December 2018 - Page 3 of 4

6th December 20184th December 2018

ABPCO launches sustainability report and roadmap

Timed to coincide with the opening of the COP24 climate talks in Katowice, Poland, ABPCO has released a report and Roadmap for the creation of a more sustainable events industry.

Following attendance at a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) workshop in Paris in October titled: “Leveraging Sustainable Procurement Practices to Transform Tourism Value Chains”, ABPCO and its members gathered to consider the areas where the industry can have the most significant impact on the creation of a sustainable future.

Using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, ABPCO identified a desire for the industry to do more in areas of:

Responsible production and consumption
Quality education and partnerships
Reducing inequalities

The UNEP workshop in Paris also highlighted an opportunity for the event industry to collaborate closely with the wider hospitality sector in the following key areas:

Phasing out single-use plastics
Sustainable food procurement
Circularity in the supply chain

ABPCO’s report and Sustainability Roadmap were launched at IBTM last week alongside attendees from UNEP, Positive Impact and other industry leaders focused on sustainability.

“COP24 will ensure the world is focused on sustainability over the coming days so there was no better time to launch both our report and Sustainability Roadmap,” comments Heather Lishman, ABPCO’s Association Director, who has been leading the project on behalf of the association. “We have worked with members from both the supply and demand side of the industry to identify where we can have the greatest impact, whilst ensuring the whole sector continues to deliver maximum value for those looking to use events as a means of education, communication and business development.”

Positive Impacts Fiona Pelham comments: “ABPCO has shown significant leadership by attending, contributing to and communicating about a UN environment event on behalf of the global event industry. ABPCO members should be extremely proud that their association is taking leading action to protect our future and the future of the Events industry.”

The Sustainability Roadmap and Report are both available via https://www.abpco.org/news/

6th December 2018

New Leonardo Hotel Set For Manchester

Fattal hotel group has acquired a site in Manchester’s Adair Street where it will open a 275-bedroom Leonardo hotel in 2021, the opening follows Fattal’s purchase of the Midland hotel in Manchester in October.

The hotel will incorporate a gym as well as a restaurant and bar and will located in an area earmarked by Manchester City Council for regeneration with the intention of creating a new urban quarter for commercial and residential use

5th December 2018

Qbic Set For Manchester

Modular budget hotel concept Qbic is set to open in Manchester, its second UK site following its London’s Whitechapel opening five years ago. Work has begun on converting John Dalton House in Manchester, a former office block, into a 261-bedroom Qbic hotel, which is due to complete in February next year.

The brand has one other property, the Qbic Amsterdam WTC (World Trade Center), which launched in 2007.

5th December 20185th December 2018

MPI report highlights favourable business conditions despite budgets unlikely to increase

Meeting Professionals International (MPI) released its Meetings Outlook report at IBTM in November, highlighting projected favourable business conditions, with a caveat that budgets were unlikely to increase.

Only 1.5 per cent of those polled in the report believed that budget conditions were favourable, with 43 per cent thinking future budgets would be 1-5 per cent better.

A cautious approach was the order of the day, with safety and security at events highlighted as the area where budgets would be allocated.

Jessie States, head of meeting innovation for MPI, reported that 33 per cent said there were growth opportunities in the Eurozone as well as in other domestic regions.

The global projected business conditions were 63 per cent favourable, while 15 per cent were negative.

“One of the biggest areas of change is in the use of contractors in the events industry. The number of contractors was high because ‘organisations are not ready to invest in full-time staff’, so there was a trend to bring in a workforce who are not employees.
These contractors are specialising in different areas such as tech, food and beverage. They are starting their own business and come in on a consultative level to advise companies.”

Jessie States, head of meeting innovation for MPI

Current employment trends according to MPI show an increase of 43 per cent in contract staff, and a 34 per cent increase inpart-time workers.

Delving into the changing nature of events, States said there would be shorter, more frequent events, with 30 per cent of sessions shorter and 35 per cent of events larger. Projected live attendance was 61 per cent positive, 23 per cent flat, and 16 per cent negative.

Delegates are looking for a more hands-on experience, with an element of virtual reality “to learn, show, educate, and changemind sets,” States said. “The focus is on the challenge of balancing true, cutting-edge delivery and immersion methods.”

In terms of corporate responsibility, there was additional interest and adding activities related to this area, while “22 per cent said CSR was now a normal piece of the planning process.”

Contract negotiations are more complex, the report found, with 54.9 per cent agreeing with this.

“It’s a sellers’ marketplace and they have better leverage.”

4th December 20185th December 2018

Rate Check – book early for better value for money

We all know that there are lots of factors that will make a difference to the rate charged by a venue, such as the day of the week, the date, the location. We’ve taken a look at one of our client’s events that could take place in January or March 2019 and compared the costs.

