Category: Awards

IET London: Savoy Place crowned with Best Venue Customer Service accolade at the London Venue and Catering Awards 2022

Posted on by engineroom

IET London: Savoy Place has seen success in consecutive years at the London Venue Awards, this year winning Best Venue Customer Service.

In addition, the venue received recognition with a bronze award in the Best Venue for Hybrid Events category, competing against highly respected powerhouses in supplying seamless hybrid meeting spaces.

Hosted at the, now regular, Kia Oval in London on Friday 11 November, the awards and their respective judges acknowledged Savoy Place for its approach to developing a strong culture through its quality customer service and adapting to significant change.

Savoy Place has continued to welcome many high-profile visitors and events in London with the team securing strong relationships built through accessibility, consistent staff training as well as a genuine interest in the STEM clients.

Savoy Place is a venue promoting the constant development of a strong culture and innovative solutions to all event needs. With a 626-guest capacity across two lecture theatres, 14 further event spaces comprising of three floors and a roof terrace overlooking panoramic London views, customers are catered for, via various means.

Celebrating with the team on the day, Sean Spencer, Head of IET Venues and Facilities said: “It’s very rewarding to be recognised for a second year running for both the venue facilities and the outstanding team behind them. During a period of such significant change, it’s no easy feat to deliver so consistently with exceptional customer service across all manner of events, industries and capacities.

“We have such a tenacious and well-structured team, always going above and beyond for each client, which plays a significant role in securing our repeat business. Our best in class service is hard-earned through comprehensive staff training and the strong focus we place on wellbeing, so we’re very proud to receive this prestigious award recognising what we can achieve for our clients when we invest in our people.

“The day was an excellent chance to be amongst some illustrious talents throughout the industry and we congratulate all worthy winners and finalists.”

Explore Savoy Place’s facilities to find out more about hosting your next event at this award-winning London venue.

Regent’s celebrates success at London Venue Awards

Posted on by engineroom

Regent’s Conferences & Events has been recognised for its unique outdoor space and flexibility, winning the Bronze Award for Best Venue with Outside Space in the London Venue Awards 2022.

The awards, which were presented at The Kia Oval, London on Friday 11 November, aimed to recognise and reward outstanding achievement in London-based venues and catering companies.

The accolade comes after a record-breaking summer of success at Regent’s, as the team evolves its outdoor events offering year-on-year. The past 12 months has been no different. Due to the increasing demand for excess space, the lawns have proven to be incredibly sought after. The venue was virtually booked out by April 2022, but even after inevitable COVID dropouts, rail strikes and cancellations, it still saw 90% occupancy – 30% above target.

The outdoor space is unique in its versatility for events.  Perfectly positioned for balancing convenience with secluded privacy in the heart of London, the four acres of gardens are just a few steps away from the city’s hustle and bustle. The expanse of landscaped lawns, paired with a hidden, gated Secret Garden offers a fairy-tale-like setting with wildflowers, lush greenery, and excellent views of the city’s horizon. Concealed by foliage, the hidden space is accessed via a walkway covered by a beautiful pergola.  

Responding to the award success, Rafael Azzopardi, Interim Head of Catering and Events said: “To pick up another prestigious award for our summer party offering is testament to the consistency in service and facilities over the past few years. It’s brilliant to have the team’s extraordinary effort over the past 12 months recognised, as they continue to produce outstanding events in our outdoor space, despite all sorts of challenges thrown their way. We are quite fortunate to have such a large, private outdoor area in such a convenient location in London, and visitors are frequently astounded by the venue’s rural setting despite being only a short distance from the bustle of the city.

“It’s undoubtedly a fantastic motivation for the team to deliver another season of memorable outdoor events in 2023, as demand for the summer has already picked up.”

Find out more about Regent’s event space.

IET London: Savoy Place shortlisted for double London Venue Awards accolade

Posted on by engineroom

IET London: Savoy Place has been shortlisted for both Best Venue Customer Service and Best Venue for Hybrid Events in the London Venue Awards 2022.

Amid recognition of outstanding customer service, the venue has been celebrating the loyalty of its staff, with four of the senior team having dedicated over a decade of service to the IET and its clients. Due to the consistency and expertise offered at Savoy Place, the venue has had over 60% repeat bookers for events over the past 12 months.

