Monty The Mascot's Ramblings

What we did this Summer?

Saving you time and money.

We pride ourselves in providing the best personal service available to find and book hotel accommodation, meetings, conferences and much, much more and this not only in the UK but worldwide.

Our Operations team always negotiate the Best Available Rates at the time of the booking and although we often make savings for our clients, we rarely "brag" about it. 

Here is just one example of how we have excelled recently.

Our client needed to organise a 3 day conference for 17 delegates, with accommodation and long haul flights in Dubai.  She contacted nexusvenue to see what we could do.

nexusvenue investigated and negotiated fantastic rates saving the client over £2600, beating the previous travel agents rates and the rates available online.  Then, with the go ahead from our client, we contacted a trusted company who specialise in a variety of extra services that may be required by conference bookers.  They were able to secure great flights for all delegates and negotiated better rates making a saving of £600. 

The client was very happy because she had one point of contact – us – and got all the specialists help that she needed.  Not only did this free up her time to concentrate on the conference itself but it also saved her company more than £3200.

For more information about the company we used or for help with your conference contact me, Sylvain, on 01793 739283 or email me on sylvain@nexusvenue.co.uk

August Press Release

As new members of the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce we were asked to submit a press release and though you might find it interesting.

In these times of economic uncertainty  businesses have worked hard to reduce costs and make efficiencies to ensure that they are running a "tight ship" and make certain of survival.   With all this belt tightening the importance of a good and committed work force is not to be underestimated.  Staff need to work harder to justify their place but equally they want and deserve to be valued and appreciated.  One of the ways that businesses can reward staff for their extra efforts is by arranging away days when they can not only enjoy time away from the workplace but also have the opportunity to improve their skills through team building exercises and brain storming sessions on ideas for the business "thinking outside the box" as the "in" phrase goes.

Sylvain Bouteiller of nexusvenue has certainly found that more and more companies are looking to provide something different in training sessions and away days as an incentive for their staff.  "We have had a number of requests from businesses large and small to arrange events such as this.  It can be just a day away or maybe two but we always get good feedback from how the event has gone and the way that ideas have flowed and, most importantly, how everyone has benefited from time in a different environment. There are many options for how the events can be structured.  Agencies specialising in providing team building games or staff fun days can be brought in.  Alternatively the structure of the away days can be developed in house with a mix of workshop sessions and free time.  Whatever is planned and whatever the budget there is no doubt that companies find that, for their staff, getting away from the workplace for a short spell both to enjoy themselves but also to enter into some meaningful exercises will not only improve the morale but also provide the company with some excellent ideas to take forward."

Apart from rewarding staff it is clearly important in recessionary times that members of staff can focus specifically on the job in hand.  Companies need to identify where members of staff are taking on additional work that can easily be outsourced.  One such example is the booking of hotel rooms and the organising of meetings and conferences.  The time taken to arrange these events with searches and phone calls is too often disproportionate to the task in hand particularly when there are so many other things to do.    Again Sylvain Bouteiller gives his thoughts on this.  "There is no need for someone who already has a backlog of work to get on the phone and endlessly check out hotels and venues.  Agencies such as ours are free to the user and we are the ones who are experienced in finding out what is required and arranging it.  We discuss with the client what is needed – anything from a one night stay to a conference for 1000 people anywhere in the world – then, unless they have a clear idea what they want we  provide them with options and in all cases secure the best price.   Staff time is precious and they need to be able to get on with their day to day work and make sure that they are not overloaded with mundane jobs that can easily be handed over to an outside agency.   The overriding benefit is that  the service is free and agencies have great bargaining power which means that companies can save money as well as releasing staff for other work."

How our clients rate us.

The results of our recent Client Survey have been collated with over 33% of our clients completing the survey - a great response as we know how busy you all are.  Here are some statistics.

For our service for accommodation bookings we scored a staggering 94% excellent overall, leaving 6% scoring us as good.

For our meetings and conferences we attained an overall score of 84% excellent and 16% good.

No-one indicated that they felt we needed to improve!

