Latest News
University of Leeds’ Vice Chancellor Michael Arthur with Director for National Team Management in the Chinese Olympic Committee, Mr Yang
Wheelchair Rugby, invented in Canada, was originally called 'Murderball'.
University of Leeds hosts Olympians
MEETinLEEDS is proud to announce that it will be hosting training camps for two international London 2012 teams.
China
The Chinese Olympic Committee have announced that the sporting superpower will base most of its 300 athletes - from at least 11 sports - at the University of Leeds next July for its pre-Games training ahead of the London 2012 Games.
The athletes coming to Leeds will be representing their country pending qualification in mountain biking, fencing, modern pentathlon, athletics, swimming, women's water polo, women's handball, women's hockey, table tennis, boxing and taekwondo. Discussions are also ongoing regarding a number of other Olympic sports.
China are a world superpower at Olympic level, having topped the medal table in their home Olympics in Beijing in 2008, claiming 51 golds and a total of 100 medals overall.
Richard Handscombe, Head of Sales & Marketing for events at the University of Leeds comments: “This is a fantastic honour for the University and for the region. We have very high quality facilities and I am very pleased that the Chinese recognised that they would provide a superb training camp for their top athletes. We can’t wait to welcome them here.”
Director for National Team Management in the Chinese Olympic Committee Mr Yang said: "Officials from the Chinese Olympic Committee have visited a range of sports facilities in Leeds and Yorkshire. We are confident that Leeds and Yorkshire will make a very good pre-Olympic training camp base for our sports teams and that our athletes will be very happy with the arrangements we are making in Leeds for our preparations for the London 2012 Olympic Games."
Canada
One of the fastest and most brutal Paralympic sports has chosen The University of Leeds for its training camps prior to the Paralympics. The Beijing bronze medal winning Canadian wheelchair rugby team will be at the University for three pre-games camps in the run-up to London 2012.
Naturally, the superb indoor sports facilities and catering at the University play a big part in such a decision, but crucially, our hotel-style residence, Storm Jameson Court came to the fore, having 23 accessible bedrooms amongst its total of 460.
Richard Handscombe, Head of Sales & Marketing for events at the University of Leeds comments: “I had never seen this sport played prior to meeting the Canadians on their site visit, but now appreciate the sheer excitement of wheelchair rugby. We are immensely proud to have been chosen as their training base.”
Andy Van Neutegem, performance director for Canadian Wheelchair Rugby, said: “After careful evaluation, the University of Leeds was chosen as it best met the training needs of our team and, in particular, the flexibility and accessibility of the excellent facilities and accommodation. Their sport and supporting facilities are sports specific and are certainly to international standards.”
We are delighted that Team Canada have subsequently decided that Leeds is indeed to be their training venue, and look forward to the first of three training camps this summer.
Speaker Speaks at Conference Auditorium
The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow MP, and Iby Knell, Holocaust survivor, welcomed over 250 Members of the Youth Parliament to Leeds last week at the UK Youth Parliament’s 11th annual sitting.
The event, held on campus in our Conference Auditorium, allowed its young Members the chance to help shape the future of UK Youth Parliament campaigns and featured talks on the importance of living in a free society where we can speak without fear of arrest or persecution.
The conference was a great success with many Members choosing to use social networks to talk about our facilities on campus (not the first time we’ve had good feedback via twitter).
@NathSK tweeted about the bedrooms at Storm Jameson Court: “WOAH MY GOODNESS. This room is actually better than mine!” and @SophiaaPink told us that she was “Having an AMAZING time in Leeds with @UKYP”.
Deputy Member of Youth Parliament, Jay Newton, also showed his appreciation for the “great accommodation” in his blog.
Find out more about the Conference Auditorium and Storm Jameson Court.
Over 1,600 delegates find Medieval Sanctuary
The University’s Bodington Hall has recently played host to the 17th Annual International Medieval Congress, the biggest academic event of its kind in the UK.
This year’s Congress looked at the gulf between the rich and poor, examining the views taken by medieval societies to these issues and comparing them to today’s. The delegates were entertained by a ‘Music of Middle Earth’ performance paying homage to the inspiration that J.R.R. Tolkien, who worked at the University of Leeds from 1920 to 1925, derived from his time as a medieval scholar.
