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Emirates Old Trafford signs long-term partnership with Sodexo Live!

Two of the biggest brands in the meetings and events market have signed a landmark agreement that will see Sodexo Live! become the businesses first-ever Official Culinary Partner. Sodexo Live! are one of the global leaders in hospitality services in the events, sports and leisure industry and the five-year contract will see the company deliver an enhanced premium hospitality and event experience at Destination Emirates Old Trafford, home of Lancashire Cricket, across both match day and non-match day events. As part of the partnership, Sodexo Live! plans to build a strong casual workforce of approximately 150 from the Greater Manchester and North West area, contributing to the local economy and community. The food will be overseen by Sodexo Live! executive head chef Andy Hare - as well as Emirates Old Trafford head chef, Nic Ashurst, who has worked at the venue for 37 years – and will work collaboratively to develop the club’s culinary offering.Working together, Sodexo Live! and Emirates Old Trafford – which has undergone a £75 million redevelopment over the last 15 years - will introduce exciting and diverse menus designed to elevate the dining experience, across both hospitality and conference and events held at the venue. The teams will work together for the first time at this weekend’s sold out IT20 fixture at Emirates Old Trafford between England and Australia.Daniel Gidney, Chief Executive at Lancashire Cricket said: “I would like to welcome Sodexo Live! to our family of partners as The Official Culinary Partner of Lancashire Cricket and Emirates Old Trafford.“Sodexo Live! is a worldwide hospitality brand, with a proven track record of enhancing the culinary experiences across sports venues, conference centres and global events.“Over the past 12 years we have quadrupled in size and our scale now requires an enhanced platform to really focus on the next stage of our growth. We know there is an increasing demand for varied, creative and distinctive menus that are tailor-made for different audiences across a range of events that we hold at Destination Emirates Old Trafford. We believe Sodexo Live! has the expertise and vision to make a real difference to our food offering and enhance the whole event experience across cricket, conferences and concerts at the venue. “This is a partnership that is incredibly exciting and we’re really looking forward to working with the team in the coming years to support us achieve our ambitious growth aspirations.”Claire Morris, CEO Sodexo Live! UK&I, commented: "We are absolutely delighted to partner with Lancashire Cricket and Emirates Old Trafford. This collaboration represents a fantastic opportunity to bring our food expertise in event catering and hospitality to one of the most iconic global venues located in the North West of England.“Furthermore, we feel incredibly proud to be selected as the Club’s first ever Official Culinary Partner in its 160-year history. We thank Lancashire Cricket for putting its trust in us as our Experience Makers plan to deliver a standout service. “We are committed to creating an exceptional stadium experience for fans and visitors, ensuring that every match day and event is memorable for visitors regionally and from across the world. Our team is eager to begin this exciting journey and contribute to the continued success of Lancashire Cricket and Emirates Old Trafford."New items on the menu will have a regional flare including ingredients from local suppliers across Greater Manchester, Lancashire and the North West. Example new hospitality dishes include:Tandoori Spiced Cornfed Chicken Bombay Spiced Fondant Potato, Glazed Garden Vegetables, Maharashtrian Butter Masala Sauce and coriander oil Crispy hake ‘Kyiv’ Panko breaded line-caught fillet of hake, filled with wild garlic, caper and shallot butter, finished with sauteed Ormskirk ruby potatoes and watercress salad Baked Keralan Aubergine Tikka Spiced Vegetables, Paneer, Bombay Spiced Fondant Potato, Maharashtrian Butter Masala Sauce Glazed Cardamom & Saffron Custard Tart Nutmeg Chantilly, yoghurt sorbet, crushed pistachioSocial impact sits at the heart of Sodexo Live! and through its food offering it will make a difference by working with social enterprises such as Change Please and Half the Story Biscuits. Change Please is a well-established coffee brand that works with the homeless to give them employment and training opportunities to build a better life. Half the Story Biscuits is similar, where it creates job roles within its bakery for those who have also experienced homelessness.Globally Sodexo Live! supports some of the most well-known and high-profile sports clubs, events, and stadia. In the UK it partners with Fulham FC, Brighton & Hove Albion FC, Newcastle FC, Nottingham Forest FC, and the home of Scottish football, Hampden Park as well as the prestigious Ascot Racecourse, to name a few. Internationally it delivers events such as The French Open at Roland Garros, the Tour de France, the Miami Open and F1 in Miami, Indian Wells Open in California, plus stadiums in the USA including the Hard Rock Stadium (home to the Miami Dolphins) and the Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, home to Super Bowl LIX in 2025.

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10/09/24

Two of the biggest brands in the meetings and events market have signed a landmark agreement that will see Sodexo Live! become the businesses first-ever Official Culinary Partner.