80% of the responses that we received indicate that our clients contact us for all their accommodation and meeting bookings.   

We are very please to see that many of our clients indicate that they prefer to make their bookings through nexusvenue because of the added support that they receive from the team.  This is particularly good feedback for us and highlights the fact that even if our clients know the venue they want to book it is still worth contacting us at the very beginning of their enquiry in order to receive the full support of our team.

A big 'Thank you' to all those who took part.

Luxury in Dublin

We recently had a presentation from the Four Seasons Hotel in Dublin and were really impressed. The hotel, as you would expect, looks fabulous and they are currently offering accommodation (with breakfast) rates from as low as 165Euro. Contact the team for more info.

Our recent Hotel visits

Sylvain and Louise have just got back from a very enjoyable stay at Chalet Royalp Hotel and Spa in Switzerland.  If you want to find out more about the hotel have a look at our Newsletters page or give Louise a call on 01793 739283.

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE

‘Time is of the essence’ an age old saying that has never been more true.  By contacting us first, as soon as you know your requirements, we will work quickly and efficiently to find a great venue for you.  Even if you know which hotels you would like to try first by passing the work onto us you can concentrate on the rest of your day.  How will you spend the extra time you have saved?    

La Residencia in Mallorca

We recently received a presentation from la Residencia in Mallorca and thought you might be interested click here or contact us for more information

Christmas Greetings

We would like to thank you for visiting the nexusvenue website over 2009 and wish you a relaxing and enjoyable holiday.  

Click here to view our end of year newsletter and for information on how to win a delicious chocolate prize.  

Just to remind you that our offices will be closed from 12 noon 24th December until the 4th January 2010. 

Have a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. 

Are you looking for more than just a conference?

For several years now we have had the pleasure of organising many successful, activity packed conferences with the help of a company called Ovation.  They are an excellent destination management company who have built up many reliable contacts that enable them to cover 18 destinations throughout Europe, the Middle East, South America, South Africa and Asia. 

They can be on hand throughout your event to ensure everything runs smoothly from the ‘meet and greet’ at the airport by a fully qualified, uniformed tour guide right through to the return of your delegates back to the airport. 

Contact us with your ideas and we can find some great venues for you to then work together with Ovation to organise detailed proposals for themed dinners, tours of vineyards or olive groves, visits to museums or galleries and countless fun filled activities on land, on water and in the air! 

Click here to download an example of a proposal.  Then call us to discuss your requirements.

Familiarity with the Venue

Firsthand knowledge of a venue is invaluable but it isn’t always possible to pay a visit before you finally make a decision.  nexusvenue, is an independent venue finder.  We visit many venues and receive presentations and, because we always ask for feedback from events we have booked, we are constantly keeping up to date on venues that we can put forward and recommend.

Making sure all goes to Plan

Attention to detail makes all the difference and it’s so easy to miss something out.  nexusvenue will be with you for every step of your booking from the first enquiry, through the confirmation, contract and any alterations, checking details the day before the event and following up afterwards.

Assessing the Venue

It can be really helpful to visit your chosen venue first to familiarize yourself with the layout of the rooms and meet your contact for the day.  nexusvenue can organise this for you and if you want we can accompany you.  It’s these extra touches that are designed to ensure your meeting or conference runs smoothly.

Value for Money

It is important to be confident that you have the best value that is available but ringing round lots of hotels and comparing rates can be time consuming.  nexusvenue keeps track of all special offers to be had to make sure that we always get the best rate available for you at the time of booking.

Saving Time

Are you plagued by phone calls and emails from hotels and have too little time to deal with them? If hotels are contacting you you can be sure they are contacting us too and it’s our job to take notice of them. You only need one contact at nexusvenue to have access to over 168,000 venues worldwide.  Keep your list of contacts simple and save time.

The choice of venue is critical to the success of your event..

More than 80% of the success of any meeting, conference or accommodation is dependent on the choice of the venue itself.  Spending money in hotels should be looked upon as an investment in your companies future and should not be looked at lightly. 

Consider your requirements fully, look at the venue carefully and book the venue confidently