Academic venues make for a first-rate alternative choice for a wide range of meetings and events.

VENUEMASTERS offers a professional venue finding service, searching the facilities for events at over 80 UK academic venues. It has been promoting the facilities available for commercial hire for over 25 years and has worked hard to bring public perceptions of the facilities in line with the reality of the offer.

The conference and accommodation departments at academic venues directly benefit from continued programmes of investment in facilities. Developments regularly take place in an attempt to attract students in the highly competitive higher education market.

Award-Winning Facilities
The quality of facilities and service at academic venues is now being recognised in the form of industry accolades. Examples include imago, the conferencing brand at Loughborough, which has collected an outstanding six awards in 2009 alone. In April, a bumper award crop was collected. A trophy for corporate and social responsibility was presented to the team at the Cost Sector Catering Awards, imago took Silver for Business Tourism at the national final of the Enjoy England Excellence Awards and then won the Success Through People category of the Leicestershire Business Awards.

Award-Winning Catering
The quality of the catering at academic venues is also receiving recognition, with many boasting award-winning catering teams. Keele Conferences’ head chef Allan Jones this year won The University Caterers Organisation's (TUCO) competition to find the best chef from universities across the country. He also won the Taste of Staffordshire Master Chef of the Year competition.

Relax and Recharge
Many venues can offer sport and leisure facilities on campus for guests to take advantage of during their stay. Facilities include swimming pools, gymnasiums, badminton and squash courts. There are also bar and lounge areas to relax in after a busy day.

Accredited Accommodation
There are now over 60,000 en-suite bedrooms available plus many new en-suite campus developments planned.

Conference Aston in Birmingham offers a choice of over 160 luxurious en-suite bedrooms boasting four-star standard accommodation available throughout the year.

Availability Year-Round
While many venues will timetable their availability for events around student teaching during term time, over 35 venues now have dedicated facilities available year-round for commercial use. Some are situated on the main University campus, while others are in a separate location. Weetwood Hall Conference Centre & Hotel in Leeds is owned by the University of Leeds, yet is located four miles from the city centre on its own parkland estate. Owned by The University of Manchester, Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre is set in five acres of landscaped grounds.

Flexible Facilities
From a small meeting room for two people to a lecture theatre for 1,600, academic venues can provide a range of flexible facilities on campus. The Rose Bowl, Leeds Metropolitan University’s new state-of-the-art conferencing facility, opened its doors in April 2009. It’s ideal for gala dinners, product launches, award ceremonies, conferences and exhibitions and can accommodate up to 600 delegates reception style and 400 theatre style by linking two lecture theatres.

State-Of-The-Art Surprise
It’s not only traditional buildings that offer unique settings, there are a host of state-of-the-art facilities with a ‘wow’ factor all of their own. The East Midlands Conference Centre is a purpose-built conference centre located at The University of Nottingham providing extremely flexible meeting space.

Ask the Experts
For more details about VENUEMASTERS and the academic venues represented, call 0114 249 3090 or visit www.venuemasters.co.uk

Top Class
A roll call of outstanding academic venues offering top notch facilities and a high level of service to match.

Askham Bryan College
Askham Bryan College is situated in the heart of Yorkshire with excellent access from the A1 & A1(M) and only four miles from York City Centre.
Its beautiful campus is perfect for conferences, meetings and events of various sizes. The Campus also lends itself as a perfect team building environment.

Bangor Business School’s Management Centre
Visit Bangor Business School’s Management Centre and marvel at the way the Grade II listing building has been transformed to provide a fusion of history with luxurious contemporary interior design – a perfect setting for all your conferences, meetings and special events.

Bangor University
Bangor University Conference Service has recently been announced as winner in the Award for Conference and Event Management by two regional publications. The award reflects the outstanding packages and facilities that the venue offers to corporate, charitable, academic, private and public organisations; catering for a range of events, from team building days and small meetings to large seminars and product launches.

Bangor University is easily accessible by public transport and is set in stunning surroundings. It boasts meeting rooms which can accommodate 5 to 500 guests, and a modern and fully equipped sports complex. It has built a reputation based on quality, attention to detail and a personal approach.

Durham University
Day conferencing is available at Durham University all year round, for up to 170 delegates, theatre style. Residential Conferences can be accommodated in vacation period for up to 400 delegates.

Venues range from Durham’s medieval Castle to a modern purpose-built conference centre; all this in one of Britain’s most historic and beautiful cities.

Northumbria University
Northumbria University offers excellent conference facilities in a city centre location. From a small boardroom meeting to a residential conference for up to 400 delegates, it can cater for your accommodation, meeting and hospitality requirements, supported by state-of the-art IT equipment with professional technical staff on hand to assist.

Partnership for Learning Centre of Excellence
Partnership for Learning Centre of Excellence is a unique, purpose-built facility based in Liverpool close to John Lennon Airport. Open since 2001 and attracting business locally and nationally, it is now promoting its brand new function menus ideal for sit down luncheons and prestigious company dinners. The Lecture Theatre converts in 200m2 of space, ideal for hosting luncheons and evening function dinners, all prepared by the in-house head chef and served by the venue’s professional team of banqueting staff. Every aspect of your event is taken care of and planned in detail with the dedicated Events Team.

The Education Centre
The Education Centre offers excellent conference, seminar and IT facilities, including three large conference rooms and five seminar rooms. Set in its own well-maintained grounds with ample free parking and disabled access, the Centre is centrally located within the Tees Valley, close to A19 & A1 networks, Durham Tees Valley airport and rail links. Room hire includes as standard:
PowerPoint projection, DVD/video, internet, flipcharts and unlimited Fairtrade beverages and cookies. 

University of Leeds
The University of Leeds offers a comprehensive range of facilities for the conference organiser close to the heart of this vibrant city. It has the infrastructure in place to ensure that your event runs smoothly at half the price of a hotel or specialist conference venue – better facilities, better audio-visual equipment, dedicated and experienced staff.

In addition, its Clarence Dock apartments offer city-style en-suite accommodation next to the Royal Armouries for under £25. So whether your need is for interviews, training events, large residential conferences, exhibitions, banquets or overnight bed and breakfast – the experienced team is dedicated to delivering satisfaction, every time.

University of Leicester
Leicester Conferences is the dedicated conference and accommodation team within the University of Leicester. It offers some of the best year-round conference and event facilities in the East Midlands region, combined with over 50 years’ experience in providing excellent service and value for money.

This year it also won a national industry award from Meetings and Incentive Travel Magazine as the best value for money conference centre in the UK. This award was based on customer votes, which it feels reflects well on its ability to support customers in these difficult economic times.

University of Manchester
The University of Manchester provides a wide range of venues, from boardrooms to seat 4 up to a purpose-built lecture theatre for 1,000 delegates as well as over 4,500 bedrooms, an event management service and competitive day delegate rates.

This means it can offer organisers value for money and flexible choices for any event.