Staying at Auntie's
The BBC has spent £2.5m ensuring that its first foray into the hotel market makes the right impact. The operation offers the luxury of a five-star hotel with a more basic three-star conference facility on one site.
Wood Norton Hall and Conference Centre, near Evesham, Worcestershire, opened its doors to the public in early 1996, and three days ago, Ian Shipman, previously of the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza, Birmingham, took up his role as operations manager of the two facilities.
The venue used to be the exclusive preserve of BBC staff, who had in-house training there. Now the Grade II-listed buildings operate as a self-funding business within BBC Resources, marketing and selling its facilities to outside companies and individuals, as well as personnel within the BBC.
Situated in grounds of 170 acres within the Vale of Evesham, the hall has been used for training BBC engineering staff since the late 1940s. The Centre for Broadcast Skills Training (CBST) is now a separate business but remains at Wood Norton. BBC staff who undergo training at the CBST use the accommodation facilities at the conference centre on a 24-hour package basis, taking around 30-35 bedrooms per night.
The hall's 16-month refurbishment followed the decision that the building could be used to cater for the luxury end of the conference market, both for the BBC's own needs and for those of outside businesses. The building design services department of the BBC oversaw the structural work, carried out by Bovis, while the interior received the attention of an external company, Trevillion Interiors of Middlesex.
All 45 double bedrooms (15 in the hall and 30 in the adjoining converted stable block) are furnished to standards found in the best country house hotels. As would be expected, the technology available is first class. Built-in data sockets provide PC modem access to corporate networks, while the telephone system features digital voice mail and direct access to the central BBC switchboard, allowing internal guests to reroute their office telephone, fax and e-mail lines to the hall.
The largest of the eight conference and meeting rooms in the hall is the Orleans suite, which features a multimedia wall and seats as many as 70 delegates. With BBC broadcasting resources on site, expert technical, video and communications support, including global video-conferencing and video recording and editing facilities, is also available in any room.
The conference centre, built 10 years ago to accommodate internal BBC events, offers seven purpose-built meeting rooms, equipped with state-of-the-art multi-media equipment and resources. While the largest meeting room can seat as many as 100 delegates, there are also 15 syndicate rooms suitable for groups of up to 12 people. Sleeping accommodation is in 240 rooms, 103 of which have en-suite facilities.
The extensive grounds provide opportunities for company team-building days, with facilities for clay pigeon shooting, archery, falconry and four-wheel-drive exercises. Other leisure facilities include a squash court, a fitness suite, a sports hall, tennis courts and an outdoor swimming pool.
At present, around 60% of the hall's business comes from the BBC, while 80% of the conference centre's bookings come from the same source. While recognising the benefits of having a captive audience, the staff, headed by general manager Janet Matthews, are not complacent. They still have to compete for the BBC's business, as the corporation's director-general John Birt believes in "producer choice" - there are no guarantees.
Non-BBC business so far has included blue chip companies such as BMW, Barclays Bank, BUPA and Eagle Star. During the week, bedroom occupancy at the hall is confined to conference bookings, with private individuals able to use Wood Norton as a country house hotel at weekends. The 70-seat restaurant is open for lunch and dinner to conference delegates and non-residents seven days a week.
Catering at Wood Norton operates on two levels - the à la carte restaurant in the hall, which is serviced by an in-house brigade of chefs, and the conference centre's restaurant, which is operated by Gardner Merchant.
Head chef at the hall is John Campbell, previously of the Grosvenor House Hotel, London. He and his brigade of seven chefs and two kitchen assistants provide a selection of modern British and Mediterranean-style dishes. A three-course menu is offered at £32.50, with a choice of eight dishes at each course.
For the conference centre, Gardner Merchant employs 14 staff to operate the 120-seat self-service restaurant and adjoining coffee shop. The cost of a meal is included in the conference packages.
While the hotel is unlikely to appear in the guides, due to the high proportion of conference business, the restaurant is aspiring to accolades and to feature in the Michelin, AA and Egon Ronay guides.
The separate positions of hall manager and conference centre manager, previously held by Julian Ebbutt and Tim Thompson, have been merged, with Shipman taking responsibility for the day-to-day running of the both operations.
Shipman will steer the centre through the last quarter of its first year of existence, when it is forecast that the combined facilities will achieve a turnover of £2.9m. A rough estimate of outside versus internal business means that the BBC will have boosted its turnover by £780,000 by opening its doors to the public, which will surely give Mr Birt something to smile about.
