Author: engineroom

Four of Westminster’s leading venues have come together to provide 97 highly flexible and safe event spaces as they prepare to re-open this October following months of lockdown during the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.

Westminster Campus is a brand-new collaboration of venues comprising Central Hall Westminster, QEII Centre, Church House Westminster and One Great George Street.  This alliance was created as a joint effort to provide more safety, security and space for the ‘new normal’ of post-pandemic events in the heart of Westminster.

The Westminster Campus venues will allow even greater flexibility to take into account new capacities and physical distancing rules enforced following the pandemic. Depending on the enquiry, the venues will work together to host one event in multiple locations to ensure maximum safety, security and flexibility within Government guidelines.  The unique partnership will offer just one point of contact and one contract for an easy, stress-free process.

Moreover, all the venues in the Westminster Campus are members of the Meetings Industry Association (mia) and have achieved AIM Secure – the new enhanced professional accreditation featuring vital infection prevention and control protocols – which demonstrates to buyers their commitment to offering a first-class service safely and responsibly for the health of staff and customers.

By joining forces in this way, the four venues are able to provide a total of 97 versatile event spaces within the centre of Westminster with its excellent transport links – all close to the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.  Event planners can also tap into extensive resources for accommodation and other important requirements.

Before setting up Westminster Campus, the group carried out meticulous surveys to its client base to find out expectations and goals. The survey found that 60% of event planners would be interested in hosting an event in a central London location if they were offered increased capacity in partnership with other venues.  The survey also revealed that half of organisers are looking at in-person events from October 2020 to March 2021, so this is expected to be a very busy time for venues.

A spokesperson for Westminster Campus comments: “This new collective is very exciting, and we believe this is just the beginning of a new way of working for the events industry; not just during these times but into the future.

“The events industry has always been more collaborative than competitive, and it has never been more important to work with others in these very challenging times we are facing. Just as importantly, we want to be able to offer our loyal clients an exemplary service while keeping within Government guidelines to keep us all safe. All the venues involved are committed to giving our clients and our workforce the confidence to return to face-to-face events by maintaining secure, safe and responsible practices.”

Jane Longhurst, chief executive of the mia, says: “It is essential for the long-term survival of the sector that we take a creative approach to offer clever solutions to event buyers, so we are delighted to see four mia members – all based in close proximity in the heart of Westminster – collaborating to enable live business meetings and events to take place safely with lots of space, no matter what their requirements.”

The QEII Centre is getting ready to host events this autumn following the government’s announcement that the business meetings and events industry can re-open from October.  

Between April and July, the QEII sales team secured a number of new national and international events for the end of 2020 and into 2021, including the Paradigm Shift Leadership Summit in October 2020 and the Global Excel Summit 2021 in April.  

The booked events will generate circa £800k in additional revenue for the Centre and are estimated to contribute to the economy around £14.7m in Gross Expenditure, £6.9m in GVA.  

Preparations based on new health and safety guidelines have also been made for the Centre’s re-opening and the QEII management team has consulted industry bodies and the UK government to help shape post Covid-19 venue operating guidelines, while also liaising with global competitors who are ahead of the UK in the Covid-19 pandemic infection cycle.  

Measures made to reassure clients and delegates of a safe return to the Centre and event activity, include enhanced cleaning measures and physical distancing procedures incorporated into event planning. Catering operations have also been adapted to minimise contact whilst still delivering exceptional quality. 

Other measures include the installation of thermal scanners at the entrances to the Centre to assess body temperatures for delegates, contractors and staff, enhanced signage, and physically distanced room layouts. Garment bags will also be used for coats placed in the cloakrooms to help stop contact between items.  

An animated video has also been produced to walk clients and delegates through the measures and what to expect when returning to the Centre, which can be viewed here.

The Royal Society offers the most up to date, state of the art audio-visual facilities that can assist with hybrid events. As well as general projection and sound equipment, the Society also offers a number of enhanced technology solutions, which include webcasting, several filming and recording options and reliable wireless facilities.

