Industry News, November 2009

The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (QEIICC) could be expanded to become central London’s main International Conference Centre (ICC). Despite London Mayor Boris Johnson recently pledging his support for making Docklands-based ExCeL London the capital’s ICC, the Conservative Party has said there is still a need for a second, more centrally located, centre. However, this week Johnson’s chief of staff, Sir Simon Milton, has stated that there is no site in central London suitable for such a development, meaning that the ICC would have to be created from an existing venue. Meanwhile commercial property consultant Driver Jonas has delivered a report to the government on the sale potential of the QEIICC.

The contents will not be officially announced until the pre-budget report next month, but QEIICC’s chief executive, Ernest Vincent, said it would probably conclude that there was no other use for the venue beside meetings and events. “The report was to look at options to look at the best value for the tax payer but planning controls mean it’s unlikely to have any other use,” he said. “Compared to other conference centres the QEIICC is hugely successful. It’s performing extremely well because of its location and I’ve been given instructions to take bookings up to 2013 and beyond.” Vincent believes planning permission could be obtained in order to expand the venue’s capacity – currently 2,500. “Everything is possible in the course of time,” he said, adding that the centre has doubled its end of year profit forecast since reviewing positive half year results. The sale of the QEIICC was announced in July, but Vincent said that no serious offers had yet been received. He was unable to confirm if there were restrictions governing who could buy the venue due to the building’s special security features. The QEII was purpose-built in 1986 as a ‘secure’ conference centre for government and is rumoured to have seven subterranean levels and a tunnel connecting with the Houses of Parliament, although no one at the centre would confirm this.

Luxury car-makers Audi have fine-tuned the top two floors of the new seven-storey West London Audi into new events space the Audi quattro rooms. Based at the top of the new Audi centre, near Chiswick, the venue incorporates board rooms, meeting rooms and the ‘Audi Lounge’ private screening room, which can accommodate between four and 40 delegates. The venue is also available for exclusive hire and can entertain up to 300 guests over its two integrated floors. Designed by Miguel Beleza, the quattro rooms echo Audi’s brand values, incorporating touch screen technology, Bang & Olufsen Beovision screens, complimentary Wi-Fi and high speed video conferencing. The Audi quattro rooms’ lower floor will also display a collection of the latest Audi models and up to nine perfectly preserved historic cars.

Loughborough University conference brand Imago is to invest over £200K in upgrading the Holywell Park site. Stage 1 will be completed in January 2010 and will see a retractable seating system installed in the Stephenson lecture theatre.  Capacity will increase by over 25%.

Cambridge’s Moller Centre has completed the refurbishment of its Study Centre, extending facilities for training and conferences.

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) has unveiled plans to open a new 254-bedroom hotel in Westminster in London. The new InterContinental London Westminster Hotel is scheduled to open in late 2011 at an estimated cost of £100million. It will occupy the former Queen Anne’s Chambers building – a 120,000sq ft office and retail site near New Scotland Yard. Proposed facilities include 218 guest rooms, 23 studios, 12 suites plus a presidential suite. It will include a restaurant and bar, a gym and a club lounge. Conference and banqueting facilities have not been published. IHG has secured a 20-year management deal with Splendid Hotel Group to operate the property. The InterContinental London Westminster Hotel will be the second InterContinental Hotel in the capital. It will join the existing 447-bedroom InterContinental London Hotel at Hyde Park Corner.

The Barbican in London, Europe’s largest combined arts and conference centre, has made a number of significant changes to its technical facilities to reduce the centre’s environmental impact. Changes to the lighting technology as well as re-wiring to meet the latest industry standards, will save around 64,000kwh plus cost savings in excess of £5,000 per year for the Barbican Theatre space alone. Other improvements during recent months have included the addition of a centre aisle in the Barbican Theatre, making the space more accessible for conferences and commercial usage. Sound and video infrastructure, emergency lighting, disabled access and signage have also been upgraded in recent months. Barbican, head of corporate sales, Anthony Hyde: “To remain commercially sustainable, particularly during difficult trading times it is vital that venues maintain their facilities and re-invest according to client needs and changing markets. However, such changes cannot be at the expense of the key infrastructure and hidden facilities that ultimately ensure successful client events. Our balanced approach has ensured our ongoing growth and success.”

