Conference Centres of Excellence rebrands as Venues of Excellence

Conference Centres of Excellence has rebranded to become Venues of Excellence, showcasing the new brand at The Meetings Show (Stand Number H700) from now until 16 June at Olympia.

The 30-strong national marketing consortium of exceptional venues is taking this strategic step to broaden its footprint within the wider hospitality and events sector to maximise value for its members and clients.

Stuart Websdale, Chairman of the consortium explains: “The board has reviewed the positioning of the brand within the MICE sector and recognised that there are venues within the broader hospitality sector eager to endorse their venue with a badge of excellence synonymous with the Conference Centres of Excellence brand.

“Our goal is to expand the reach of our membership because we recognise the diverse range of venues delivering excellence goes beyond ‘conference centres’ and to include other quality-driven venues.

“On-going engagement with members and collaboration with industry peers has helped to crystallise our strategic direction. Our ultimate goal is to grow our membership to 50 members by 2020.”

The journey towards having broader representation and increasing value to members is already underway, with several new venues recently joining the consortium. These include The Lensbury four-star hotel at Teddington Lock, Manchester Conference Centre and Yarnfield Park in Staffordshire.

“Many of our members are independent players with a shared quality ethos and vision,” comments Stuart Websdale. “What we offer is sharing of good practice, idea exchange and benchmarking to drive quality and to deliver excellence to our end users.

“For 24 years we have provided strong marketing support and networking opportunities for our members, as well as impressive lead generation via our central sales team. The strengths of the consortium are many, not the least of which are our emphasis on transparency of relationships and understanding of buyers’ needs.

“We view this re-branding as an opportunity for other quality, like-minded venues to come together under one umbrella to provide a targeted solution for discerning buyers.”

Before joining the consortium, venues have to meet stringent criteria in terms of quality, facilities, accommodation and customer care.

Venues of Excellence will showcase at The Meetings Show (Stand Number H700) until 16 June 2016 at Olympia, where Mandy Jennings, Sales Director of Venues of Excellence, will be available to answer any questions on the rebranding and to share insight into the consortium’s work.