Sodexo Live! are one of the global leaders in hospitality services in the events, sports and leisure industry and the five-year contract will see the company deliver an enhanced premium hospitality and event experience at Destination Emirates Old Trafford, home of Lancashire Cricket, across both match day and non-match day events.

As part of the partnership, Sodexo Live! plans to build a strong casual workforce of approximately 150 from the Greater Manchester and North West area, contributing to the local economy and community. The food will be overseen by Sodexo Live! executive head chef Andy Hare - as well as Emirates Old Trafford head chef, Nic Ashurst, who has worked at the venue for 37 years – and will work collaboratively to develop the club’s culinary offering.

Working together, Sodexo Live! and Emirates Old Trafford – which has undergone a £75 million redevelopment over the last 15 years - will introduce exciting and diverse menus designed to elevate the dining experience, across both hospitality and conference and events held at the venue. The teams will work together for the first time at this weekend’s sold out IT20 fixture at Emirates Old Trafford between England and Australia.

Daniel Gidney, Chief Executive at Lancashire Cricket said: “I would like to welcome Sodexo Live! to our family of partners as The Official Culinary Partner of Lancashire Cricket and Emirates Old Trafford.

“Sodexo Live! is a worldwide hospitality brand, with a proven track record of enhancing the culinary experiences across sports venues, conference centres and global events.

“Over the past 12 years we have quadrupled in size and our scale now requires an enhanced platform to really focus on the next stage of our growth. We know there is an increasing demand for varied, creative and distinctive menus that are tailor-made for different audiences across a range of events that we hold at Destination Emirates Old Trafford. We believe Sodexo Live! has the expertise and vision to make a real difference to our food offering and enhance the whole event experience across cricket, conferences and concerts at the venue.

“This is a partnership that is incredibly exciting and we’re really looking forward to working with the team in the coming years to support us achieve our ambitious growth aspirations.”

Claire Morris, CEO Sodexo Live! UK&I, commented: "We are absolutely delighted to partner with Lancashire Cricket and Emirates Old Trafford. This collaboration represents a fantastic opportunity to bring our food expertise in event catering and hospitality to one of the most iconic global venues located in the North West of England.

“Furthermore, we feel incredibly proud to be selected as the Club’s first ever Official Culinary Partner in its 160-year history. We thank Lancashire Cricket for putting its trust in us as our Experience Makers plan to deliver a standout service.

“We are committed to creating an exceptional stadium experience for fans and visitors, ensuring that every match day and event is memorable for visitors regionally and from across the world. Our team is eager to begin this exciting journey and contribute to the continued success of Lancashire Cricket and Emirates Old Trafford."

New items on the menu will have a regional flare including ingredients from local suppliers across Greater Manchester, Lancashire and the North West. Example new hospitality dishes include:

Tandoori Spiced Cornfed Chicken
Bombay Spiced Fondant Potato, Glazed Garden Vegetables, Maharashtrian Butter Masala Sauce and coriander oil

Crispy hake ‘Kyiv’
Panko breaded line-caught fillet of hake, filled with wild garlic, caper and shallot butter, finished with sauteed Ormskirk ruby potatoes and watercress salad

Baked Keralan Aubergine
Tikka Spiced Vegetables, Paneer, Bombay Spiced Fondant Potato, Maharashtrian Butter Masala Sauce

Glazed Cardamom & Saffron Custard Tart
Nutmeg Chantilly, yoghurt sorbet, crushed pistachio

Social impact sits at the heart of Sodexo Live! and through its food offering it will make a difference by working with social enterprises such as Change Please and Half the Story Biscuits. Change Please is a well-established coffee brand that works with the homeless to give them employment and training opportunities to build a better life. Half the Story Biscuits is similar, where it creates job roles within its bakery for those who have also experienced homelessness.

Globally Sodexo Live! supports some of the most well-known and high-profile sports clubs, events, and stadia. In the UK it partners with Fulham FC, Brighton & Hove Albion FC, Newcastle FC, Nottingham Forest FC, and the home of Scottish football, Hampden Park as well as the prestigious Ascot Racecourse, to name a few. Internationally it delivers events such as The French Open at Roland Garros, the Tour de France, the Miami Open and F1 in Miami, Indian Wells Open in California, plus stadiums in the USA including the Hard Rock Stadium (home to the Miami Dolphins) and the Caesars Superdome, New Orleans, home to Super Bowl LIX in 2025.

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26/09/24 CHS Bring Bundles of Event Options to Birmingham

CHS Birmingham has announced a new raft of exhibiting companies that will add even more to its visitor’s experience when the show opens its doors at the ICC Birmingham, 29th October 24.