Using the in-house HD camera system offers a number of options to meet the clients’ filming and webcasting requirements. Facilities are available in the Wellcome Trust Lecture Hall and the Kohn Centre.

As plans are undertaken to reopen, The Royal Society continues to work hard to support the UK and global effort to tackle the Coronavirus.

The audio-visual team is based in-house and will provide guidance and advice as soon as it’s needed.

The team can be contacted at [email protected] or on 020 7451 2612.

Church House Westminster has now reopened for in-person events of up to 30 people as of 1 August 2020.

The venue has successfully been granted the ‘We’re Good To Go!’ COVID-19 Industry Standard. In partnership with Visit England, the standard confirms that Church House Westminster follows government and industry COVID-19 guidelines, ensuring processes are in place to maintain cleanliness and aid social/physical distancing.

In addition, Church House Westminster has been accredited as AIM Secure by the Meetings Industry Association.

Now is the time to utilise the power of face to face events to help businesses to get back to what matters most – making connections, collaborating creatively and collectively sharing ideas.

The Grade II listed building in central Westminster offers 19 versatile event spaces and a combined area of almost 2,000 square metres, which allows for more than ample social distancing. The large space also makes a variety of event formats possible – from workshops to training seminars, meetings, forums and breakout spaces to facilitate networking.

A full list of Covid-secure event measures are available to view.

Although live events for now are limited to 30 guests, the venue’s use of hybrid event technology means virtual attendees of up to 1,000 can join an event, making it not only cost-effective, but also safe and sustainable.

One Great George Street has been officially recognised by Visit England as being fully compliant with government guidelines, in regards to health & safety, hygiene and social distancing.

The venue has also been accredited by The Meetings Industry Association as AIM Secure (assurance of excellence in business meetings and events).

These accreditations serve to give planners and delegates full assurance of the venue’s commitment to an outstanding quality of service, regardless of size or circumstance.

Measures undertaken include thorough maintenance and deep cleaning, stringent plans for the safe operation of catering and staff training.

A full list of measures can be found here.

IET London: Savoy Place has released a comprehensive series of hybrid event packages to break down the borders of events in London to far-reaching audiences.

The IET as an organisation has exerted a worldwide pioneering ability to revolutionise and inspire for almost 150 years and Savoy Place, supported by an unparalleled tech team, continues to lead the way in redefining the nature of events through innovative AV, placing delegate integration at the forefront.

Savoy Place was already well-versed in the streamlined delivery of technical AV long before lockdown. In recent weeks, the approach of the AV teams has been to refute the concept of online streaming as an interim makeshift solution for live events, and endorse the elevated importance of interaction through the use of the very best technology to come up with a worthy solution.

Savoy Place is offering the unique services of IET.tv, using its in-house video and webcasting team with its own independent broadcasting channel, offering both live and post-event uploads to the highest standards. Hybrid events require top quality AV and video production so that virtual participants are provided a similar experience to in-person participants. Knowing every inch of the venue like the back of their hand, the experienced team know every angle and hidden trick to ensure the lighting, sound and delivery of video is of unbeaten quality.

To ensure the success of hybrid events, the venue’s AV team has been integrating popular online meeting platforms into their own AV system, so online and live audiences can interact simultaneously with presenters and speakers, as well as with each other. Multi-layer video switchers and digital sound desks allow the management of audio and video coming from different sources and locations and can merge them together in a multilevel communication layout. The packages offer optional add-ons like Sli.do, which can be embedded into the streaming to encourage interactivity.

In light of the new regulations, RSA House is now offering a ceremony-only package and intimate wedding package for up to 30 guests.

For those with thwarted wedding plans up until now, a smaller wedding with close friends and family will now be possible at short notice in August or September at RSA House.

The new intimate weddings package and ceremony-only package have been created for couples that want to safely celebrate their love in these current times and beyond. All the procedures in place are in accordance with the government guidelines to ensure the venue is a safe space and the team is keen to support each and every couple, adapting their offer to couples’ needs in any possible way.