Delegates were also treated to food-tasting workshops highlighting the delicacies of medieval times, as well as various other musical performances of hymns and folk music of the era.
Bodington Hall has been hosting the event for the past 17 years and its pleasant surroundings and excellent facilities have made it a popular venue for the delegates that attend the Congress. The Main Conference Room can accommodate 280 theatre-style and there are several smaller rooms with a capacity for 12 to 120 delegates. All rooms are flat floored with natural daylight and black-out facilities.
Find out more about Bodington Hall.
MEETinLEEDS puts Customer First
Following a rigorous assessment process, MEETINLEEDS has renewed its prestigious Customer First accreditation, building on the award first achieved two years ago after becoming the first such organisation in the country to achieve full compliance with the standard.
Customer First is the national standard for customer service, aimed at promoting excellent service delivery at the customer interface. The assessor examined the measures put in place to monitor the relationships MEETINLEEDS has with all of its customers and exampled all areas of customer service, including accommodation, catering, maintenance and repair logging etc.
Richard Handscombe, Head of Sales & Marketing for MEETINLEEDS commented "We recognise the vital importance of service quality, especially in the current competitive climate; this is a fantastic achievement which makes us part of an exclusive group of organisations who demonstrate true customer service excellence".
There will be no resting on laurels though - MEETINLEEDS has a commitment for constant improvement, and are putting in place even more measures to test and improve customer service, including Mystery Buyers, and revised feedback systems.
Sales team bag super score in secret shopping
The conference sales team at MEETinLEEDS has just received a high score of 97.2% from a recent Mystery Shopping survey.
Customer service is something that ranks highly for the sales team at the University of Leeds’ conference department and so they are constantly striving to make sure that each customer gets the best experience possible: from making the first enquiry; the show-round and then booking the final venue.
With this in mind the team take part in a Mystery Shopping programme that tests the level of service they offer. Last year’s programme focused on the initial enquiry and tested the team’s telephone and booking skills. This year the shopper also tested the team’s show-round skills marking them on being polite, friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.
Head of Sales and Marketing, Richard Handscombe said: "the Mystery Shop is an important way of assessing how well we look after our customers’ needs and I’m delighted, but not surprised, that the team have done so well. I know that we’ll continue to make sure that our customers always receive such a positive experience."
Read our latest blog post to find out more about our Mystery Shopper.
New accommodation available to book online for city breaks
Storm Jameson Court, the University's newest residence, is now taking online bookings for guests looking for a short break in Leeds.
Storm Jameson Court, on the main campus and close to the city centre, has 460 en-suite state-of-the-art bedrooms and at just £40 per room is the perfect place for guests looking for a budget stay in one of the UK's most popular cities.
Named after a former University of Leeds student, Margaret Storm Jameson - a prolific 20th century writer, the hotel-style building offers junior double beds (available for single or double occupancy) and features floor-to-ceiling windows, data access, room safes, free internet access and an IPTV facility. The accommodation has already been described by one guest as "...the highest standard that I have personally seen in University halls".
Guests can check availability and book online directly from our website by visiting our Short Breaks page, which also includes details of Clarence Dock Apartments - located on the River Aire and available for just £24 pppn.
Find out more about the accommodation the University offers to guests during the summer by visiting www.meetinleeds.co.uk/shortbreaks.
Conference Team on Tour of Campus
Good news for staff at the University of Leeds: the Conference Team are about to go on tour around the campus once again.
Our new series of tours begins at a brand new venue – the School of Law - on the 23rd March. These well-equipped and comfortable rooms make the ideal meeting venue having the very latest technology, and views to die for!
Our Team on Tour sessions are an ideal opportunity for University staff to meet conference organisers in schools and faculties and show how we can help arrange and bring events into the University.
In the past we have gone on tour in several areas of the University. Our first tour at the Business School (LUBS) was extremely successful and the interest and feedback was excellent. Visitors told us that they had been able to gain a better understanding of the venues across the University, and of our comprehensive services. We also confirmed a number of meetings and conferences during our last tour, which underlines the effectiveness of the tours.
