Conference News Supplements Meet the Midlands Supplement | Page 9

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Central Station. Formerly a light
railway station, it is an unusual
venue. Hidden behind the mainline
station, you would be forgiven for
missing it. Although shallow in depth,
it is a long building, allowing it to
handle 1,000 delegates quite
comfortably. Surprising, too, is the
roll call of clients it has hosted, from
Krispy Kreme to Superdrug. Retail, it
seems, is a strong client base in the
area.
After a superb dinner at local
Indian restaurant Bilash, I headed to
my hotel for the night. The Mount is
about 10-minutes out of the city
towards the Shropshire Hills. Located
in the heart of suburbia, the quiet
surroundings make this a relaxing
choice for an overnight stay. Indeed,
the hotel is popular with visiting
football teams, as highlighted by the
signed shirts hanging in the
corridors, including Liverpool and
Chelsea.
Birmingham
Day two of my tour saw me drive into
Birmingham City Centre, where I was
scheduled for a hardhat tour of the
new Eastside Rooms. The dedicated
conference and events venue is
under construction alongside a new
Aloft Hotel. Due to open in
September 2020, the city’s newest
events space is in the heart of an
Meet the Midlands
If you could
freeze frame
a moment in
time, this is it.
The working
museum is a
replica of the
area from a
bygone era.
Above: Black Country
Living Museum,
featuring Charlie’s Yard,
location most famous
for its appearances in
Peaky Blinders.
Left: Molineux, home of
Wolverhampton
Wanderers FC.
area underdoing wider
redevelopment, indeed, the planned
HS2 station at Curzon Street is no
more than a couple of hundred of
metres away.
The venue will include a multitude
of events spaces, including the large
Affinity Suite, capable of holding
1,200 delegates. A range of smaller
rooms, including ones with movable
partition walls, will offer versatility.
The next stage of the tour saw me
drive around to the NEC, which these
days is more akin to a resort. In the
last few years more and more has
been added to the UK’s largest
events destination, and for the life of
me I can’t understand how I have
never been into the Vox’s large
events space. I have enjoyed the
glass-walled atrium on a few
occasions, and few areas offer a
better view of this giant facility. But
the conference centre itself is a
worth checking out, especially if
you’re after a premium events
experience, such as an awards night.
The main room, which can be
subdivided into a multitude of layouts
and sizes, can hold 900 at its largest.
And, if you’re wandering where to
put your delegates for the night, then
worry not as yet another hotel has
popped up right in the middle of the
resort. The funky, pink-branded Moxy
Hotel opened in late January 2020
with more than 200 bedrooms.
The final leg of my tour saw me
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make the short journey into the rural
climes of Hampton in Arden, where
behind the trees sits a real events
surprise. Hampton Manor is a stately
home, built by the son of former
British prime minister, and founder of
the Metropolitan Police, Robert Peel.
Today the property is privately
owned, and has been intrinsically
renovated. Today, this well-appointed
venue is a popular choice for
weddings, but is making waves with
the corporate market.
Executive-level board meetings are
common on the booking sheet, and
away days looking to galvanise teams
is also a strong performer. With the
automotive sector a large player in
the region, it is only correct that I
learn the likes of Jaguar-Land Rover
and Aston Martin are regulars.
The Michelin-star Peels
restaurant, which also boasts
four AA Rosettes, is soon to move
from inside the main house to a
newly built building adjoining the
Walled Garden, which incidentally is
where a lot of the food served is
grown. There is also a four-bedroom
cottage, which I learn is a popular
retreat for CEO groups looking to
both do business and relax.
My tour of the region was an
educational one, and I do not do it
justice across just two pages. As the
area is key to the UK plc in terms of
events, it requires further exploring,
so I will have to do just that.