The Moran Hotel Group has been granted planning permission for an extension to the Chiswick Moran Hotel in London. The extension will see the addition of 81 new bedrooms bringing the total up to 200, an extra 16 meeting rooms, a banqueting facility which will cater for up to 300 people, support areas and an additional underground parking facility for 90 cars. The projected investment is estimated at £20million. Owner of the Moran Hotel Group, Tom Moran, is looking forward to getting started on the project: “We’re delighted to be able to announce good news and a much needed boost to the local economy. With the London Olympics just around the corner, we’ll be well prepared for it with a great extension that is going to be every bit as stylish and contemporary as the rest of the Chiswick Moran Hotel.”

The architects for the project will be Project Orange, the same architects who designed the 4 star hotel for its opening in 2006. The Chiswick Moran Hotel is situated in Chiswick High Road just off the Chiswick Roundabout in West London. Gunnersbury tube station (District Line) is 400m from the hotel. The Moran Hotel Group is an Irish family-owned hotel group with two properties in London: The Crown Moran Hotel in North London and the Chiswick Moran Hotel in West London. In March 2008, the group took ownership of the six Bewley’s Hotels including two in the UK at Manchester Airport and in Leeds City Centre.

The Royal Garden Hotel in London has started the next phase of its refurbishment programme which will be due for completion in March 2010. The refurbishment will result in a new-look lobby, a new restaurant and further bedroom refurbishments. The Lobby will be closed from 23rd November and will reopen18th January. During this period the reception and concierge desks will be relocated to the lower ground floor. Berties Bar will be closed from 6th December through to 17th January. The Park Terrace will close 13th December and the new restaurant and bar will reopen 22nd March. During this period guests will have the choice of breakfast via room service or in Min Jiang located on the tenth floor of the hotel. 94 bedrooms on the 5th & 6th floor bedrooms will be restyled starting 23rd November with completion scheduled for April 2010. The work is part of a larger investment plan which will see all areas of the hotel redesigned and updated by spring 2012.

Holiday Inn London-Kensington Forum, the largest Holiday Inn in the world with 906 bedrooms is celebrating the completion of its one-year refurbishment programme. This includes 18,000 m2 of carpet replaced – the equivalent of nearly three Wembley Stadium football pitches; 800 new beds and 4,800 new pillows.

The United States Government has agreed to sell its embassy building in Grosvenor Square in London to a Qatari sovereign wealth-backed developer, reports Times Online. The investment group has not yet given full details of its plans for the site, but it is thought to be planning a luxury hotel and residential apartments. The Chancery building, which was granted Grade II listed status last month, has been home to the US Embassy in Britain for almost half a century. The building has 600 rooms on nine floors. There is currently a Marriott and a Millennium Hotel in Grosvenor Square. Hotel companies who are thought to be interested in this prime Mayfair location are likely to include Hyatt, InterContinental, Taj Hotels, Jumeirah, Hilton and Starwood. The US Government is planning a new £500million London Embassy on a five acre site in the Nine Elms regeneration area, a site which also includes Battersea Power Station. Wandsworth Council has granted outline consent for the new scheme which is not due for completion before 2017. The US Embassy will remain in Grosvenor Square until its new building is completed.

A 218-bedroom Holiday Inn is planned for the new Media City UK complex in Manchester. Peel Leisure has signed a franchise agreement with InterContinental Hotels Group for the hotel which is planned to open autumn 2011.The hotel will feature a restaurant and bar, meeting rooms and leisure facilities.

Hilton Garden Inn Luton Airport is a new 250 bedroom hotel which is planned at the airport. Property company, The Ability Group, is to develop the hotel on a site on Kimpton Road, next to Luton Parkway station and close to London Luton Airport. Building is expected to start later this year with an opening scheduled for 2011. This will be the second Garden Inn property in Luton. Hilton Garden Inn Luton North opened last year.

Following last year’s opening of the H10 Roma Città hotel in the Italian capital, the company is proud to announce the upcoming opening of its first hotel in the United Kingdom, the H10 London Waterloo. Located in well-known Waterloo Road, it is only a few minutes away from Waterloo Station and conveniently located and easily connected to any destination in central London. The Hotel will offer 177 rooms (many with fantastic views over some of the city’s landmarks such as the London Eye or the Gherkin building), 4 meeting rooms with availability up to 80 people, a Restaurant with Mediterranean Cuisine and a Health & Beauty Area on the 8th floor with excellent views over the city as well.