Decreasing bar chart from SimpleIcon http://www.simpleicon.com/

As well as the hotels in the table, 19 additional hotels were contacted and there was no availability on both dates.

The brief is for a one-day conference:

Attendees: 55 people
Location: Central London or countryside location accessible from Heathrow Airport
Venue style: Hotel, preferably 5* or boutique hotel in London or country house outside London
Meeting room layout: cabaret style
Catering: separate areas for refreshment breaks and lunch
Food & beverage: 3 servings of tea/coffee and lunch
Accommodation : 55 bedrooms on Friday night

The rates below are for a daily delegate rate including 3 breaks, plus bed and breakfast, as the client wanted to have dinner offsite.

EDGE Venues advises clients to book as far in advance as possible to achieve the best possible rates and in the majority of cases the comparison supports this. Unless the client waits until the very last minute and is prepared to compromise, the rates will only increase as availability becomes scarcer closer to the event date.

There was no obvious saving taking this event outside London as there were fewer hotels to choose from that met the client’s requirements.

Points to note

The venue finding was done in September 2018, so an 18-week lead time to the January date and a 25-week lead time to the March date.

*We were unable to compare these conferences at all of the same hotels as some of them were already booked on the relevant date, but for comparison purposes they are similar in style, standard and facilities.

4th December 2018

New Outdoor Spaces At The National Gallery For 2019

The National Gallery has added two new outdoor event spaces for 2019, increasing its portfolio to twenty-two locations within the venue, the National Gallery Garden and Jubilee Walk will be available for hire from January 2019, with various features to allow for a range of different events, both during the day and evening.

4th December 2018

Multimillion-Pound Makeover For Malmaison Liverpool

Malmaison Liverpool has completed a multimillion-pound refurbishment of its 130 bedrooms and meeting and events spaces and has also seen the launch of a new cocktail bar at the property.

The brand is due to open three new hotels opening over the next 24 months including in Bournemouth, where the brand is in the early stages of developing a new build hotel; Edinburgh, where renovation work has already begun on the Grade A-listed Buchan House, which will be the brand’s second site in the city; and York, where work is underway to open a new 150-bedroom hotel.

3rd December 2018

Mandarin Oriental To Open In Beijing In 2019

The 73 room Mandarin Oriental Wangfujing set to open in Beijing in early 2019.

Located just minutes from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City in the lively Wangfujing district, the hotel will have two restaurants, Café Zi will offer all-day dining, specialising in Asian cuisine and the Mandarin Grill and Bar will feature classic grill-style dishes and the rooftop bar, MO Bar will serve innovative cocktails and feature resident and international DJs complete with spectacular roof-terrace views of the Forbidden City.

3rd December 2018

2019 To See The Opening Of Vintry And Mercer Hotel

Nestled in the heart of London along a narrow street is the capital’s newest luxury boutique hotel, Vintry and Mercer. The 92 bespoke rooms and suites draw interior inspiration from the historic trading guilds of the City of London and create a unique hideaway.

The hotel will feature The Vintry Kitchen, serving Asian tapas, a roof terrace with views overlooking iconic London sights like St Paul’s Cathedral and The Shard and ‘Do Not Disturb’ the hotel’s basement bar that will transport you back to 1920’s New York.

3rd December 201812th December 2018

Top Tips on how to make the most of EDGE Venues

It’s all in one place. EDGE is a powerful tool and will be used by meeting organisers to search for venues and to create proposals. So we need to know what your venue can do, how it works, guideline pricing and a good insight into your facilities.

Help us to bring your venue to life. The more data you fill in the higher you will come up in relevant searches. This data will then provide the basis for the RFPs that will be sent to potential clients or agents. Your venue’s profile on EDGE will show users what you can offer, where you are located, how you look and how much they are likely to pay. This will streamline the RFP process as all clients and agents will be making an informed decision on who to contact therefore ensuring you do not waste your time on RFP’s that will never convert.

There are two Engagement License opportunities: EDGE venues plus and Agency EDGE which are available to all venues via a monthly license fee. Please ask the EDGE Team for full details on 01780 484051.

How to make the most of your venue’s profile

Let us know where you are located and what you have to offer potential clients and agents. Here are some pointers to help you get to the heady heights of 100% profile:

The upload all data and photographs. This is completely free of charge so make the most of this by adding images for all your meeting rooms and do not forget the image on your accommodation section.
Any bookings generated via the EDGE platform that are handled by the EDGE agency team or by other Agents are commissionable to the agent who has
placed the business with you.
The more information that you include in your venue profile the higher your data percentage will be. Below is a guideline of how to increase your percentage.

Take a look at this guide to make the most of your entry on EDGEVenues.com or email the data team on data@trinityeventsolutions.co.uk or call us on 01780 484051.