The Chinese government was celebrating Eric Liddell as a Chinese super hero at a photographic exhibition of his life. The life of this Olympic super hero, Eric Liddell was also celebrated in 1981 in the film 'Chariots of Fire', winner of four Oscars and seven nominations.
The exhibition was held at Pewterers hall, a gem in the heart of the city of London and was attended by Nicola Roche from the Department of Culture, Media and Sports, Chinese equestrian sportsman HUA Tian (Alex) and Director of the London Olympic and Paralympic games, Andrew Mitchell.

Richmond Creative Event Venues was delighted to announce that the £250,000 refurbishment of the Livery room is now complete.
During the summer the Livery Room at Pewterers’ Hall has been upgraded and exquisitely restored using gold leaf, trompe l'oeil and other artisanal techniques. As well as using traditional craft to develop the facilities the Hall now has state of the art lighting and audio visual solutions.

Events held at Ironmongers' Hall not only benefit from excellent catering, service, facilities and audio visual equipment, they are also able to make use of WiFi throughout the Hall without any crippling charges!

The Mermaid has retained its silver award for Green Tourism and has moved forward significantly towards gold. We are always looking for new sustainability projects and have recently planted a small herb garden.

CCT Venues is proud to unveil its new corporate branding – with a new corporate website to match. “As a business we’re always looking forward,” says Managing Director Caroline Bull, who founded the business six years ago. “So we felt it was time to bring our communications up to date.”

An evolution rather than a revolution, the new corporate branding retains CCT Venue’s distinctive pink and purple colour scheme, but introduces a cleaner, fresher, more modern logo style.

Launched in July 2011, the logo is complemented by a brand new corporate website. This shows off the company’s stunning venues in Smithfield, Barbican and Canary Wharf in a rolling slideshow of striking, large-scale images. There are also virtual tours of many of the key spaces in each venue.

“The new site offers enhanced navigation and better positioning of offers, promotions and news,” says Mabel Chung, Marketing Manager.

The website includes detailed information on the company’s three high-quality training, conference and meeting facilities: CCT Venues Smithfield, CCT Venues-Barbican and CCT Venues-Canary Wharf. Located in London’s major business districts, they are able to host anything from a half-day meeting for five people to a conference for 400.

CCT Venues has upgraded the industry-leading audio-visual facilities across its three London venues to include the option of video conferencing from any room.

This state-of-the-art technology allows companies to easily extend meetings, training sessions and conferences to include colleagues in other locations.

CCT Venues' Managing Director Caroline Bull commented: "We're very pleased to be making this technology available throughout our venues, adding to our already unbeatable package of quality, convenience and value for money. The low environmental impact of video conferencing aligns perfectly with our environmental responsibility and sustainability policy."

CCT Venues three venues are in key London business districts at Canary Wharf, Barbican and Smithfield. Each offers a great mix of training, conference and meeting rooms.

CCT Venues-Barbican have just completed refurbishments to their third floor to include the creation of a refreshment area featuring a 'fresh bean, fresh milk', self-serve coffee machine and plasma screen showing news and sporting events. The new space offers additional areas for breakout.

To arrange a showround of the new space and facililties, please email enquire@cctvenues.co.ukThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 020 7796 5949.

Apex City of London Hotel wins No. 1 Hotel at VenueVerdict Awards Apex City of London Hotel, one of two hotels operated by Apex Hotels in London, has been rated No. 1 Hotel at the 2010 BDRC Continental VenueVerdict Awards.

The hotel also achieved Gold Standard Accreditation at the awards, which are determined by scores given by meetings and events customers in feedback surveys collected after events.

The venue attained Gold Standard Accreditation by rating over 90% for overall performance over the whole of 2010.
The No. 1 Hotel award is presented to the hotel receiving the highest score for overall performance over the year.
The post-event feedback, which is collated and analyzed by independent market research agency BDRC Continental, is used by leading brands in the industry to benchmark performance and improve quality of service, and the awards determined on this data are held in high regard.

