2007 November

Parties and Tax

Staff Parties  If you are planning a Xmas party, you should be aware of tax issues. Reasonable levels of employee entertainment are an allowable cost against the profits of the business, unlike entertaining clients. As long as the annual cost is no more than £150 per person for entertainment functions, there should be no tax implications with the employees. Employers must consider all costs, which may not just be the meal, but drinks, transport etc… For those who are leaving organising their Xmas party, like some of us do with buying Christmas presents, enquire now as space is still available at venues across the UK!

Religious Conferences – a booming market?

A noticeable trend in the meetings and conference industry is the increasing number of Religious events in the UK.

Religious conferences send to have large numbers of people attending, often 300+, often with bedrooms. As they do tend to have very low budgets, organisers of these events often find it hard to locate a venue that will come into their price brackets. At Morris Conferencing, we have good contacts with University’s in the UK, which often are ideal as they have large lecture theatre’s, plenty of syndicate rooms and lots of accommodation, however some venues are not available all year round.

There are many large hotels and conference centres are able to take on these larger religious conferences. Delegates can opt for a twin room to bring the costs down. Weekends and the months of July, August and early September are probably the best times to hold a conference as it is off-peak in terms of conferences for venues. These events are also family orientated, so the summer months are often ideal as children will not have to take time off school.

Morris Conferencing deal with many large religious events for different religions, delegate numbers and various locations in the UK and Ireland. As finances often force religious groups into a ‘no frills’ approach, Morris will take this into account and work with you to meet all of your needs. We have contacts with many University’s, hotels and conference centres that can accommodate large numbers. We negotiate to get the best price for you, by looking at all aspects of the conference.

For expert advice, call now on 0870 162 4909 OR email info@corporateconferences.co.uk OR visit our website now!

Conference Centres FREEze prices this quarter

Smaller conference centres are freezing prices this quarter in most areas of the UK this quarter. This pricing strategy could encourage repeat business from events held this year as an incentive for clients to stay put and stick to what they know.  Some conference centres are also dropping their day delegate and residential packages in off peak times and for last minute bookings.

 Conference centres are often a great place to hold events for a number of reasons. They generally have a large variety of different sized rooms from small syndicates to meeting spaces holding 200 delegates +. They have advanced technology – WiFi, Data Projectors etc… They are all over the UK in Great locations - city centre and rural, near to major towns and cities. Many have large grounds surrounding them which are ideal for team building activities, or even a barbeque in the summer!

 To find out more about these great deals, enquire now!

Christmas party deal

Christmas Parties at Hatfield House From £35 per head! Buy 6 places for the price of 5 or choose two bottles of wine per table of ten! Extensive Christmas Buffet – eat as much as you like Free Parking Located directly across from Hatfield BR Station Enquire Now!

Ettington Chase

Christmas Cheer at Ettington Chase 

Ettington Chase are offering 25% off published 24 hour rates for  meetings and events in December!

This offer is subject to availability and valid until the 31^st December

Call  0870 162 4909 to avoid disappointment!

Glasgow is booming

Glasgow is performing well in the conference and events industry, as more than 2,400 new hotel rooms are planned in Glasgow over the next four years, according to the Glasgow City Marketing Bureau (GCMB).

They are starting a new campaign to highlight the various different types of venues, as new flight routes open up. Before 2001 2,400 rooms will be built, including 600 in the new Bothwell Plaza Complex, next to a conference centre that can hold up to 1,400 delegates. It has also been rumoured to becoming the cities first 6* hotel.Top venues in Glasgow at present are:Millennium Hotel

Refurbished Victorian Townhouses, situated in the heart of the city centre on the famous George Square. Traditional, historical building dating back to 1854. All function areas have views over the square with plentiful natural light from elegant full-length windows. Maximum capacity is 40 delegates, with competitive prices. In Glasgow’s Victorian West End, among graceful Georgian terraces, the location is superb, just ten minutes from the bustling city centre. Rooms are smart and spacious, the bars and restaurant traditionally tempting. A friendly Scottish welcome, easy charm and helpfulness make this intimate hotel special.Jury’s Inn GlasgowJury’s Inn Glasgow Hotel offers a range of versatile conference and banqueting suites that can cater for up to 140 delegates. The smart conference suites coupled with an extensive leisure centre render this hotel an excellent meeting venue.