This is a chance for staff to meet YOUR conference team at the University of Leeds, and use our skills and facilities to keep business in the family!
If you would like more information, or would like us to come and meet you personally, please contact Lisa Wood on 36100 or email enquiries@meetinleeds.co.uk
MEETINLEEDS to give a great Yorkshire welcome at Confex
The University of Leeds, under its conference brand MEETinLEEDS is excited to be returning to Confex after a break of several years, where it will partner with Conference Leeds, on the Welcome To Yorkshire stand (No. B341).
MEETinLEEDS Head of Sales & Marketing, Richard Handscombe, said “It’s so good to be back at our sector’s leading exhibition. And this year we have a great story to tell, following investment of nearly £40m, including a 460-bed, hotel style residence, leisure facilities and a swimming pool”.
The Welcome to Yorkshire stand is destined to create a real buzz at this year’s Confex, on the back of their great promotional campaign, with something happening every day, including champagne breakfasts, Pimms & strawberries, a “Scent Bar”, and a cool saxophonist.
Richard added “many of our new developments have been tailored especially to appeal to the association market, so the Association Day on 1st March will be a great day to meet our existing clients as well as hopefully, many new ones”.
Find out more about International Confex.
University Chefs reach Salon Culinaire finals
Three chefs from the University of Leeds are celebrating after achieving a Merit as they reached the finals of Salon Culinaire, held at the NEC in Birmingham in January.
Simon Wood, Lisa Hall and Chris Johnson took part in the 'Rational Master Chefs Grand Prix' in the Live Theatre competition where they were also awarded a medal of excellence and a certificate for hygiene standards.
Head Chef Simon Wood said, “It’s fantastic to be able to take our chefs to a competition well known for its high standards in the catering industry and come back with a result like this.”
Find out more about the University's Catering Service.
University of Leeds caterer recognised in New Year’s Honours
Beverley Kenny, Head of Catering and Event Management at the University of Leeds, has been appointed MBE in the 2011 New Year’s Honours.
The award recognises her work in conference and event management and her contribution to the student community through student catering.
Beverley has worked at the University of Leeds – the UK’s second largest university - since 1988, becoming Head of Catering and Event Management in 1996.
The statistics of catering at such a large University are impressive: Beverley heads up the conference and events team which manages 16 venues across Leeds. In addition, each and every day Beverley’s team provides around 2,000 student and staff lunches, serves snacks and sandwiches to 8,000 people in campus coffee bars, and delivers around 50 buffets across campus.
Her strong and sustained commitment to Fairtrade gained the University a reputation for its ethical credentials and, in 2005, resulted in the University of Leeds becoming the first UK University to gain Fairtrade status.
Beverley commented on news of the award, “I am truly thrilled, extremely honoured and delighted, particularly for the catering and events team at Leeds; I am just very privileged to be able to accept it on their behalf”.
Find out more about the University's Catering Service, Event Management and Conference Venues.
Getting familiar with our facilities
Christmas came early for some of our venue agency contacts as MEETinLEEDS treated them to a weekend in Leeds.
Focused on the needs of conference agents the sales team hosted the first in a series of familiarisation visits at the end of November to highlight our recent, and significant, developments across our conference portfolio.
Our guests began their visit with a comprehensive tour of the University’s event facilities led by Head of Sales & Marketing, Richard Handscombe and Sales Executive, Natalie Ruecroft.
This year has seen more than £40m worth of investment on the main campus and so this trip was seen as a great opportunity to demonstrate the step change presented by these developments.
Along with our excellent conference facilities, we now boast an extra 460 bedrooms in the, hotel-style, Storm Jameson Court: already being described by one of our clients as “the finest accommodation at any University”. Added to this is “The Edge”, our new sports and fitness complex – offered entirely free to conference delegates.
Later in the evening, a “Call my Bluff” wine tasting at Weetwood Hall, preceded a sumptuous Christmas dinner. The next day brought a winter wonderland as Yorkshire had been carpeted with snow overnight. After a tour of Weetwood Hall, the group boarded a bus for a Blue Badge-guided tour of the city centre, to obtain a better understanding of Leeds as a destination, and of its history.