Angela Vickers, Managing Director at Apex Hotels, said of the news: “What makes this award so satisfying is that it is based on customer feedback, more particularly on factors such as customers' satisfaction, likelihood to return and likelihood to recommend. We have a real focus on customer service, so I’m really proud of the team at Apex City of London Hotel who have achieved the status of being rated best hotel in the country”

As well as in the Apex City of London Hotel, the group’s meet@apex service extends to its four hotels in Edinburgh as well as its hotel and spa in Dundee. The company applies the same ethos to its meetings and events services as to its hotels in general, delivering superior quality combined with genuinely friendly service and attention to detail.

When the weather is lovely, the last place you want to be for your summer party or event is cooped up indoors and yet the options for outside events in the City are pretty limited. The HAC is just minutes walk from any City office but as you walk through the gates onto the stunning six acre garden you enter a different world.
Inside this unique, historic venue offers a wide variety of elegant rooms suited to a range of different events. The stylish, contemporary Prince Consort Rooms work extremely well for a summer party both because they are a light and airy blank canvas and also because the outside courtyard and garden planter area can be used for the early part of the evening if the weather is fine. We also have a new atmospheric lighting scheme which features pinspot lighting and LED colour change uplighters allowing us to change the effects in the room at the touch of a button.
In order to make organising your summer event as simple and cost-effective as possible we have put together summer packages which are priced according to number of guests and day of the week. Prices start from just £63.50 + VAT per person.

The package includes:
Hire charge of the Prince Consort Rooms from 6pm – 12am including the courtyard and astro-turfed garden area
Garden furniture
A selection of garden games
2 course barbecue
4 hour unlimited pimms, wine, beer and soft drinks
Disco and DJ
Table centres for occasional tables
Use of LED colour change uplighters in the Prince Consort Rooms
Cloakroom staff
Security staff
For full details of the package visit our website www.hac.org.uk/events or call 020 7382 1533

The guys of The Mermaid spent the evening of 17th March undergoing extreme pain (well at least some of them did) as they lined up to get a 1/2 leg wax to raise funds for Comic Relief. Drinks and canapés were provided with the occasional vodka shot to help relieve the pain.
During the day of 18th March, jars of homemade red nose chutney and bags of white chocolate cookies were sold to delegates. So far over £500.00 has been raised, thanks to all for your support.

New Day Delegate Rates for 2011
For the first time, we excited to launch our Daily Delegate Rate Package (DDR) starting from as little as £45 per person + vat! For more information and to view the details of the package, please go to our webiste: http://www.onemoorgateplace.com/our-rooms/room-costs

Weddings at One Moorgate Place
One Moorgate Place is a beautiful, romantic venue for your wedding and offers elegant rooms with stunning architecture and decorative features, centrally located in the City of London. Wedding packages range from £75 + VAT to £145 + VAT per person. They include the menu of your choice, plus everything you will require for your special day!
For more information and to view the details of each package, please go to our website: http://www.onemoorgateplace.com/our-rooms/weddings

Olympic Bid
We are very excited about the upcoming London 2012 Olympics and proud to be a central London venue in the hub of all the activity. At One Moorgate Place we have a fantastic collection of beautiful and elegant spaces available for exclusive hire throughout the Olympics. To view our great offer or for more information and to make an enquiry please contact our experienced Events Team at events@onemoorgateplace.com or call us on 0207920 8613.

'My second visit to One Moorgate Place Restaurant, this time dining from the A la Carte menu with a client. The food was of a high standard and was well presented, the service friendly and efficient but without being intrusive. Great place for a long unhurried business lunch. Will definitely return!'

'Just keep coming back to One Moorgate, fantastic service, great food, the former Esca has come back with a great menu and great deals. Just off Moorgate towards London Wall end, it is sophisticated and affordable and qualifies as a hidden jewel. Has my highest rating for consistency of all round quality.'

'A girlfriend and I went to One Moorgate Place for lunch last Friday. The 30 minute menu, whilst limited was light and tasty, perfect for a quick lunch. Service was good, a very pleasant waitress made it all the better. V. reasonable with the offer, would go again. Restaurant was busy with business casual diners like ourselves.'

'A second visit to One Moorgate Place did not disappoint. Food still beautifully presented, diverse table d'hote at two courses £13 + service. House wine is excellent quality and all round exceptional value for the location between Copthall Avenue and Moorgate. Ambience improved due to more activity (Friday vs Monday!). Another trip is on the cards.'

