Barbican is launching a new boardroom hire initiative, which it says will revitalise the way small meetings are organised.

Recognising that the format of meetings is changing, and that clients frequently need a fully equipped, ready-made meeting space at short notice, from summer 2013 Barbican will offer its Boardroom for hire as a pre-packaged commodity, which can be hired without booking in advance.

Available 7 days a week, the Boardroom is a fully furnished meeting space with interactive walls, top quality AV equipment, beverage facilities and a dedicated reception area.

Barbican believes this new method of hiring the venue will offer people attending meetings in the city greater flexibility, and provides the foundation for how meetings will be arranged in future.

Anthony Hyde, general manager, Barbican Business Events, says: “Barbican found that there was a significant gap in the market for meetings being held in the City. Many people want space in which to conduct business at the last minute but don’t know where to go. The thinking behind the initiative is to provide companies and organisations with an extension to their office. Theoretically, people wishing to use the space can just show up and if it is available use it then and there for an hour, half or full day. The Boardroom can be booked as late as the day of the meeting. The current Boardroom has been redesigned to provide a place to harness creativity and discussion. With both digital and interactive facilities available, the Boardroom has the capability to be used for a variety of meeting types.”

On a business level, the initiative will allow the Barbican to significantly boost occupancy levels in the Boardroom as it becomes a more manageable space with huge client appeal.

Send to Kindle

The post Barbican responds to clients by selling space differently appeared first on Exhibition Industry News.

Dimension 8, the full service supplier to exhibitions and conferences, has announced it’s takeover of Design Matters (Furniture Hire) Ltd today, Monday March 18, 2013. Design Matters is a long standing and highly respected supplier of event furniture with a twenty year history of providing prestigious, high quality furniture to every conceivable type of event.

The takeover is the latest step in Dimension 8′s continued growth strategy, following on the heels of a record breaking year, new appointments, expansion of premises and investments in new equipment. Design Matters’ goodwill and depth of stock significantly enlarges and enhances Dimension 8s furniture capabilities and, perhaps more importantly, this takeover now firmly positions Dimension 8 as a major competitor in the furniture hire business.

By moving the entire Design Matters stock to its Newport warehouse, Dimension 8 is ensuring control over quality and service whilst giving it a competitive edge in terms of simplifying logistics, reducing opportunities for human error, and minimising the environmental footprint by sharing loads with its other services.

Jon Porter, Dimension 8′s sales director, explained the importance of the move for the firm “Design Matters is a leading supplier in the furniture hire business, and with its acquisition we’re making a clear statement that we’re serious about furniture. We’ve always been able to supply conference and exhibition furniture, but the sheer quality and depth of Design Matters’ stock means that we can now offer our existing clients a greatly improved range of real designer furniture, whilst simultaneously expanding the business into new sectors and markets.”

Send to Kindle

The post Design Matters to Dimension 8 appeared first on Exhibition Industry News.

Having supplied the original screw-jack pedestals that support the raised access paving at the entrance to ExCeL London, Buzon UK has recently delivered a further consignment to the international exhibition and convention centre, as the paving has been relaid to create a new look.

In total, Buzon UK has supplied 15,000 adjustable, freestanding screw-jack pedestals for the ExCeL project and they now carry some 2,500m² of granite paving. When the paving was relaid, all the existing pedestals were reused and additional units were only ordered because the new paving tiles are smaller than the originals so extra supports were required.

Buzon’s pedestal range is used on prestigious architectural projects throughout the world to deliver outstanding functionality and cost performance. Designed to create raised access external and internal floors, the pedestals are corrosion and damp proof. They are manufactured from 80% recycled and 100% recyclable polypropylene to offer an eco friendly solution along with providing durability, stability and strength.

Mike Wilderink, Managing Director of Buzon UK, comments: “The live load capabilities at the entrance to ExCel are extremely high because, as well as pedestrian traffic, it’s used for vehicle access; vehicles will be parked on the deck for the Motor Show. Buzon UK’s pedestals are designed to support up to a two tonne load per unit so are ideal for this application and offer proven performance.”

The post Buzon UK’s pedestals are installed at ExCeL London appeared first on Exhibition Industry News.

In 2009, an on-site Waste Pre-Treatment Centre was opened at the NEC with a target of recycling 50% of the venue’s waste by the end of 2013.

In January 2011, aware that focusing on large items such as cardboard and metal was not going to be enough, a further initiative was introduced. The resultant in-house ‘Take the Waste Out’ campaign has seen the facilities management team working closely with the catering department to segregate all catering waste at source into cardboard, glass, food, dry mixed recycling and general waste.

The result is that a minimum of 50% of total site waste is recycled through the on-site Waste Pre-Treatment Centre and baled or sorted for collection by a network of local suppliers.

Food waste is sent to an anaerobic digestion plant where it helps generate electricity for homes in Staffordshire and any waste that isn’t dealt with through the NEC centre is sent for further sorting to a local Materials Recycling Facility. The facility recycles between 70% and 90% of the waste it receives, with residues going to the local energy-from-waste plant

The current status

The NEC reached its “zero waste to landfill” in just three years (in September 2012), and from September to December 2012, recorded an impressive average recycling rate of 87% which included 108 tonnes of cardboard, 127 tonnes of wood and 43 tonnes of paper.

In January 2013, the NEC confirmed that waste management charges to organisers were to be frozen for 2013. Previously, clients saw a rise in cost annually due to inflation and a simultaneous increase in landfill tax. Now, because the NEC is longer sending waste to landfill, there’s not tax so there’s no requirement to pass that cost on to clients.

What our people say…

Kathryn James, Managing Director, NEC said: “We are thrilled to be in a position where our efforts to reduce and recycle our waste have resulted in benefits to our clients.

“Achieving our “zero waste to landfill” goal ahead of schedule affirmed our greener venue credentials and we’re proud that this claim is more than just words; we’re recycling, we’re taking full responsibility for it from the start through to the conclusion of the process, and we’re communicating that to our clients.

“Now that we’ve created a sustainable difference through waste management – which we demonstrated further through our collaborative work with the Skills Show – we can focus on retaining our position as a leading and unique event venue which can adapt its offering to the market.”

Some related activity

As a part of the NEC’s corporate social responsibilities and green initiatives, the venue team are always looking at ways to significantly reduce and recycle waste, and to choose suppliers who share that vision.

The NEC assisted the Skills Show team to re-use 120 tonnes of top soil that was used on one of the show’s skills areas in 2012, rather than disposing of it. The venue’s waste management team approached Solihull Sustain, the local support, representation and development service for all Voluntary & Community Sector organisations serving the people of Solihull, which encouraged Newlands Bishop Farm in Catherine De Barnes to re-use the soil.

The joint venture successfully provided Newlands Bishop Farm (NBF), a project which gives people with learning disabilities and mental health problems, the opportunity to learn work based skills, with an opportunity to test new skills.

In another project, Warwickshire based sculptor Luke Burton approached Steve Cartmell, Cleaning and Waste Manager at the NEC, to see if the venue could help his latest project by providing recyclable materials for him to shape into a sculpture to be displayed on the NEC site (also 2012).

The materials were provided and the finished statue, entitled “Beyond All Limits,” was received by The Worshipful The Mayor of Solihull, Councillor Ken Hawkins and The Mayoress of Solihull, Mrs Janet Hawkins, on behalf of the NEC, in an official unveiling ceremony at the site. The 18 foot sculpture, made from recycled stainless steel, aluminium and titanium, is now displayed for visitors to enjoy beside the Lake at the NEC.

The post NEC Zero Waste To Landfill Case Study appeared first on Exhibition Industry News.