve Megson. “Donington Park gives us the ability to be able to entice big businesses to attend because of the facilities it has to offer.”
Launched in 2003, imago, the conference arm at Loughborough University, offers a range of meeting spaces including the Holywell Park Conference Centre.
Holywell Park can host up to 300 guests, has nine meeting rooms, a lecture theatre for up to 200 delegates, and a large exhibition space for networking and brand launches.
During the London 2012 Olympics Games, imago’s four-star conference centre and hotel, Burleigh Court, was the preparation camp for Team GB.
The venue is also hunting business more actively on the global market. “At IMEX 2013, imago promoted how one central location can offer unrivalled conference facilities and accommodation, just 90 minutes from London,” says Sales and Marketing Manager, Emma Boynton.
“Location is key for international delegates, just 10 minutes from East Midlands Airport and 40 minutes from Birmingham.”
Rachel Millington, Service Delivery Manager at full service meetings and events agency, Zibrant, agrees and says location is a key consideration for many client events.
“Accessibility, rail and road links in the Midlands are excellent, with the M1, M6, M42 and M40.” Lower transportation costs and free parking are clearly important factors for Millington, who adds: “Delegate package rates are lower in the Midlands, as are hotel costs as a whole,” she says.
For meetings in the Midlands, you just can’t escape the big issues of ‘location, location, location’.
This was first published in the September issue of CN. Any comments? E-mail conferencenews@mashmedia.net
