Fairtrade Fortnight Kicks Off At Sundial Venues

Sundial Venues has announced that each of its three UK meeting venues will now offer unlimited fair trade coffee with any complete meeting package booking. The bottomless cups have always been included as standard in all Sundial’s complete meetings packages but the Fairtrade freshly blended coffee has more recently been made a permanent fixture on the beverages menu to mark Fair Trade Fortnight, which gets underway throughout the UK today.

Sundial’s three award-winning UK meetings venues offer a choice of three complete meetings packages, pre-designed to help control budgets and make life easier for meeting planners. The trio of options already includes the innovative green meetings package, which is a free upgrade offered to all bookings, allowing organisations to offset their carbon footprint and use recycled materials during their meeting at any Sundial Venue.

As an extension of this commitment to sustainability, delegates booking any day, complete or evening meeting package will enjoy bottomless cups of Fair Trade coffee. Those opting to eat Sundial Venue (this is likely with all meetings packages including meals too) will also be able to enjoy a range of Fairtrade produce, used at every opportunity possible across every menu at Sundial Venues.

Running from 27^th February – 11 March 2012, Fairtrade Fortnight will actually kick start a whole year of Fairtrade activities. The initiative aims to educate the general public about the role they can play in improving the lives of farmers in developing countries with just a few small changes such as switching from regular tea or coffee to Fairtrade tea and coffee.

Tim Chudley, Managing Director at Sundial Group “Sundial has always demonstrated strong ethical and environmental businesses practises, particularly across our food service where we use local seasonal produce to reduce food miles and aim to source free range and ethically produced foodstuffs for all of our menus. We’re delighted to be playing our part in Fairtrade Fortnight with the permanent use of Fairtrade coffee across each of our meeting venues and complete UK meeting packages.”

The move by Sundial is particularly timely - a global study of 17,000 consumers, commissioned by Fairtrade International and carried out by GlobeScan in October 2011 concluded that 83% of respondents looked to the companies they do business with to help reduce poverty through their own business practises.

Sundial’s complete meeting packages are offered at two Midlands meeting venues (Highgate House and Woodside) and Surrey meeting venue, Barnett Hill.

For more information and to book, please visit http://www.sundialgroup.com.

Plan Ahead And Book Early With Sundial Group

Getting an idea of where a business or company is heading in the future is very important; forward planning has been cited many times as one of the biggest factors in success and achievement through a business. The planning ahead of meetings, conferences and other important events in the year has many business advantages and can help to set the tone for an organized, successful and profitable year. Sundial Group, an award-winning venue provider with three country house locations at vantage points across England, host many such events at their specialist conference hotels, and the operations team are vastly experienced in helping their clients to plan ahead.

Among the biggest advantages of forward planning is the better rates generally offered to encourage and capitalise on early bookings. Woodside in Warwickshire and Highgate House in Northamptonshire, two of Sundial’s Midlands meeting venues currently have a 25% off special offer on their Day Meetings Packages for clients looking for book their quarterly meetings in advance. Of course, the discount will not last for long; the offer expires on the 30^th April 2012, but this gives clients and event planners plenty of time to take advantage and plan their conference schedule.

Flexibility is also another key advantage afforded by booking a venue well in advance. Leaving bookings until the last minute will usually mean being squeezed into the only timeslot available, regardless of the amount of guests or the requirements for the room. Not only does planning ahead give more freedom when choosing the date itself, it also gives the client a greater choice of rooms within the venue; having the first pick of the venue’s facilities at a venue such as Barnett Hill, Sundial’s Surrey conference venue, means that event planners can choose from 15 specialist conference rooms, all with state of the art technology and a wide choice of room set-ups. Sundial’s three country house meeting venues also offer overnight accommodation for those who may be travelling some distance for the event; booking early means there is a greater chance of rooms being available for guests.

The organizational aspect should not be overlooked when considering making an early booking. Once a venue for an event is found, focus can move to the actual agenda of the meeting, ensuring all guests have sufficient travel and accommodation arrangements, choosing food menus and dealing with any last-minute problems that may arise. All three of the Sundial venues are manned by a specialist conference team, who can help with everything from seating arrangements to the itinerary for the day, and by planning ahead and booking early, there is plenty of time to deal with all of these important details.

For more information about Sundial’s complete meeting packages, please visit http://www.sundialgroup.com.

Sundial Group Launches New Mobile Website Today

Hot on the heels of its record breaking four nominations in the 2012 Meetings and Incentive Travel Magazine Awards, Sundial Group continues to break new ground with the launch of its brand new mobile website. The award-winning UK meeting venues group has spent the last four months carefully designing the dedicated mobile portal, with the smaller screens and download restrictions of smart phones such as the Android, iPhone and BlackBerry.

Going live today, http://mobile.sundialgroup.com puts accessibility and usability to the fore. Created with busy meetings procurement manages, business leaders and HR departments in mind, the mobile version of the main Sundial Group website is succinct and concise. With images reformatted for fast loading, visitors will still get the same great Sundial experience complete with picture-perfect photography of each meeting venue but will also be able to easily navigate the site and find key details such as booking and venue directions quickly and easily.

