The Royal Armouries Conference and Events team will be taking its own brand of premiere venue, conference and events experience on the road when it takes part in the CHS Birmingham event this October (meet the team on Stand C49A).
With 13 versatile rooms that can cater from 20 to 2500 delegates, striking waterfront view and the stunning, award-winning Royal Armouries Museum in its arsenal, it’s easy to see why it has welcomed hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic delegates to the city of Leeds for almost a quarter century.
One of the reasons for its enduring success is that it doesn’t stand still. The organisation and talented in-house team, are constantly looking at ways to improve the visitor experience, exceed customer expectations and never say no to a creative idea, however extraordinary.
Venue Director, Ben Campbell explains: “We are always on the lookout for what we can do bigger and better, experimenting with ideas and concepts to ‘wow’ clients. We’re finding post-pandemic, that many of our clients are looking to extend the immersive experience outdoors before delegate enter the venue.
“As well as a great in-house team, the city has a fantastic roster of creative, inventive and innovative event companies who share this vision and can work with us. So, if our customers want a full-scale fairground, craft market or the Leeds equivalent of MIPIM, then we have the wherewithal to make it happen.”
The venue has undergone a £1.25m refurbishment recently that reflects the current theme of bringing the outdoors in. Lots of natural, sustainable materials, textures and a warm, neutral palette, with an occasional colour pop, has created several smaller meetings spaces, that look closer to a cosy, comfortable lounge with all the mod-cons, than a sterile office space. They bring an instant sense of calm and bonhomie to a meeting, removing any need for a cringe-worthy ‘icebreaker’ as delegates can easily get the conversation started over a sustainably sourced coffee.
Sustainability has been an important element of the Royal Armouries Events business long before farm to fork and nose to tail food principles were ‘a thing’. Food provenance and locally sourced products are an important ingredient to the menu and with the fecund Yorkshire larder on the doorstep, Executive Head Chef, John Brodie, Senior Head Chef Michael Gromyko and the team already produce some mouth-watering world-flavours sourced from fantastic, seasonal, locally sourced ingredients.
Take food for the mind and the body a step further with the Mindful Menus, designed to help fuel a productive session by ensuring blood sugar levels are maintained with nutrient dense foods that have a low Glycaemic index. So, no post-lunch slump from your delegates with nutritionally menus designed and developed with registered nutritionist Luxey Dayanandan and Executive Head Chef, John Brodie. Committed to the planet, the seasonal menus are created with the planet in mind to ensure they include sustainably and ethically sourced ingredients a plant forward philosophy to fuel conference and events.
It’s been quite the year for the Royal Armouries conference and events team and for those who, like the Venga Boys, like to party, they’re looking to bring 2023 to a close with a record-breaking Christmas party season. The Royal Armouries Christmas do is a bit of a legendary experience and this year’s spectacular includes a…. Yodel Lady Whooooo! Alpine Experience or if the bustle of Times Square and Downtown Manhattan is more in keeping the New York New York state of mind instead.
Either way, as an exclusive event or joiner party, guests are guaranteed an evening full of sumptuous food and drink bound to get the party started and get into the festive spirit with a Yorkshire twist.
The Royal Armouries will be bringing a little bit of Leeds and Yorkshire spirit to the Midlands this Halloween. They’ve been proud to host CHS Leeds for a number of years and are looking forward to seeing the show in Birmingham and makes lots of exciting new connections.