Savoy Place’s modern conference facilities with robust IT infrastructure have allowed it to facilitate filming and streaming to multiple rooms. Additional hybrid filming and streaming services supplied to commercial clients by in-house AV specialists, IET.tv, are on track to grow in value by 300% for 2022, compared to 2021.

As the IET’s central London event venue, the building is well used by science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) businesses as well as clients from broader industries championing CSR because of its sustainability credentials, including its most recent Greengage Platinum ECOsmart accreditation. With many high-profile visitors and events, Savoy Place is proficient in client privacy, NDA content and full-service packages to provide security. The venue’s Operations Manager also has House of Commons security experience.

On being shortlisted, Sean Spencer, Head of IET Venues and Facilities said: “It’s brilliant recognition of the hard work the team has put in over the past 12 months to constantly adapt our client offering while continuing to deliver above and beyond when it comes to customer service. We’ve worked hard to develop a strong culture and thorough training scheme, educating staff on the importance of exceptional operational standards.

“Congratulations to the entire Savoy Place team for being recognised in two categories that highlight both technical prowess and outstanding delivery.”

Explore Savoy Place’s hybrid facilities to find out more about hosting your next event here.

Central Hall Westminster awarded ECOsmart Platinum Award for outstanding green standards

Posted on by engineroom

Central Hall Westminster, (CHW) part of Central Hall Venues group, recently announced it has been awarded the ECOsmart Platinum Venue Award for outstanding green credentials. CHW joins a select group of just 12 venues in the country, seven of which are in London, to receive the accolade.

The industry-standard accreditation programme is run by Greengage Travel and Event Solutions which recognises and supports eco-friendly hotels and conference venues throughout the UK that demonstrate an environmentally conscious approach and the adoption of eco-friendly measures. Awards range from entry-level Bronze to Platinum, the highest possible standard.

Central Hall Westminster has long been a sustainable venue, having previously won the Eco-Smart Gold Award and several other environmental accreditations over the last seven years. However, having gone the extra mile to reach the highest possible standards of environmental sustainability, the venue underwent a rigorous audit from Greengage Solutions to reach Platinum, an award which recognises leaders in hospitality who have considered sustainability in all aspects of their business.

Alongside the existing measures carried out over the last five years including reducing water waste, ensuring zero waste goes to landfill, introducing catering sustainable practices and installing ECO LED lights in all rooms, CHW undertook several additional measures to achieve Platinum including:

  • Providing LED lighting in all event rooms
  • Monitoring energy usage on a daily basis
  • Actively encouraging recycling in all meeting rooms
  • Donating furniture and equipment to local charities
  • Encouraging green meeting practices by providing conference organisers with a list of eco recommendations
  • In conjunction with on-site catering partner, Green & Fortune, – giving preference to local and seasonal produce with vegetarian and vegan options; providing Fair Trade coffee, tea and sugar; offering organic wine as an option; and giving excess food to those who need it
  • Filtering and bottling water on site
  • Achieving the Platinum Award for its eco approach by Westminster Council
  • Vetting suppliers to ensure they operate in line with the principles of the organisation

The venue’s dedicated green team of sustainable champions from across all staff areas helped drive these initiatives forward and implement over the last two years.

In addition, CHV’s Head of Communications, Anna Glazebrook, has been invited by Greengage to join its Platinum Inner Circle who meet regularly to discuss ideas and make recommendations to the events industry on sustainability measures.

Andrew Perolls, CEO of Greengage Travel and Event Solutions, comments: “We are delighted that Central Hall Westminster has worked so hard to take further measures on sustainability since they won the Gold Award and have now gone on to achieve Platinum. It is incredibly difficult to reach this outstanding top level and we were impressed with their long-term commitment to introduce green initiatives in all areas.”

Sarah Ainsworth, CEO of Central Hall Venues which runs Central Hall Westminster, adds: “As an organisation which exists to provide funds to maintain this beautiful historic building and donate to charitable works across the world, running a sustainable venue is incredibly important to us. Our Green Team and on-site partners have worked tirelessly to ensure sustainability is included in all areas of our operation and we are very proud to have achieved Platinum.”

Find out more about this sustainable venue here.