Speaking at the launch of the site, Tim Chudley, Sundial Group’s Managing Director said, “With our brand new mobile friendly site you can now access Sundial Group’s services from anywhere, whether you are a business traveller looking for overnight accommodation on your mobile phone at the airport or an event booker seeking a meeting venue from your iPad on the train, you will have no trouble learning about our products or checking availability at our venues. This is just another element of our customer centred approach to business.”

The Sundial Group mobile site makes each of the three Sundial Venues – Barnett Hill the Surrey conference hotel, Highgate House the flagship Midland’s meeting venue and Warwickshire conference hotel Woodside – as portable as a BlackBerry or iPad.

The mobile site is fully integrated with the Sundial Group bookings system, making it possible to check availability for bedrooms, conferences and meeting rooms and book from a handset or tablet in just a few clicks. With same day availability viewing also available, it’s perfect for booking a last minute meeting or room while on the road, making timetable and schedule changes much less inconvenient for those travelling for business.

To visit the new mobile website simply navigate to http://mobile.sundialgroup.com from a mobile phone.

Meeting Venues Group Reveals Its Recipe For Success

Fresh from the flush of success of being named the UK’s best value meeting’s group by the BRDC Continental Venue Verdict Survey for a fourth year running and confirmation that its UK meeting venues have been shortlisted in no less than four categories at the prestigious Meetings and Incentive Travel Magazine Awards, Sundial Group has released its three step recipe for success for UK businesses.

Following on from an award-laden year in 2011 which saw its conference hotels Highgate House, Woodside and Barnett Hill collecting a number of accolades including gold standard accreditations and Trip Advisor certificates of excellence, the meetings specialists have compiled a simple checklist of steps to stick too. The three mantras have been successfully applied by Sundial Group during its most successful years to date and can be translated into any business process. They are: Boost morale, know your goals, be creative.

Tim Chudley, Sundial Group’s Managing Director said, “While every organization will have its own vision and ethos, our recipe for success can be applied to almost any situation or industry.”

Having established what it takes to be successful, each of the three UK meeting venues operated by Sundial Group boast robust support structures designed to help clients at each location manage their own recipes for success.

Encouraging teams to work together and move forward as a unit is a great way to boost morale. With this in mind, Sundial Group’s three UK meeting venues offer comprehensive and turnkey team building activities. And, when the exercises are complete, the trio of locations (Northamptonshire conference hotel, Highgate House, Surrey conference hotel, Barnett Hill and Warwickshire conference hotel, Woodside) boast luxurious leisure facilities and a choice of delicious menus served in a number of on-site bars and restaurants.

Goal understanding is critical to any business success and the only way to ensure that all team members are working towards the same thing. Regular strategy meetings are one way to keep the company on track and provide the ideal opportunity to reassess objectives and measure progress towards the stated aim. With its range of complete meetings packages and dedicated meeting environments, Sundial Group venues are the preferred choice of some of the UK’s biggest brands. Their distraction free meeting rooms, equipped with specialist equipment along with essentials including refreshments, Wi-Fi and stationary keep the focus on company targets.

In any industry, creativity and innovation sets thought leaders apart from the competition. Shunning a one-size fits all approach, Sundial Group can design a meetings or conference package to suit specific requirements, adding elements such as culinary teambuilding or overnight stays to tailor-make the perfect environment for success.

For more information and to enquire about venue facilities or availability, please visit http://www.sundialgroup.com.

How Will You Improve Your Team For 2012?

With such volatility and risk in the world of business right now, team building exercises and activities are more important than ever and a crucial investment for those who want to stay ahead of the competition. Motivating a group of people has always been a challenge, now even more so in a time when people are working longer hours for less pay as a result of austerity measures and the economic downturn. Managers and owners will undoubtedly be looking for innovative ways to boost morale and improve their team for the coming year, and the most popular way to do this is through a team building activity session like those provided by the award-winning Sundial Group.

But what actually counts as a team building event? Plenty of human resource coordinators looking to boost morale amongst their teams will most likely turn to activities which they perceive as being fun; a day out at a theme park, a staff meal or perhaps an informal party. Of course, these activities will encourage a group of people to interact and bond with each other, but what do they achieve with regards to team building? The Teamscapes® activities provided by Sundial across their three stunning UK meeting venues are tailor-made to be not only fun and encourage communication with teammates, but also to be stimulating and inspiring.

The experiences offered by Sundial Group are all about experiential learning rather than high octane excitement or socialising. Experiential education is a process through which a learner gains knowledge and improves upon their skills as a result of direct experiences.

Debriefing sessions after each activity are used to relate the participants’ learning experience to their specific context within the workplace. The classic ‘electric fence’ exercise is a great example of a popular method the team building experts offer at the Midlands meeting venues because it focuses on issues such as problem-solving, time management and working under pressure, whilst also being a fun way to galvanise team members.

