First venues accredited for healthcare meetings initiative

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Radisson Blu London Stansted Airport, Crowne Plaza London Heathrow, Melia White House, London and the De Vere Staverton Park, Daventry are the first four venues to pass the Compliant Venues (CV) accreditation process.

CV is a new sales and marketing programme aimed at venues trying to win events business from the healthcare sector.

The initiative, designed to bring together healthcare and life science companies, venues and event agencies, around a programme designed to give more transparency and guidance to those involved in this profitable sector, announced the first four ‘graduate’ venues on 16 July.

One of CV’s initiators Caroline Hill (pictured), says: “As someone who has been involved in healthcare events for over 15 years, it has been rewarding to see how we can add tangible value to venues wishing to attract and work with the healthcare sector.

“We already have 30 venues at different stages of the accreditation process and have seen a fantastic response with over 3,000 page hits to our website since our recent launch,” she adds.

Hill says the initiative’s target is 200 venues accredited in the first year and is based on existing guidelines issued by the Association of British Pharmaceutical Industries (ABPI). The programme covers sales and marketing and the suitability of facilities and their service. All this is measured against 30 criteria resulting in either a ’Green’ (fully compliant) or ’Amber’ (compliant with specific caveats) accreditation status.
 
Richard Fine of Melia White House Hotel, says his venue is looking to target groups from the pharmaceutical industry due to its close proximity to London’s medical and pharmaceutical institutions.

“This solution has helped us learn more about the specific needs of our potential clients,” Fine says. “It also provides venues with the opportunity to focus on the type of business from this segment that would be most suitable for them and it offers companies the confidence to book educated and knowledgeable hotels."

Agencies backing the initiative include Banks Sadler, CWT and Zibrant.
 
Katie Hutchins, Healthcare Champion for Radisson Blu in the UK, believes the initiative can bridge the gap between the healthcare/life science sector and the hospitality industry. “Knowing what the potential challenges are around compliance with industry codes is a huge benefit when trying to penetrate this complex industry,” she says.

Faith Thomas of DeVere Venues was part of the working group that moved Compliant Venues from concept to reality and says: “I believe that CV offers a solution that will benefit not only healthcare professionals, but also third party corporate agencies, and hotel and conference venues alike."

Vanessa Wicks, Meetings Success Manager at the Crowne Plaza London Heathrow says the programme is a way of educating venues on the requirements and guidelines that clients from the pharma industry follow when making a decision about a venue.

Compliant Venues will hold a venue booking and event management agency training day on 31 July at the Radisson Blu Stansted.

Do you have news for CN? Email: pcolston@mashmedia.net

16 July 12

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