15
Business
Select
acquisition
London-based
events agency,
Select Event
Solutions, has
consolidated its
growth with the
acquisition of
professional
conference
organiser, The
Conference
Agency.
Select Event
Solutions was set
up in 2016 by Clare
de Brett, MD, as a
venue-finding
agency and now
supports over 100
events across the
UK. The growing
team supports over
300 meetings and
events annually
across the UK and
Europe.
A.O.B:
M&S Bank new look
The rebranded M&S Bank
Arena in Liverpool has been
unveiled, after M&S Bank
became the official naming
partner of the venue.
Sue Fox, CEO, M&S Bank,
said: “We’re proud to be the
official naming partner of
Liverpool’s top venue for
music, sport, comedy and
family entertainment, and it’s
a proud moment for us to see
the rebrand complete.”
GOOD
MONTH
FOR:
Creative agency
Rapiergroup has
been announced as
the new event
management
company for UK AD
and World Biogas
Expo 2019 at the
NEC, 3-4 July.
BAD
MONTH
FOR:
De Vere Cranage
Estate, Cheshire,
has unveiled the
£200,000
refurbishment of its
meetings and
events spaces.
Budget airline Ryanair
has posted a net loss
of £19.6m for the last
three months of 2018.
The airline had cut
fares in the face of
what it called “excess
winter capacity in
Europe”.
DDR up 10%, says MIA
Meetings venues across the UK have overcome a
challenging economy to experience a 10% rise in
delegate day rates (DDR) over the last four years,
according to figures gathered by the Meetings
Industry Association (MIA).
Despite the ongoing economic uncertainty and a
slowdown in the rate of GDP growth, the average
DDR among MIA members rose by 2% in 2018 to
£43.48, continuing the steady upward trend
noted since miaTouchstone started tracking rates
in 2015.
Venues in the South West and East Midlands
were among those with the highest rate rises.
Both regions saw an increase of 20% in their DDR
rates in 2018 while residential rates rose around
25%.
Average 24-hour residential rates reported by
the MIA member venues to the online
benchmarking tool also rose by 2% in 2018
compared to those in 2017 with the latter months
showing a bigger uplift.
While rates rose, so too did the average number
of meetings. Despite an immediate drop off in
activity levels following the EU Referendum in
2016, the industry bounced back to experience
12% growth in 2018.
www.conference-news.co.uk
Republic record
Hotel sales and marketing and
representation company, Hotel
Republic, has posted a record
turnover of £10.2m for its hotel
conference portfolio for 2018,
including invoicing £1.2m in
hotel fees alone.
The agency also booked its
biggest ever event worth
£1.7m during the period, as
well as 75,000 room nights
which translated into £8.2m
for its leisure hotel portfolio.
Hotel Republic is celebrating
its 15th year this year and MD
Kai Schomann admitted it was
a blow to lose its original client,
Movenpick, after the takeover
by Accor. However, he added,
the new wins mean he will be
hiring new sales staff in 2019.