ACM & dinner at the Barbican, London, UK

The brief

A financial services client required an Annual Company Meeting to bring together both their employees and their financial advisors – the ‘Partnership’. With attendees from every corner of the UK the location demanded easy access, with capacity for a meeting for 2000 and a dinner for 900.

The solution: The Barbican, London, UK

The Barbican in London was the meeting venue, having both the resources to provide brunch for all 2000 attendees as they arrived and also host the meeting in the theatre. For the dinner the Hilton on Park Lane proved an ideal setting, and seven other Park Lane hotels were used to provide accommodation.

Due to the number of attendees, a dedicated Hotline was set up to deal specifically with delegate registration. This, combined with a strong emphasis on integrated web registration in pre-event communication, made sure that the process was exceptionally smooth and efficient both for client and attendees.

In light of the current climate, a crisis management plan was essential. As well as our standard risk assessment, extra features were added such as personalised barcodes on each attendee badge that were scanned when a delegate boarded a coach. In an emergency the whereabouts of each guest would have been immediately clear.

The Company wanted to assess the key achievements of 2005, while simultaneously launching the 2006 incentive programme. Bringing in Lord Sebastian Coe and Lance Armstrong as guest speakers reinforced this emphasis on motivation, while the BBC’s Fiona Bruce as compère guaranteed a smooth-running programme.

Our client responds

“The feedback on the meeting and the entire organisation wrapped around it has been incredibly positive and this was undoubtedly one of our best ever. Your team performed exceptionally well and added greatly to the smooth running of the event which given the numbers was no mean feat.

Our sincere thanks to you and your team. It is much appreciated.”

Managing Director, Financial Services client