It just 20 years young, Emirates Durham ICG, home of both Durham County Cricket Club and The Durham Experience, is one of the UK’s most modern cricket stadia.
The new Durham Experience Conference Facility can cater for over 150 people, with the stadium’s total maximum conference capacity at 600.
The stadium was recently granted planning permission for its gateway building, a conference facility for up to 800 delegates. In addition to this an on site hotel has been approved, providing between 70-150 bedrooms.
Emirates Durham ICG opened two new conference suites last year, with views across the wicket, and a new wireless network has been added providing 100mb capacity across the venue free of charge for all delegates.
In August 2013, the stadium will play host to the five-day Ashes test as England take on Australia.
Leeds United’s Elland Road Stadium offers over 40 flexible suites to accommodate up to 800 delegates. Suites include the Jack Charlton and Nicky Chapman suites in the West Stand, and the Lorimer Suite situated in the East Stand with a private bar and views across the city of Leeds.
As one of the largest conference and exhibition centres in the north, Leeds United’s Centenary Pavilion offers over 2,000sqm of event space for up to 1,600 guests.
Newcastle United’s St James’ Park Stadium (Sports Direct Arena) has 100 suites and rooms for conferences and events, including the Bamburgh Suite which can host up to 1,000.
The stadium also offers single, double and triple executive boxes for up to 40 guests. Each box has a private bar as well as a view of the pitch and wireless broadband.
Situated in the Northwest, Carlisle Racecourse generates £175,000 through its non-race day activities, with 30 different rooms for customers to choose from and acres of outdoor space.
Non-race day events bring an additional 50,000 visitors each year, with highlights being the Cumberland Show, and the Pirelli International Rally.
The racecourse can accommodate 470 delegates for conferences, with the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Grandstand offering 10 function rooms over three floors.
The Point is Lancashire County Cricket Club’s (LCCC) new £12m conference and events centre at Old Trafford. Opened on 27 June 2010, the venue complements LCCC’s established conference
facilities and 68-bedroom Lodge.
The Point is an elevated suite, glass-fronted and with a balcony overlooking the famous Old Trafford cricket pitch. With a conference and sit-down capacity of up to 1,000 (850 with a dance-floor), the room can be sub-divided into three sections for smaller events, and includes a mezzanine bar area that overlooks the main suite.
The next phase of development includes incorporating new grandstands and new Player and Media facilities, which will be completed this summer.
The new rebuilt Members’ Pavillion will add more meeting rooms across four floors with capacity for up to 250, and will be ready for the 2013 season.
Staying in the Northwest, but moving from cricket to horse racing, Aintree Racecourse, home of the Grand National, has 17 different event spaces to choose from. The venue can host up to 4,800 delegates, while Aintree’s five stands have a combined delegate capacity of 3,500. The acecourse’s Equestrian Centre was recently named an official boxing venue for Liverpool, while the Princess Royal Stand has undergone a £450,000 refurbishment to create new events space and double the size of the existing bar space to 530sqm.
Best Parties Ever held its ‘Midnight in Monte Carlo’ themed Christmas Parties at Aintree in 2011 citing the iconic nature of the venue, the complimentary 1,800-space guest parking and events team who also handle the Grand National, as reasons for choosing Aintree.
As this was the first time Best Parties had held this event in the Northwest, the Aintree conference and events team raised the profile of the event among their own business contacts and supported the event with their own marketing and PR.
“From planning and logistics, right through to operational assistance from staff members on the night, it was a pleasure working at Aintree and we hope to continue our relationship” says Managing Director of Best Parties Ever, Tim Stevens.
This was first published in the July edition of Conference News. Any comments? Email conferencenews@mashmedia.net