The experiential learning sessions are offered at all three of Sundial Group’s country house venues; Highgate House and Woodside, and Barnett Hill, a Surrey conference hotel. All venues have excellent transport links, residential accommodation options and the choice of indoor, outdoor or culinary team building exercises for all groups. Each beautiful location is situated in picturesque grounds to aid physical rest and relaxation whilst prompting the flexing of the mental muscles which will be needed to improve any team.

The award-winning venues also offer flexibility in inviting all kinds of team building events to be hosted at their dedicated meeting and training venues. In instances where groups wish to enjoy a ‘team experience’ as opposed to targeting team development and fun, facilities such as inflatables can be hired in to cater for this; Sundial’s country house venues can happily accommodate such events within their vast gardens and grounds.

For more information about Sundial’s complete meeting packages, please visit http://www.sundialgroup.com.

Sundial Dominates 2012’s Meetings & Incentive Travel Industry Award Nominations

Sundial has scooped an impressive four nominations – more than any other group – in arguably the most highly regarded industry awards in the meetings industry, the Meetings and Incentive Travel Magazine Awards.

Sundial Group has been named ‘Best Venue Group Meeting Product’ finalist (which the group won in 2011), while both their Guildford meeting venue, Barnett Hill, and Northamptonshire meeting venue, Highgate House, were both nominated as a finalists in ‘Best UK Management Training Centre’. The group’s largest conference venue, Highgate House was also named a finalist in ‘Best Value for Money Conference Venue’

The M&IT Industry Awards recognise and reward excellence, and are the result of voting by the readers of Meetings & Incentive Travel magazine - with votes audited and verified by the independent Audit Bureau of Circulations. The M&IT Awards are the oldest established awards programme in the meetings industry.

The final results will be kept secret until the Gala Presentation Dinner on the 5^th March 2012 (the eve of International Confex) at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge. Attended by more than 700 industry professionals, this event provides an excellent networking opportunity.

Tim Chudley, Sundial Group’s Managing Director said, ‘This is another fantastic year for us in the M&IT Awards shortlist, which we are really proud of. I think Sundial’s major recognition in the biggest meetings industry awards demonstrates the significance of dedicated venues and is testament that dedicated venues offer customers an outstanding experience that is unrivalled by the likes of hotel chains.’

In addition to the family owned hospitality experts gaining more nominations than any other group or brand in the M&IT Awards 2012, Sundial Group has also had major success already this year following their fourth consistent year of claiming BDRC Continental’s ‘Best Value for Money Venue Group’ in the customer feedback based “VenueVerdict” survey.

For more information on Sundial’s dedicated UK Meeting venues please visit www.sundialgroup.com

Three Months is All it Takes to Plan a Wedding With Sundial Weddings

t IS possible to plan a wedding in three months. Are you newly engaged? Or want to tie the knot right away? Sundial can assist in preparing the most perfect and memorable wedding for you in just three months and sometimes even at a late availability discounted rate. Sundial Weddings, with their elegant country house wedding venues can cater to your needs to ensure that your special day is one to remember. For those looking for UK wedding venues around the Midlands and South East of England, Sundial Weddings have three extraordinary venues and a host of special offers available until March 2012. These include money-off bookings, discounted stay rates for the wedding party and fixed price all-inclusive packages from just £3500.

For brides and grooms looking to get married in and around the West Midlands, the Edwardian Warwickshire wedding venue, Woodside is a serene setting for couples wanting an intimate ceremony. Woodside has a special offer on winter weddings between January and March 2012. For the next three months, the venue and wedding package is priced at £3500. This winter wonderland themed deal, perfect for those who are struggling for wedding ideas themselves, includes the venue hire, catering, an evening reception, entertainment in the form of a DJ, an astounding bridal suite and a wedding planner. Woodside also give the bride and groom complimentary use of their gym, sauna and swimming pool, handy for a spot of relaxation during wedding preparations, for three months prior to the wedding day.

Another option is the Northamptonshire wedding venue, Highgate House situated in the East Midlands. The magnificent 17th Century Country House is set in beautiful rolling countryside, making it the perfect romantic setting. The staff at the venue is able to cater to your needs from the wedding ceremony all the way to the wedding reception. For a smaller wedding, Highgate House's Baronial Hall, which is located in the heart of the house, can accommodate up to 60 guests. Other rooms in the house are capable of seating a larger party. There's currently 10% off for brides and grooms looking for a Spring wedding, with selected dates in April and May 2012.

For those looking to get married further south, Sundial Weddings Surrey wedding venue Barnett Hill is the answer. Located in the beautiful Surrey countryside, Barnett Hill is perfect for couples looking for an intimate environment to get married in front of family and close friends. This magnificent manor has a number of money saving offers available including money-off bookings for weddings taking place on a Sunday before March 2012 and also discounted rates on all-inclusive packages.

Whatever your needs, Sundial Weddings will ensure that your big day is a memorable one.

For more information about Sundial Wedding packages and to see all special offers, visit http://www.sundialweddings.com