With the acceptance of two further leading venues into the consortium, Conference Centres of Excellence membership has for the first time reached a total of 40. The UK’s leading group of dedicated conference venues now includes Northcote House near Ascot and Weetwood Hall in Leeds.
It’s a significant milestone for the consortium, now in its fifteenth year. “It is important for us to expand so that we have even more scope to meet the demands of conference organisers;” said CCE Chairman Chris Clarke: “At the same time, we must resist the temptation to accept venues that do not offer the very highest all round standards. Our two latest members are proven centres of truly exceptional quality.”
The 74 bedroom Northcote House (above) is in Sunningdale Park, a 65 acre estate in Berkshire. It is a newly refurbished Grade 2 listed building set above a lake, with a self contained training venue with 22 training suites and syndicate rooms. It is part of the Initial Style group.
Weetwood Hall (above), in the northern outskirts of Leeds, is one of the largest conference centres in the North of England. It combines the original features of a 17th Century manor house with a purpose built conference facility, including 40 meeting rooms and a business support centre. It has 106 bedrooms.
The new members mean that a total of six new members have joined CCE in the past four months. “Our carefully controlled expansion enhances still further the unique proposition we offer to organisers in terms of range, quality and focused support,” added Chris Clarke.
CCE membership includes many of the UK’s best-known and most respected names in specialist conference provision. Before acceptance into membership, venues have to meet the meetings industry’s most stringent criteria in terms of conference and meetings facilities, accommodation and customer care. On average, only one out of every four venues that apply for membership meets the required standards.
CCE provides a free focused venue-finding service for corporate clients and agencies, providing single-source guidance on facilities, availability and price for each member venue, and arranging visits
For more information contact:
Michael Kennedy at MGK Communications 0121 605 4048 or michaelkennedy@talk21.com
Gill Smillie at Conference Centres of Excellence 0845 230 1414 or info@cceonline.co.uk