Prestigious Conference Centre Expands Successfully with Rendezvous Event Management Software

Savoy Place is the headquarters of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Europe’s largest professional society, and is situated on the River Thames’ Embankment. Architecturally stunning and enjoying unsurpassed river views, the venue has operated as a highly prestigious conference centre since 1999.

Savoy Place has 26 rooms, including three purpose-built lecture theatres, which hold from 96 to 460 people. All rooms have natural daylight and are fully air-conditioned. Audio-visual equipment is available to hire for all rooms, and recently WiFi has been installed.

There are similar, linked IET conference venues located at Austin Court in Birmingham and the Teacher Building in Glasgow.

More business means more advanced systems

As business steadily increased for the conference centre group, it became clear that the existing system could no longer cope with higher levels of business. What was needed was a central view of all three venues as well as increased speed, better reporting capability and, above all, reliability.

After some careful research into available systems, Richard Best, Project Manager, and his colleague Jennifer Last, Acting Head of Conference & Banqueting, chose Rendezvous, the browser-based solution from NFS Hospitality.

Multi-location functionality streamlines bookings

According to Richard, the system met their specifications as it is specifically designed to handle multi-site operations. "Our business kept growing and we used to have problems like computer crashes and a lot of downtime," he says. "We definitely needed a system that would streamline bookings and invoicing, and give reliable support during business hours."

Phased approach allows for measured benefits

Rendezvous went live in January as part of a phased approach to implementation. "The first phase is back office implementation here in London," Richard explains. "Next, in the second or third quarter of this year, we’ll bring Birmingham and Glasgow on board, including a virtual private network. Next, we’ll get an interface with our web-based Aggressor accounting system – and that will save us re-keying thousands of invoices each year." The last phase will be online booking, he adds.

The phased approach was agreed with NFS and structured training sessions were set up. Once key Savoy Place sales people were trained, they in turn trained the support people.

According to Luis DeSouza, Managing Director of NFS Hospitality, Savoy Place’s structured approach to implementation should bring many benefits. "They’ve really thought it through," he comments. "Taking it in stages means that the benefits can be measured as they go forward. They will be able to quantify the time and money saved."

Richard and Jennifer are pleased with Rendezvous’ reporting and billing functionality to date. Until the interface with the accounting system is created, invoices are generated in Rendezvous and sent on.

"Invoicing is much faster, even though we have a complicated system," notes Richard. Billing divides into internal use (IET members), external and the business centre, which has an additional six rooms hired out mainly to IET members.

"Despite this challenge, Rendezvous is coping very well," Jennifer comments. "We have about 16 users and they appreciate how very robust this system is."

Moving forward

With the back office up and running, Richard and Jennifer are now preparing for Phase 2 – and will also begin to use the system’s marketing module to attract more external business. By providing access to availability at all sites via the central server, Rendezvous makes it easier to cross-sell. A central database also facilitates analysis of buying patterns across the customer base and helps target new customers more effectively. “I see a lot of opportunity to market our three venues to support the growth in our business,” Jennifer concludes.