Soft launch for new Birmingham conference centre
A NEW Birmingham conference centre is undergoing a soft launch ahead of its official opening next month.
The multi-million-pound Birmingham Conference & Events Centre (BCEC), based in Hill Street, is owned and operated by Newcastle-based Cairn Group.
The facility has been developed as part of a four-year phased project which includes the opening of Lobby on Hill Street, Bar and Terrace. Plans are also under way for a glamorous rooftop bar and state-of-the-art fitness facility.
The BCEC is linked via a covered glass walkway to the company’s adjacent Holiday Inn. The dedicated venue has in place agreements with the Holiday Inn and several other hotels in the city to provide delegates with access to over 2,000 guestrooms.
Cairn said the new facility, a stone’s throw from the new Grand Central and John Lewis store, had already seen a strong level of interest ahead of launch, with bookings taken from clients including National Express, the Irish Guards Old Comrades Association and the National Osteoporosis Society.
BCEC, the newest major venue of its kind to open in the UK, features 2,000sqm of dedicated conference and events space. Situated over two floors, the BCEC comprises 20 fully-flexible meeting rooms accommodating up to 1,450 delegates and six banqueting suites, including its largest, The Mercian.
The Mercian, at 1,048 sqm with a ceiling height of 3.5m, is the BCEC’s principal events suite, dominating the entire second floor. It features a pre-function space with a private champagne bar along with two further bars inside the main banqueting hall.
The suite (left) also boasts a stage, spring-loaded dancefloor and a heavy-goods access lift. It can accommodate up to 1,000 delegates theatre-style and 750 for a private dinner, providing some of the largest new dedicated conference and events space in the city centre.
The BCEC has been designed in response to the growing demand for small and large-scale meetings space in the centre of Birmingham, with a considered mix of executive boardrooms, modern seminar and training rooms and premium function suites, all with an upscale feel.
Its launch comes just too late to benefit from the Conservative Party Conference.
Vincent Garrington, General Manager of the BCEC, comments, “With some of the largest new dedicated events space in the city, the response to the BCEC from the market has been overwhelming.”
