Association venue of the month: QEII Centre, London

We recently had the pleasure of using the QEII Centre for one of our own events, Brightelm’s Future Forum. The QEII Centre is renowned for hosting large congresses and conferences from all around the world. With its iconic setting on the doorstep of London’s most famous buildings, Parliament and Westminster Abbey, you can see why this central location is a big hit for clients.

Once inside the impressive QEII Centre, it’s clear where you are headed thanks to their fixed registration desks and branded digital displays. With a warm welcome from the team in the lead-up to the event, it made it easy as a planner to know it would all be taken care of.

Whilst at the QEII we caught up with Mark Green from the venue to find out more about why he thinks it makes an excellent venue for associations.

Where and Why?

‘Located in the heart of Westminster, surrounded by some of London’s most recognisable landmarks including Big Ben and Westminster Abbey, the QEII Centre is easily accessible with excellent transport links throughout London and beyond. As the largest dedicated conference and exhibition space in the area, the Centre has considerable experience hosting international, national and regional association events for up to 2,500.’

The QEII Centre is easily reached from Paddington station (only a 20-minute journey), and with tube stations and public transport links immediately available.

What makes the QEII Centre stand out?

With great views of the city it’s enough to make any visiting attendee get excited about the vibrancy of London. The spaces range from vast to intimate with solutions for all sizes of event, with 32 rooms across seven floors, each room is unique. With its versatile and industrial feel, it allows clients to transform the space and make the most of the large windows looking out across the city.

Planning an event on any scale is helped by the fact QEII Centre have their own in-house AV, QEII Live, and Catering team, QEII Taste. Both of which were in touch with us in advance to ensure that all our needs were taken care of.

‘Our experienced in-house AV and Catering teams are on hand to support clients throughout the event cycle and can provide standard packages or bespoke solutions as required. Sustainability is at the core of our catering with our seasonal menus featuring fresh, locally sourced ingredients whilst our state-of-the-art AV facilities (including hybrid and studio capabilities) will help bring the event to life for delegates attending in person or virtually.’

With even more events incorporating virtual and hybrid, QEII Centre even have QEII Connect, their expert, in-house IT department who can work with you to meet your technological requirements before and during the event. This is a key part of planning any hybrid or virtual event. Whenever we source a venue, it is imperative to check the venue’s IT capabilities.

Even though our own event was small, the service we received was impressive. We would like to thank all the team at the QEII Centre for making the event run smoothly.