The tour took in many of Leeds’ landmarks, including the site of the “Penny Bazaar”, where Messrs Marks and Spencer first began trading, and then toured the glamorous Victoria Centre with its range of swish designer stores and restaurants.
Finally, everyone headed back to the University for a superb lunch prepared by our award-winning chefs, before heading for home.
Richard Handscombe comments “this trip was a great opportunity to show our new facilities to industry VIPs, and we look forward to doing more of the same in 2011”.
Lord Bragg opens Storm Jameson Court
The new £27.1 million on-campus accommodation has been officially opened by Chancellor of the University, Lord Melvyn Bragg.
The impressive two-block, 459-bedroom development offers hotel-style accommodation to students during term time and is also available to conference delegates during the summer recess. This facility will enable the University to build its reputation as one of the UK's premier higher education conference destinations.
All rooms are fully en-suite, and have a telephone, data access point, IPTV facility and a safe; 23 rooms are specifically designed to suit occupants with a physical disability.
"Residents - whether they're students or corporate visitors - will enjoy the light, spacious rooms and larger beds," said Richard Handscombe. "They have use of 24-hour reception services and attractive social and kitchen areas.
"We can now offer really top-class support to all University schools and faculties looking for conference venues. As well as offering excellent on-campus accommodation, we can provide a full conference management service including marketing, dealing with all aspects of registration and catering. And, of course, all the income we receive goes to the University, so it makes economic sense to use our conference facilities."
Live at Leeds
Rock band The Who have released a new version of their classic 1970 live album; Live in Leeds 40 years after it was first recorded in our very own Refectory.
Following an extended world tour in 1969 the band was keen to release a live album of the tour. The Refectory at the University of Leeds was selected as the venue for the recording and, originally released in America, Live at Leeds became a huge hit - often cited as being one of the greatest live music recordings available. The New York Times even went so far as to call it "the best live rock album ever made."
Of course The Refectory is no stranger to hosting gigs, just look around the walls of the iconic room and you’ll see lists of some of the world’s greatest artists that have played there. As recently as last month Nick Cave, talking on stage, commented that he’d “...travelled the world over, but nowhere compares to the Leeds University cafeteria."
We tend to agree.
Lights, camera....action!
The Edge, our new state-of-the-art fitness centre, was recently selected as a location photo shoot for the latest limited edition Land Rover Freelander 2.
The images, which will feature in a new promotional brochure, showed the vehicle, with the pool in the background, exploding from the glass!
Darren Pratt, Location Scout for Land Rover said, “As soon as I saw The Edge I knew it was perfect! The glazing around the pool is spectacular and it looks magnificent when lit up. It was by far the best Health and Fitness facility I visited.”
Sue Pimblett, Sales and Marketing Manager from SPA, said “The location shoot was a great way to bring in some added income with minimal effort and with the added bonus of some fantastic PR for The Edge and the University".
Watch out for the new brochure coming soon!
City Break.
Online booking for our £24 per night city-centre bedrooms.
Looking for a keenly-priced base to explore one of the UK’s popular city-break destinations? Then look no further than our Clarence Dock Apartments. Now available to book online!
Clarence Dock is situated on the banks of the River Aire, next to the Royal Armouries Museum, and close to the centre of Leeds. Apart from the fantastic Royal Armouries, with its huge collection of arms and armour, and its jousting and falconry grounds, Clarence dock features restaurants and designer shops, all developed around Leeds’ historic dock basin.
For theatre-goers, the West Yorkshire Playhouse is a few hundred yards away and a ten-minute walk takes you to the heart to the shops, bars and restaurants of the city centre.
All this convenience for £24.00 per night in an en suite room! Find out more, and make an online booking, at www.meetinleeds.co.uk/shortbreaks
Find out more about what to do in Leeds.
Open for business.
New Conference Facility Delivered On-Time.
The keys for our new en-suite residence were officially handed over by construction company Morgan Sindall on 23 July – bang on time.
