05/2018

The Barbican’s Business Events team has seen agency bookings over the last year increase to 33%, continuing a trend of significant sales growth. While just 1% of bookings were made through agencies in 2015; three years later they provide a third of business sales at the venue. Overall growth in the last year saw Barbican Business Events exceed sales targets by 4%.

“We have seen a real benefit from the commitment we have given to our agency relationships, as it drives new business into the venue,” comments Jackie Boughton, head of business events at the Barbican.  “Agencies are a mainstay of the meetings and events industry, they deliver significant events and have helped us go from strength to strength, while allowing us to continually develop our product.  Being a world-class arts and events venue means our success gets reinvested, not just in our events offering but across the whole of the centre, including our international arts and learning programme.”

The Barbican’s success in the agency market is partially attributable to their close partnership with the HBAA, whose influence Jackie and the team recognise: “We see true value in the HBAA’s support of both their agency and supplier members.  Ultimately they bring us together and help to build relationships. It is a highly respected organisation with an influential, engaged membership providing frequent opportunities for all.”

Juliet Price, Consultant Executive Director for the HBAA comments: "The Barbican's Business Events team truly recognises the value of the agency sector which delivers around 60% of business placed around the UK market, and their team works hard to develop and nurture key relationships. This is a great example of a leading venue which has identified the importance of this vital sales channel and promotes the best practice that our members support.  Agencies are the lifeblood of the meetings and events industry and the HBAA is proud to represent them as a whole.”

Lime Venue Portfolio, the leading unique and unusual venue group, has become a charity partner to ‘Meeting Needs’. As part of the partnership Lime Venue Portfolio will create a series of fundraising activities across its 10^th Anniversary celebrations, which will support the charity in its work in the UK and around the world.

Meeting Needs, is one of the industry’s leading charities, supporting worthwhile initiatives relevant to the events industry, from funding mountain Ambulance services in Tanzania, to supporting initiatives in the UK including wellbeing and homelessness. The partnership with Lime Venue Portfolio follows a number of charity initiatives run by the brand over the last 18 months. These include the three-peaks challenge, which helped raise over £2,000, and the supply of a number of prize donations which have helped raise thousands of pounds for the charity’s main annual fundraiser, the Meeting Needs auction.

“This is a massive year for our brand and we’re keen to thank our industry and our partners for all the support we’ve received over 10 amazing years,” commented Jenner Carter, Head of Marketing, Lime Venue Portfolio. “This is just one of a few initiatives we have planned to show our own support for this amazing industry.”

“As a brand, we’ve always worked closely with several charities and have a number of initiatives for our charity customers to benefit from,” commented Julia Simpson, Key Account Director, Lime Venue Portfolio. “We also wanted to make sure that we’re also supporting our own industry charity and the brilliant work Meeting Needs does every day.”

Lime Venue Portfolio joins a number of high profile companies in the meetings industry that support Meeting Needs, including some of its own partners and client venues including the QEII and the Scottish Event Campus.

Twickenham Stadium is to host the FACEIT Minors, part of the largest and most prestigious esports tournament to be held in the UK to date, from 7 to 22 July this year in a big win for the conference and events side of the business.

Players from across the globe will compete live for a chance to win $50,000 USD and a place in the FACEIT London Major Challenger Stage in September.

FACEIT is the leading independent competitive gaming platform for online multiplayer PvP gamers with more than eight million users, and a total of twelve million online gaming sessions each month.

The entire Minors event – a stage of the13th Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO) Major run by FACEIT – will take place under one roof, with Twickenham Stadium offering competitors 24 hour practise rooms, two separate stages to ensure no time is lost for setup, a gym and executive chef.

New teams qualifying for the first time will benefit from the opportunity to learn from teams from different regions as FACEIT brings teams from each region together for the first time.

Stephen Brown, RFU Chief Executive said: “For Twickenham Stadium to host such a large event in a rapidly-growing area is fantastic. This shows the versatility of the stadium as a venue and our ability to stage a wide range of world-class international events. We look forward to welcoming all teams competing in the FACEIT Minors to Twickenham in July.”

“By hosting each stage of the tournament at Twickenham Stadium we’re hoping to bring new life into the Minors,” said Michele Attisani, Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of FACEIT. “The Major should be a celebration of all things CSGO, we want to bring teams together for the first time and make sure teams of all levels feel welcome and feel the Major experience.”

The FACEIT Minors will begin in July with the Americas (North and South American regions) competing from 7-11 July, CIS from 10-13 July, Asia from 16-20 July and Europe from 19-22 July. It will also allow for more in-depth content featuring players and teams, with a similar approach to the broadcast as the well-received ECS Season 4 Finals in Cancun. The FACEIT Minors Open Qualifiers will begin on 14th May and conclude on 17th June with qualifier matches for teams in the CIS, Asia, European and both North and South American regions.

Teams interested in competing can register now to participate in the FACEIT Minor Open

Qualifiers at fce.gg/faceitmajor .

Compass Hospitality is set to expand its management portfolio with the signing of GoGlasgow Urban Hotel in Glasgow, Scotland. The addition of the hotel into the portfolio solidifies the company’s sustained strategy of a wider expansion push across the UK, making the hotel as its 14th property under management in the UK since the company’s expansion into the market in 2015.

Conveniently situated in the vicinity of the Ibrox Stadium, Scotland’s third largest football stadium and home base of Glasgow’s Ranger FC, the hotel boasts 117 bedrooms, the GoGrill all-day-dining restaurant, and two large bespoke event rooms with a total capacity of 350 guests. The hotel also benefits from easy access to Scotland’s largest exhibition center, the Scottish Event Campus (“SEC”), which includes the SEC Center, SEC Armadillo and SSE Hydro. The hotel underwent comprehensive refurbishment in late 2015 and is a popular destination for sports travelers in Scotland’s most populous city.

Harmil Singh, CEO of Compass Hospitality, said: “This strategic expansion in Glasgow highlights our longstanding commitment to expand in fast-growing markets as well as our confidence in the UK market. We look forward to continue growing the business and developing its already-solid customer base.”

Matthew Welbourn, Executive Vice President of Operations in the UK, added: “We are thrilled to add such a strategically located hotel and to grow our presence in Glasgow. The hotel was repositioned following refurbishment 2 years ago and has since shown robust growth with excellent customer feedback following the development. We strongly believe the synergy created between the solid hotel team and our wide coverage of online presence will further cement the hotel’s performance going forward.”