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Flexible facilities: from intimacy to immensity

It’s the flexible facilities of Wembley that allow the venue to attract such a variety of events ranging from meetings for ten people in a compact breakout room to a large event, attracting thousands.

Furthermore, as the only purpose built 2,000+ seat London auditoria outside the congestion charge zone, Wembley Conference & Exhibition Centre now offers an added benefit to its clients and customers. Organisers seeking to maximise their event budgets will not have to raise additional funds for expenses incurred by the charge.

The purpose-built, 2,600 seat Grand Hall is ideal for large-scale events, and its state-of-the-art technology, audio visual and lighting systems can create the illusion of an intimate atmosphere for smaller groups.  

With 20 breakout rooms, the Wembley Conference Centre is the ideal venue for events that incorporate breakout seminar sessions or workshops. It was recently put to excellent use by the International Society of Cancer Care Nurses Conference, which included more than 130 presentations from 1,500 delegates.  

Wembley Conference & Exhibition Centre has continually proved its flexibility, the Barclays Corporate Banking Internal Communications conference featured an airport terminal theme for over 18 days. More recently, the UK Radiological Congress combined a medical conference and exhibition, with over 5,000 UK and overseas visitors attending the major annual event.

With a capacity of 12,000 in the Arena, Wembley has hosted large-scale conferences such as the highly publicised National Federation of Women’s Institutes (NFWI), where Tony Blair was a guest speaker.

Events expertise: dedicated event team from start to finish

Organisations using Wembley benefit from advice and planning skills covering everything from technical requirements and catering through to logistics, with a dedicated, experienced operations manager assigned from day one.

Wembley’s operations team has extensive experience working on a wide range of events and take a hands-on advisory role with clients. David Thomson, director of operations, who has over 15 years’ experience at the venue says: “We encourage our clients to share with us the challenges they face and we, in turn, endeavour to deliver innovative and workable solutions.”

“We have the know-how and the facilities to meet challenging, unusual or last minute demands,” Thomson continues. “And as a result, we have several very loyal customers who have staged their events with us for decades – this year, for example, Zurich returned to celebrate 25 years with us.”

In addition, Wembley’s dedicated customer care team offers advice and support to organisers to ensure the smooth running of all events, always going that extra mile to ensure a successful event.”

Michelle Sengputa of the Cobra Group, recently used Wembley to stage the company’s international employee award scheme, she explains: “Wembley offers great value for money and has flexible, comfortable facilities. We continue to be impressed with their professionalism.”

Exclusive catering: food from around the world

Wembley’s exclusive in-house caterers, Letheby and Christopher, ensure first-class catering and sumptuous menus for all that use Wembley’s facilities. Combining traditional English fare and modern cuisine with Asian and Mediterranean influences, the menu offers a wide variety of catering and banqueting options, ranging from breakfast, brunch, finger buffets, fork buffets and canapés to full course sit down dinners.

A key feature is the chef’s table option,  an innovative concept incorporating cookery theatre, where a selection of foods is artistically displayed and presented on chef’s tables – an ideal catering option for informal dinners.

Letheby & Christopher’s, Ann Colleran says, “We are continually analysing the profile of our customers and are able to offer a wide range of dishes to suit all tastes and catering requirements, and we can create individual menus to suit specific needs.”

Corporate hospitality: socialise with the stars

The 12,000 capacity Wembley Arena, one of the UK’s most popular live music and event venues, has corporate hospitality packages, produced by Mark Butler Associates and Sellers Hospitality.

“People do not often realise that corporate hospitality is available at concerts but they present the perfect hospitality opportunity,” says Warren. “A reception before the event ensures that there is a free flow of business ideas and social conversation in conducive surroundings before guests go on to enjoy the atmosphere and live music at the concert.”

Successful corporate hospitality packages at Wembley Arena have included Kylie Minogue, Tom Jones, Barry Manilow, Peter Gabriel and The Rolling Stones.

Packages generally include a drinks reception on arrival, dinner, top price reserved seats, a complimentary bar throughout the evening, souvenir programme and car parking. The Lionel Richie package, for instance, offered post-show music, dancing and a complimentary bar in the Arena restaurant. The Kylie package was so popular that it sold out within 24 hours.

So easy to reach

Accessibility is always of vital importance when selecting a venue and Wembley is located close to major transport routes. With more than 20 million people living within two hours travelling time to Wembley it is one of the best located venues in the UK.
   
Wembley is served by two overland stations, and services from Euston connect to Wembley Central and further afield. Travel from London Marlyebone station to Wembley takes only nine minutes. In addition, nearby Wembley Park underground station provides services into Central London, via the Metropolitan and Jubilee line.

For journeys by car, the major motorways (M1, M4 & M25) are close to Wembley, and Heathrow Airport is only 13 miles away. With extensive car parking facilities onsite, Wembley offers maximum capacity to visitors for all events.

In addition, Wembley now has almost 900 hotel rooms to suit all budgets within a 5 minute walk from the venue including the Wembley Plaza Hotel, Quality Hotel, Premier Lodge & Ibis Hotel, together with two Holiday Inn hotels a short drive away. Visitors, exhibitors and event organisers are able to take advantage of special rates through hotel booking agency First Option.

Bright Future

Wembley Conference & Exhibition Centre has a bright future with the long-awaited construction of its famous neighbour, Wembley Stadium, which began in December 2002, and is scheduled for completion in 2006. Stringent regulations have been agreed with Wembley Stadium to ensure no events will be disrupted or inconvenienced during construction. “Several events have been staged since construction with no disruption whatsoever,” says Julie Warren. “It will be business as usual for us over the next three years.

“The new stadium will bring numerous benefits to the London Borough of Brent, the Wembley area and the entire community. The anticipated transport developments will make the venue even more accessible for visitors and event organisers.”

With flexible facilities, dedicated event managers and a convenient location, Wembley is certain to make your next event an unforgettable success.  

If you would like further information regarding the Wembley Conference & Exhibition Centre write to: Wembley (London) Limited, Elvin House, Stadium Way, Wembley, Middlesex, HA9 0DW. Tel: 020 8795 8096 or visit: www.wembley.co.uk/venues or www.whatsonwembley.com

(This article was originally published in Director of Finance 2004 edition)