Record Q1 for Birmingham conferencing venue
Conference Aston, Birmingham’s largest residential conferencing venue, has recorded its best first quarter performance with a 10% increase in revenue compared with 12 months ago.
In additon, the venue also doubled the number of residential delegates against target in May.
The performance coincides with the arrival at the venue of a new general manager. Mark Ellison has made the short trip from the other side of the city where he was restaurant and bar manager at Fleet Street Kitchen.
The conferencing venue and hotel, which are part of Aston University, welcomed 15,000 delegates and hotel guests between January and March this year, from a wide range of organisations such as West Midlands Police and Direct Line.
Cementing its status as a leading conferencing venue in the city, Conference Aston also recorded an impressive May, coming in at 37% ahead of budget with over 4,000 day delegates passing through its doors. The month also saw 1,284 residential delegates stay at the venue, twice its target.
Paul Bunce, marketing manager at Conference Aston, said with Birmingham enjoying a resurgence in the number of corporate and leisure visitors, as well as residential conferences, it was gratifying that the venue was playing a significant role in attracting people to the city.
“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a real increase in the number of organisations wanting to hold their training, events or meetings at Conference Aston and that has translated into ever-growing numbers of guests and an increase in revenue,” he said.
“One of the reasons for growth is an increase in residential conferencing which has been a slow part of the market since the recession. In the first five months of this year, volumes of residential conference delegates is up 16% ahead of expectation. Day meeting volumes are also up 21% against predicted volumes.
“Q1 2017 was particularly positive for us and we are thrilled that we’ve recorded our best figures yet for the quarter compared with previous years. With the proposed HS2 terminal being located very close to Aston University and Birmingham attracting increasing numbers of international events, we believe that our future as a leading conference venue in the city continues to be bright.”
The venue is hoping the strong trend will continue for the rest of the year.
Next month sees the centre host visitors from across the globe for the International Conference of Urban Pests, while in November, the Prosthetics Event, complete with its 1,000 delegates, returns to the venue.
In his new role, Mr Ellison will be responsible for the team of 12 chefs and the team of front of house managers who help to deliver breakfast, lunch and dinner for up to 700 conference delegates and external guests. He will also oversee housekeeping, which looks after all 163 four-star rated bedrooms.
“I’ve really missed the diversity of running large-scale operations because no two days are ever the same and you are constantly challenging yourself and the team, so I’ll be relishing the opportunities here,” he said.