Sporting Venue for a conference?

 A sporting venue probably would not be the first place people would think of to hold a conference, meeting or event. They are a little different to your bog standard hotel or conference centre. Imagine having your conference at Old Trafford, Twickenham or Ascot? Not only, would the sporting fans in the company, feel a little chuffed, but many of these venues have great locations and competitive prices.

Here are a couple of  favourites….

Newbury Racecourse

Newbury Racecourse is located in the centre of the M4 corridor and is easily accessible by all major roads and rail links in the area. The racecourse has a large range of rooms that can cater for events up to 1,000 delegates and also has space for dinner dances for up to 600 guests. (See blog about Christmas parties)

The Berkshire and Hampshire Stand also both offer excellent conference facilities. The Berkshire Stand has over 40 rooms available which can hold between 10 to 120 delegates, whilst the Hennessy Restaurant in the Hampshire Stand is a superb new facility for conferences and dinners for up to 250 guests.

For smaller events The Royal Box is available and is ideal for high profile meetings and dinners for up to 60 guests the area.

The racecourse is very accessible and has over 3,000 free car parking spaces as well as its own railway station which operates Monday – Sunday.

The Emirates Stadium

Arsenal is one of the World’s finest football clubs, doing really well both in the Premier league and Europe, I think they are arguably the best team in the world. They now has an impressive start of the art stadium to match this reputation

Emirates Stadium opened in July 2006 and plays host to 60,000 fans at each home game. The arena has an array of bright, modern and versatile conference and banqueting suites, all with brilliant views of the pitch.

The Stadium has four large flexible spaces that cater for up to 600 delegates. The network bar areas and 150 executive boxes are great for syndiacte rooms or smaller private dinners.

These are just two venues, but if you think of a football team, a racecourse or a rugby ground in the UK they generally have conference facilities. They are often to a very high standard with lots of different sized meeting rooms, often holding 400 plus delegates. One downside, is that they often cannot hold meetings and conferenes on match days or on major sporting events, so don’t set your heart on a venue and leave it to the last minute…as you could be disappointed.

The future

 

The Conference and Events industry is very diverse and interesting, with endless possibilities. Conferencing Weekly look at some issues that could affect agencies, venues and the industry in general.

• Customer expectations – Delegates expect good quality venues, with adequate facilities such as Wi-Fi broadband, video conferencing, good AV facilities. Venues must up their game in order to meet delegate’s high expectations. Venues that include AV such as an LCD projector in their Day delegate prices already have an advantage over others. In the future, we will continue to see more of this. 
   

• Olympics 2012 – The upcoming Olympics means that a great deal of investment will be going into the capital city, from more bedrooms and hotels, to improved transport links. Events may be hard to place around the time of the Olympics, so organisers may think about staying away from London, however this will be a great boost to the economy and meetings and conferences. 
   

• Religious conferences – The amount of religious conferences in the UK, is on the rise and looks to become a prominent sector in the industry. They are great for venues as they often take place in off peak season, they may have low budgets but have large numbers because of their following. 
   

• Price of venues – Whether rates are to increase or stay stagnant is anyone’s guess at the moment. London prices generally will stay high, but venues will become more flexible in the future if they need to fill up space. 
   

• Volumes of conferencing – Conferencing is a massive earner for our economy. It is set to rise, as meetings and conferences need to happen in order to make business’s work. Areas that conferencing may become more popular will be cities such as Sheffield, Leeds, Manchester…etc as much redevelopment and investments is going into these Northern Cities. 
   