Storm Jameson Court, on the main campus close to many of our city centre venues, has been kitted out with 460 en-suite state-of-the-art bedrooms in two accommodation blocks, standing at eight and six storeys high, respectively. This development also offers premier league conference facilities to be used during the summer holiday break. The complex is named after a former University of Leeds student, Margaret Storm Jameson, a prolific 20th century writer.
Head of Sales & Marketing, Richard Handscombe said “this is one of the best – if not the best – student residences in the country. It has been built with both student and conference delegates in mind, and some of its features are ground-breaking. Our conference clients will love it”.
The hard work of fitting out the building with soft furnishings and moveable furniture will now continue throughout August. “We already have a conference booked here in September, then it will over to the students until next July, when conferences begin in earnest” said Handscombe, adding “we have a huge string of bookings for this great new building”.
Live.
Our new website is launched.
Last month the last few pixels were put into place on our new website and we finally launched it out into the world (wide web). And we’ve had some great feedback already!
Those of you who read our blog will already know that a new website has been an important part of our plan ever since we launched the new MeetInLeeds brand. As proud as we were of the old site its foundations lay in an old design that no longer suited the size of the conference and events operation at the University of Leeds today.
The new site has had a total overhaul and now has more information than ever on our fantastic facilities. New features include:
- Brand new floor plans (click on the room name in the table at the bottom of each venue)
- Online booking for our short-break accommodation at Clarence Dock
- Testimonials and FAQ pages
- More information on our location including a guide to Leeds
- An image gallery and links to all our latest news, tweets and blog entries!
Matt Hamnett, Ecommerce Coordinator, explains the most important change:
“The greatest feature of our new site is its new layout. Our website gets many visitors all wanting something different, whether it be delivered catering, event management or just driving directions to a particular venue. We wanted our site to be as easy to navigate as possible so we’ve worked hard on making it as simple as possible to find what you’re looking for”.
Take a look at the new site now at www.meetinleeds.co.uk and let us know what you think!
A Real Page-Turner.
Our new brochure is now available digitally.
Ok, so it may not make it into Richard & Judy’s top ten summer reads, but we like it. If you’re looking for a fast and easy way to review our facilities, and show others in your office what you were thinking of, then we think that you’ll like it too.
The eBrochure gives details of the wide range of facilities the University has to offer clients including our Event Management service and Delivered Catering.
It also features the latest additions to our portfolio: Storm Jameson Court and The Edge. Take a look at it here or order a hard copy for yourself by emailing us.
550-Seat Sparkler!
Our flagship theatre, the Conference Auditorium, has undergone a total makeover of the foyer and ground floor area.
The aim was to create a conference-friendly, and stylish space and the result has been very positively greeted by all who have seen it.
As well as totally refreshed décor, new features include automatic external doors, an organisers reception desk, new glass interior doors leading to new glass and stainless steel staircases to the auditorium, and two built-in refreshment points with hot beverage machines.
This project was completed with stylish and contemporary furniture in the foyer, some exterior seating and a wonderful gallery of early photographs taken more than 100 years ago in and around Leeds.
The Conference Auditorium forms the nucleus of a series of facilities ideal for large-scale conferences. Alongside the main auditorium is Auditorium 2, seating 320 delegates, and also in the building, is a gallery ideal for poster-board presentations. An adjoining building contains 1200 square metres of exhibition space, and the nearby Roger Stevens Building offers 25 breakout theatres of varying sizes.
All-in-all, great reasons to make Leeds your next conference destination!
Find out more about the Conference Auditorium.
The Conference Crusader.
Our very own soapbox.
If you’ve been keeping up to date with our Twitter feed, YouTube channel and even this email, then you’ll know by now that we have a lot to tell you!
The Conference Crusader, our Blog, is the latest way we’ve found to keep you up to date with the goings on at MEETinLEEDS.
Sometimes we’ll be talking about Event Management, other times about the best conference idea we’ve seen. Or maybe we’ll use it as a soapbox to highlight what we’re doing in our own lives!
The exciting news is that we have asked some of the leading people in conference and business tourism to be guest bloggers, so that’s another great reason to subscribe!
It's easy to subscribe: just enter your email address into the box at the top of the blog and you’ll be sent updates each time we post!
Read the Conference Crusader.