Just steps away from The Strand in the heart of London, RSA House is a hidden gem. With the glorious Georgian architecture, stunning interiors and iconic sweeping staircases the house superbly combines contemporary design with period features to provide surprising spaces under one roof.  The house is absolutely everything you could dream of for an exclusive London wedding.

For more information on weddings at RSA House, contact the team on 0207 451 6817.

Fellows of The Royal Society and people it funds are contributing to the UK and global effort to tackle Coronavirus COVID-19.

They are working inside the UK government as well as providing independent support for national and international efforts. The work includes: research on the biology of the virus and therapies to combat it; longer term goals such as the development of vaccines; and reviewing evidence to inform policy making.

Tackling such pandemics will require both basic and clinical research at every stage, and the scientific community is doing all it can to help fight this terrible disease and reduce its toll.

For more information, visit https://royalsociety.org/whats-new/covid-19/.

Neil Chandler of QEII: “We are prepared and will make the best of whatever is thrown at us.”
Neil Chandler joined The QEII Centre as operations director earlier this year, but just four weeks into his new role the venue was closed to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Here, the former Fairfield Halls Arts Centre venue director talks about his experience so far at QEII and how he and his team are getting things prepared for re-opening.

How would you describe the first few months of your new role?
“It has been an interesting time to join an events venue. While COVID-19 has been very disruptive to QEII it has given me a good opportunity to understand every aspect of the business in a very short space of time; something that under normal working conditions I wouldn’t have had the luxury to do.”

What has been the most challenging aspect you’ve faced so far?
“Getting to know the team without actually being sat with them. I like to get to know individuals and manage them as individuals, but I only had four weeks on site with the team before lockdown and that was mostly spent finding my way round. In fact, two of those weeks were gradual lock down so little business as usual was achieved. Over the last 10 weeks, through daily team calls we have achieved a lot but it has taken a huge amount of effort on all sides to understand personalities properly. I think that takes real face time.”

What plans have you been making ahead of re-opening?
“We have liaised with national organisations and worked hard to produce our response policy for clients; devising new room layouts for events in different configurations and capacities, cleaning regimes and additional signage production. We have purchased new equipment to assist with sanitization and thermal imaging and created an animated infomercial for clients and delegates detailing processes in place at the Centre. We are ready to re-open and like all venues are waiting patiently for the next announcement from government.”

What are some of the challenges you’ve come up against for re-opening?
“The (understandable) lack of clarity at this moment in time, on how we will be able to re-open. We have planned for many different scenarios and are sharing these with our clients, but as time moves on the clients need to firm up plans for their event, but we aren’t able to give them the information they need. QEII has always been proud of its relationship with clients and at the moment this is the biggest cause of sadness across the teams. We want to work with our clients to deliver the very best events, but right now we just don’t know what we will be permitted to host. What we do know is that we are prepared and will make the very best of whatever is thrown at us.”

Can you tell us about some of the steps you’re taking to reassure visitors to QEII that the venue is COVID-secure?
“From a 48-hour pre-event health screening process, (managed by our clients but expected by the Centre) to temperature checks on arrival we have a lot of plans in place.  Lifts and toilet facilities are restricted to minimum numbers and we are encouraging pre-registration and QR scanning on arrival.  Additional precautions are being taken in our cloakroom and by the teams at QEII Live and QEII Taste. Our cleaning team will carry out nightly deep cleans with our new fogging machines and continual sanitisation of touch surfaces from open to close.”

We have a created a video outlining our measures and to provide reassurance which can be viewed here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6678682071809970176/

What are you finding most challenging about planning for re-opening?
“The lack of clarity, at this moment in time, on how we will be able to re-open.  We have planned for many different scenarios and are sharing these with our clients, but as time moves on our clients need to firm up plans for their event and we aren’t able to give them the information they need.  The Centre has always been proud of its relationship with its clients, so not being able to confirm events is currently the biggest cause of sadness across the teams.  We want to work with our clients to deliver the very best events but right now we just don’t know what we will be permitted to host.  What we do know is that we are prepared and will make the very best of whatever is thrown at us.”