These are just a few aspects that conferencing weekly believe are important factors to the future of our industry.

What delegates want most from a conference venue.

It’s becoming apparent that the venues that book up first on dates and get most repeat business are quite minimalist in design with evenly sized well lit with lots of natural daylight, good climate control, lots of modern presentation equipment in the price. A seperate room area for refreshments usually on tap for delegates.

Good signage pointing to and  throughout the facility is important in conference venues and lots of onsite free parking space and lawned areas for activities is very popular.

Food should reflect the popularity of  vegetables and fruits with healthy eating and vegetarian options on all courses.

A bar for the evening with some well kept lagers and real ale always goes down well and a small selection of house wines at bar type prices will get them sold.

Friendly efficient staff and a well trained reception team always reflect well on the conference venue.

Bedrooms and bathrooms need to be clean and tidy with the toiletries tissues being plentiful. Most delegates use their own mobiles and any conference venue being greedy on wifi charges more than pay for it in lost business.   

All this being in place if the venue has eye appeal in the photos on the website so much the better.

Mike Morris  

New Team building activities from Morris Conferencing

See below for new additions to our extensive list of team building activities for your event:

Yoga

Yoga is a way of life for certain people, rather than a series of exercises designed to keep the body supple. For people working in a stressful environment, yoga may be the way forward to rewind and relax. Yoga is not people bending body parts into impossible looking poses, so there is no need to be intimidated! Yoga works on the whole body, not just the physical aspects. after one session, you should feel relaxed and de-stressed.

Yoga uses breathing exercises called Pranayama, which is an important part of the exercise. These practices can invigorate the body, calm the mind and act as a form of meditation. When used as a group activity it can be extremely relaxing and can be an effective bonding session.

Morris Conferencing can provide trained experts in the art of yoga, they will teach you key exercises and show you how to relax.

Giant Brushes

The group will be split into teams and asked to recreate a picture. It is a race against time, whoever finishes first receives a prize! It sounds easy but the brushes are 12 ft long and you must be 12ft away from the canvases! This is a great exercise for team work , as it is the essential key in winning this task. You must assemble the information pack, the brushes, then select the correct colours. All materials will be provided including disposable overalls, canvases, materials etc…

Giant puppets

The group will be split into teams. You will have to assign roles in the group such as a director, costume designer, puppet handler, sound effects and voices. The purpose of this is to recreate your teams and make a script for your final performance! Each team will of course, interpret the performance differently. The mismatch between props, sound affects and the handling of the puupets is simply hilarious! You will all have a good laugh and learn to communicate and work as a team to obtain a result.

Tai Chi

Experience the world of Tai Chi with training from 3 experts. A master DVD of the activity will be included in the cost to show colleagues and family.

Benefits of Tai Chi Health -

 An unhealthy or otherwise uncomfortable person may find it difficult to meditate to a state of calmness or to use tai chi as a martial art. Tai chi’s health training therefore concentrates on relieving the physical effects of stress on the body and mind.

The focus and calmness cultivated by the meditative aspect of tai chi is seen as necessary in maintaining optimum health (in the sense of relieving stress and maintaining homeostasis).
The ability to use tai chi as a form of self defence in combat is said to be the most effective proof of a student’s understanding of the principles of good Tai Chi. The study of tai chi is the study of appropriate change in response to outside forces.

Photography

We can provide a skilled photographer to capture all the highlights of your event and activities. The photographer will be there for the whole two days. We can provide a slideshow of pictures that could be shown at your pre-dinner drinks reception. A CD will be provided with all the photographs taken over the two days of your event. This is a perfect opportunity to keep memories of activities you do, or as a reference to you event and to use in the future.

If you are interested in any of these events, call our experts now on 0870 1624909 or enquire online.  Team building activities can often liven up a meeting or conference, and inspire and motivate colleagues!