HIC Talk

Building and maintaining effective partnerships is one of the most important aspects of doing business. Partnerships create trust, offer stability and confidence for both parties involved. For the events industry, partnerships with big brands and organisations reflect commitment to good service.

At Harrogate International Centre we are committed to providing best services to our clients.

HIC hosts around 150 events and attracts in excess of 290,000 visitors each year, and is consistently acknowledged to be one of the UK’s top event venues. This has been achieved by combining premium facilities with first class customer service.

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Alison Griffin continues her look at the economic impact of events…

HIC is one of Harrogate’s biggest economic drivers, impacting on everything from tourism and event providers to local shops and infrastructure. One of the benefits of being an international event venue located in a town rather than a huge city is that we don’t work in isolation. HIC functions as part of the community. At every step we promote Harrogate and the surrounding area as a destination alongside the venue. People don’t just come to Harrogate for the venue – there is far more here on offer and we continually try to present a cohesive and developed offering to potential clients.

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Harrogate International Centre (HIC) provides much more than just a venue for your event.  As a part of the inclusive hire package, we provide a consultative and in-depth event management service to ensure your event stands out from the crowd.

At HIC an event planner is allocated to each event to provide specialist advice and support as necessary. They prepare detailed event schedule documents for you, outlining all requirements and scheduling information including quotations for any further services.  Every event at HIC is overseen by dedicated event planners who are keen to ensure that each aspect is delivered smoothly.

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The event industry in the UK is fiercely competitive and requires strategic and smart marketing skills to attract new prospects. Marketing of a venue is both an internal and an external process. It is not only about promoting a venue to the outside world, but a successful campaign also involves maintaining good relationships with the existing clients.

At HIC we have effectively used many different forms of marketing to talk about events, the benefits that each brings to the local economy and other achievements.  Along with a strong presence in the mainstream media, we also use social media for marketing purposes and to engage with stakeholders. We keep a track of interactive networking opportunities as a way of widening the scope and reach of our promotional activities.

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In the first of two blogs looking at the positive effect of events on a local economy, Alison Griffin considers how impact can be measured.

The events industry is expected to provide a big boost to the UK economy over the next few years. Conferences and events already play a key role generating almost £25 billion a year, and Britain is recognised as one of the world leaders in the field of events.

The industry faced challenges due to the recession but it has remained strong. And growth is likely as a report by Britain for Events predicts that with the right support the industry could grow to £48.4 billion by 2020.

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Ideal for creating stunning exhibitions, trade fairs or public shows, HIC’s ten interconnected exhibition halls offer 18,500sqm of space.

Every event at HIC is overseen by dedicated event planners keen to ensure that each aspect is delivered smoothly, whilst our fully integrated service includes support from our team of experts.

Blending premium facilities and unbeatable customer service with a unique, town centre location in half way between Edinburgh and London; it is easy to see why HIC is considered to be one of Europe’s top event venues. Read the rest of this entry »

We thought it was time you got to know some more of the team at Harrogate International Centre (HIC). This month we talk to marketing assistant Lynne Hudson.

I’ve worked at HIC for 20 years and during that time the centre and my role has changed beyond recognition…  No day in the office is ever the same because you’re never working on the same thing, which is one of the reasons I enjoy my work so much – variety. I’m involved in all sorts of marketing activities including the sending e-shots, direct mail and brochures, as well as promoting forthcoming events.

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Conference News recently raised an interesting issue; what affect can a celebrity have on a meeting planner when choosing the venue to hold and event or conference?

Our world has become celebrity obsessed. You can’t escape them, whether they’re A list like David Beckham or Z-list Big Brother wannabes, thanks to the demand from the general public, and they fill magazines and newspapers on a daily basis.

Celebrities can be a marketers dream. Their influence is far reaching as not only does the man, or more commonly woman, on the street want to know about their every move, many also want to emulate their lifestyle.

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Harrogate International Centre (HIC) recently held a ‘topping out’ ceremony to mark a significant milestone in the construction of its new £13m event halls, complete with a garden roof.

Wates Construction, the contractor responsible for building the venue’s 68,000 sqm new exhibition space and additional car parking facilities, held the event to celebrate the placement of the building’s roof.

The development includes two new event halls totalling 3,300 square metres.  Providing an extra 20% capacity, with its improved flexibility, it will allow multiple events to run alongside each other.

The ‘topping out’ ceremony, also attended by senior figures from Harrogate’s council and community, is a pagan tradition historically held to bring luck when construction of the uppermost point of a new building is complete.

To mark the occasion, Wates Construction presented HIC Director, Angus Houston with gifts customary of topping out; a yew tree, to be placed on the uppermost part of the building to appease tree-dwelling spirits; wheat to symbolise abundance; and oil to signify liberty and prosperity. Read the rest of this entry »

Alison was recently asked to provide some information for a case study on the IATEFL event we held at HIC last year.  It was so interesting we thought we would include it here…

One of the striking developments taking place in the events industry is the way technology is used to reach wider audiences. Even virtual 3D technologies are under development for exhibitions and events where a participant is too far away to get involved.  There are however still a host of simpler more traditional technologies that can be used to bring an event to life for people around the world…

The 44th  annual international conference and exhibition for the International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language (IATEFL), held at Harrogate International Centre, is an example of how technology can be used to effectively engage participants from around the world. Read the rest of this entry »