How it feels to AIM Higher - Focus on Weetwood Hall Conference Centre, Leeds
Weetwood Hall Conference Centre and Hotel in Leeds is celebrating its recent achievement of AIM at Gold Level, while Partnership for Learning, a specialist training venue in Merseyside, has recently achieved AIM at Silver Level. To gain an insight into the accreditation, and the success of achieving it, here we speak with Peter Chubb, General Manager of Weetwood Hall, the largest and most flexible four-star conference centre and hotel in the North of England, about his venue's achievement of AIM Gold.
Q. How does it feel to achieve AIM at the Gold Level?
Receiving the AIM gold accreditation standard is an endorsement of all the hard work that we have done over the last few years to develop Weetwood Hall Conference Centre & Hotel here in Leeds as a leading conference venue. I feel very proud of what the Weetwood Hall team have undertaken and there's no doubt that achieving AIM at the Gold level has increased motivation and boosted confidence throughout the entire business. We're now looking forward to a challenging year ahead.Q. How do you see this achievement benefitting your business?
Achieving the gold standard "raises the bar" of expectation, consistency and customer service which Weetwood Hall must consistently surpass and this can only benefit our customers and ultimately our business.Q. What has been the response from buyers?
Some of our regular customers especially those who are local have already contacted me to offer their congratulations; and we're expecting a positive response from placement agents.
Q. How beneficial was the support you received from Conference Leeds?
Nicky Lockwood the manager of Conference Leeds and I met at a MIA meeting last autumn where Simon Bullough, their Membership Development Director gave a presentation about the principles and benefits of AIM. After listening to Simon, I mentioned to Nicky that as a member of the MIA, I believed that all the endeavours and hard work that we have been committed to over a number of years, complemented the objectives of AIM and that I sincerely believed Weetwood Hall was in a position to compile its processes, procedures, evidence, testimonials and outcomes to present to the MIA. Nicky was most enthusiastic and offered encouragement and financial support which we found most welcoming.Q. Please describe the effects on business tourism in your regions, of Conference Leeds's strategy to promote AIM achievement regionally
Conference Leeds is committed to delivering excellence within the world of conferencing in our region and I believe it is the responsibility of all of us to work closely with our partners to achieve this.
Q. What advice would you give to other regional development agencies that are interested in your and Leeds's success?
The MIA has produced an objective measurement to evaluate the quality of the meetings business which is endorsed nationally by Visit Britain and regionally by Conference Leeds and Yorkshire Forward. I know that other regional venues are competitive in wanting to also achieve the gold accreditation standard and I encourage them to do so, as competition is healthy, it raises the overall regional profile as a conference destination and this can only have a positive outcome especially during these economically challenging times.Q. Do you have any tips for venues seeking to achieve AIM Higher?
It was never my intention to specifically undertake all the necessary work just to achieve the gold standard. I had hoped that everything that we had implemented and reviewed over the years would be recognised and rewarded by AIM as meeting their gold standard of excellence. Once we received confirmation that we had achieved it, this gave the team an excellent endorsement of their endeavours; but we must not lose sight that there is always more to achieve.