Read more reviews on Toptable.com

Top Table, August & September 2010

'This is one of my favourite restaurants in London. So to see that they've released such a polished app is an unexpected surprise. Now I can mull over the menu in the office before I set off.'

'A brilliantly simple, very well laid out app. Would like to see the addition of pictures, but other than that perfect.'
Read more and download the app (it's free!)

App Store customer reviews, April 2010

Working with our partners at The Ultimate Experience, we will once again be transforming the Hall with amazing lighting and decoration to create a stunning 'Glitz and Glamour' theme this Christmas.

The Hall is ideal for seated lunches and dinners for 150-350 guests or up to 600 revellers for more informal parties.

As your guests step inside from the cold winter's evening they will enjoy a sparkling reception in opulent surroundings. With a stunning mirrored feature bar and striking floral and pearl arrangements this is a party full of charm. At the call for dinner, your guests will be invited into the Great Hall, where magnificent chandeliers glisten and sparkle creating a perfect setting to enjoy a delicious dinner.

During dinner your guests will be entertained by our vivacious dance act set to stun and amaze your guests. After this the DJ will take over with your favourite party tunes to round off this glamorous evening.

Please call The Ultimate Experience on 0207 940 6070 for date availability and a detailed proposal or click here to view their full list of Christmas party venues and themes.

Apex Hotels Wins AA Small Hotel Group of the Year 2010-2011
Apex Hotels received national acclaim when it was named Small Hotel Group of the year at the AA Hospitality Awards 2010 - 2011. The AA, celebrating the best in hospitality, held the glamorous black-tie ceremony, hosted by journalist and TV Presenter Penny Smith, at the London Hilton on Park Lane on 27th September.

Angela Vickers, Managing Director of Apex Hotels received the award in front of a high profile audience of members of the hospitality industry, including world-renowned ‘celebrity’ chefs, prominent hoteliers, hospitality gurus and key industry media. She said: “I am delighted and proud to collect this prestigious AA Award. This is an amazing accolade for the Apex Group and it is recognition of all the hard work and dedication put in by every member of staff at Apex Hotels.” Vickers continues “It is very important to us to keep building on our success and to provide our customers with the level of quality and service that they have come to expect from an Apex Hotel. We have just completed a major refurbishment program at our Scottish hotels, demonstrating our commitment to the continuous improvement of our products and service.”

The AA Hospitality Awards recognise and reward the excellent services provided by the UK’s very best establishments and launches the 2010 AA guides to UK hotels and restaurants.

AA Hotel Services group area manager Giovanna Grossi said: “We selected Apex Hotels as AA Small Hotel Group of the Year because this family owned group has a consistent focus on quality, a personalised approach to operations and a strong ethos regarding sustainability. There is a real family feel to this city centre stylish group of properties that is still actively run by owners Norman and Dorothy Springford.”

Apex Hotels is one of the UK’s leading operator of four-star, contemporary hotels. Based in Edinburgh, the company operates the Apex City and Apex International in Edinburgh’s Grassmarket, in addition to owning/operating the Apex European in Edinburgh’s West End, Apex Waterloo Place Hotel, the Apex City Quay Hotel & Spa in Dundee and the Apex City of London and Apex London Wall Hotel.

Apex Hotels continue their expansion plans with their latest acquisition at 1-3 Sergeant’s Inn. Apex are creating the first hotel in one of London’s Inns of Court. The Apex Temple Court Hotel, due to open in early 2012 and situated just off Fleet Street, is a landmark building with a rich history and will be converted into a four star luxury contemporary hotel with 184 bedrooms, each offering the latest in business facilities together with restaurant, bar, executive lounge and gym.

LSO St Luke's is a beautiful venue in central London and we are delighted to announce an increased standing capacity of 450 people! To celebrate we are offering LCS contacts a special discount on venue hire on selected dates in November. There is no better time to book this unique heritage space and with fully-integrated sound, light and projection we can deliver an event that exceeds your highest expectations. For further information and availability please call our events team on 020 7566 2871 quoting ‘LCS’ during your enquiry.