EDGE Venues

IET London: Savoy Place has officially opened its doors for external events, following a two year and £30 million redevelopment.

Transformed from top to bottom, delegates to Savoy Place will be able to enjoy access to two brand new auditoriums with a combined capacity of over 600, a second lecture theatre, enlarged riverside suite, state of the art boardrooms, roof terrace, and a ‘sesame lift’ at the front of the building, which enables the stone steps to retract automatically for easy wheelchair access.

A series of digital exhibits throughout the venue were unveiled earlier in the year and are now on display. Highlighting the IET’s engineering history, the exhibits, including ‘100 engineering ideas that changed the world’ and two stairwell sculptures, celebrate the past, present and future of the IET and can be integrated into events

Digital displays including a futuristic digital chandelier hung in the reception and live video walls on the second floor, can both be personalised for large events and connected to live comment feeds.

Simon Timmis, senior marketing manager at IET Venues & Events commented: “It’s been a busy start since we opened, it has been over two years in the making, and a lot of people have worked incredibly hard to make this possible. We wanted to design a venue with the future in mind, by investing in our technology infrastructure we have the capacity to adapt with the changing requirements of our delegates and event organisers. The redevelopment of Savoy Place has already been well received by past and new clients who have seen the substantial efforts to create a clean, spacious and fully integrated venue.”

Mary Ward House Conference and Exhibition Centre, has recently undergone some refurbishments which will be completed this week. 

‘’All works undertaking were sympathetic to the era and period of the original building as we wanted enhance on the existing ambience of the venue. The work spanned across our three floors and included flooring, plastering, paint colour schemes and creating a new lighting atmosphere across the venue.  The end result is bright and airy, welcoming rooms which have retained all key period features from the original build design. Clients can enjoy a range of soft colour schemes over our 14 rooms complemented by light wood floors and neutral wood works and finishing.’’ Nile Halson, Operations manager at Mary Ward House.

The renovation work has certainly achieved this, the rooms all have a quirky shabby chic feel to them, a great venue if you are looking for something a little different with lots of original features.

Mercure Bristol Grand came in to see us last week and have some exciting plans for 2016 and an interesting fact about a certain hole in the hotel.

The hotel provides 182 bedrooms and 11 meeting rooms and can boast being the largest hotel for meeting space in the city of Bristol,  located in the Old City just 10 minutes from Bristol Temple Meads Rail Station and 5 minutes from the Habourside and retail Shops. 

There will be a multimillion pound refurbishment due to start as soon possible together with a destination/celebrity chef restaurant as part of the refurb.

In Marlows Cellar Bar there is a Medieval well which was discovered some years ago, it is visible and glass covered, the levels of water rise and fall depending on the water levels in the City. The bar can be hired exclusively for events of up to 100 people, ideal for drinks receptions, bowl food and canapés, or a party.

Woburn House, situated in central London less than 5 minutes’ walk to Euston station has recently undergone a £2m refurbishment. Woburn House has 8 events spaces which have all been restyled and fitted with up to date AV systems. The venue has extended its opening hours and can now be hired exclusively for evenings and weekends, along with the introduction of a new catering company. The refurb has extended its capacity to 500 delegates across the event space and is now offering new DDR rates. The venue boasts a well-lit foyer space which could be used for breakout space or drinks receptions, and the Main hall now features professional stage lighting, and colour changing lighting which could be used to fit with brand colours.