Award winning conference venues

It’s always difficult choosing the right venue for your conference. Obviously, if you’ve used somewhere before you know what to expect, but people always like to go somewhere different. Word of mouth is a great place to start. The only problem is that delegates recommendations might not be 100% accurate. After all, they are not party to all the goings-on behind the scenes.

So, how else can you decide? Well, obviously you can travel the lengths and breadth of the country visiting each and every conference venue. Or, better still, you can look for venues which have won awards. These give the reassurance that it has received industry recognition, rewarding excellence in both service and product.  Best of all, as there are different awards celebrating different criteria, you can find the right one for your personal needs.

A great example of this is Alton Towers Resort. Now you might just know it as the fun-packed theme park with white-knuckle rides galore. What you might not realise is that it is also home to the Midlands conference centre which recently won an award for one of the UK’s Best Unusual Venues at the prestigious M&IT Awards. Providing a staggering range of facilities, it can cater for the smallest meeting hosting just 16 delegates, to a staggering event with 15,000+ people taking over the whole of Alton Towers Resort – including the rides! You can even hire their Water Park for exotic beach parties.

Another award winning venue is the RBS Williams F1 Conference Centre in Oxfordshire, a site shared with the famous AT&T Williams team. Set in 40 acres of landscaped grounds, this is a must-use venue for fans of Formula One Motor Racing.  The centre offers a modern and creative environment in which to meet, train, network and entertain with flexible event rooms catering for 2 to 200 guests. There is also the opportunity to visit Sir Frank Williams’ private Grand Prix Collection which houses over 38 of the team’s seminal race cars.

For those on a smaller budget, there is Keele Conferences, which is part of Keele University. Winner of a ‘Best Value for Money’ award, it provides conferences and events in superb modern facilities. With a relaxed and welcoming environment, their mantra is ‘Nothing is too much trouble’ and this can-do attitude has helped them become a favourite with delegates and organisers alike.