The exhibition will once again provide a mix of domestic and international venues, destinations, unique venues, and support services that will allow event planners to build their events during one day at the show. As well as continuing support from the event’s founding and strategic brand partners, ICC Birmingham and the Birmingham & West Midlands Convention Bureau respectively, the CHS Birmingham is also delighted to be welcoming Visit Scotland, Manchester Convention Bureau, Meet Bath & Bristol, Meet Devon South West England, and Meet Blackpool.

As well as the stellar domestic options, visitors will also be able to meet international representatives from VisitMalta Incentives & Meetings, Minor Hotels/Hosmark Hotels, and Maritim Hotels Germany. Adding to the luxury, high premium end of the market, CHS Birmingham will also welcome Shangri-la The Shard London, Iconic Luxury Hotels and The Langham London.

London is well represented with exhibitors including the Royal Garden Hotel London, the Barbican, Clermont Hotel Group, Imperial London Hotels and The Mermaid London. Equally, across the UK, there are further hotel options including The Alexander Hotel Collection, Elite Hotels, Tudor Hotels Collection, Countrywide Hotels, BWH Hotels Great Britain, The Belfry and Hyatt Hotels, also represented at the show.

These will all be supplemented by a series of partnerships within the exhibition that will see production specialists, venues, and event support partners available to organisers, including, Reftech, Lighthouse Events, UTAC Millbrook, Avanti West Coast, Eventologists, Leopold Marketing, and Concept Furniture.

“We’re so proud of our exhibitors, not just of their quality but their approach to the show this year,” comments Lou Hindley, Commercial Director, CHS Birmingham. “They’re there to do business, offering interesting solutions for our buyer’s events and providing up to date and relevant information that means every meeting will have the maximum value for both buyer and exhibitor. It’s going to be an enterprising show.”

CHS Birmingham will also welcome a series of specialist brands this year, including stands from ODEON, ASM Global, Showcase Cinemas, Academic Venue Solutions, UTAC Millbrook, TOCA Social, Clays, BOOM BATTLE BAR and Escape Hunt.

Earlier this month the show announced IET Birmingham: Austin Court as the show’s Welcome Reception Partner, a major part of the CHS Birmingham experience as Hosted Buyers and Exhibitors begin to network and build business relationships the evening before the event.

24/09/24 RED BULL TECHNOLOGY GROUP UNVEILS NEW MK-7 INVESTMENT

Red Bull Technology Group is set to unveil the latest in a string of investments in MK-7, its Milton Keynes conference and event facilities. The new state-of-the-art 46.25 metre LED screen can be found in MK’7’s main auditorium and provides the perfect backdrop to its fleet of F1 cars, which frame the space and date back to 2005.

To complement the 1,004 m² event space, which regularly hosts dynamic events, it was time to upgrade the static banners that stood alongside previous Oracle Red Bull Racing cars. As a longstanding team supplier of Oracle Red Bull Racing, PPDS specified a custom-built U-shaped dvLED video wall featuring Philips 7000 series dvLED screens, perfectly tailored for MK-7.

The screen is believed to be the biggest indoor dvLED wall in Europe and offers organisers a new medium through which they can brand the space and share content.

The complex installation was completed in just four weeks—an ambitious timeline that was scheduled in line with the venue's busy event diary. Using a combination of standard Vogel’s video wall components, custom-made parts, and pre-installation training, integrator Ruitech, supported by Vogel’s on-site engineering team, delivered the project on time and to the highest standard.

The installation consists of 517 Philips Public LED 7000 Series cabinets and 2,035 tiles, achieving a stunning total resolution of 19,240 x 1,144 for an unmatched viewing experience.

The immersive MK-7 venue invites visitors to explore the rich history of Oracle Red Bull Racing memorabilia, and the team’s championship-winning cars. With the installation of this state-of-the-art video wall, the space now offers an unparalleled visual experience.

The Team’s Director of Events and Hospitality, Nick Kenton, commented: “This latest investment in our facilities provides guests with even more opportunities to be creative with their event content. We are continuing evolving our offering and want clients to make the space their own while also embracing the rich and exciting heritage of Red Bull Racing. The new large scale immersive screen is just part of our ongoing plans to enhance our guest experience and provide a premium setting for live events.”

Across the site, Red Bull Technology Group is able to cater for a variety of conferences and events. Named in tribute to its Buckinghamshire home, MK-7 offers a unique setting for brand activations, receptions, dinners, conferences and intimate meetings, and the ongoing upgrades signal the Team’s increasing commitment to the conference and events sector.
24/09/24 European Congresses Flourish in Glasgow

Glasgow and the Scottish Event Campus (SEC) are reporting the continued increase in delegate numbers across major European conferences. This growth is underlined by the recent success of the European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology (ESTRO), which attracted over 7,000 participants. The delegation is the largest ESTRO congress held to date and underlines a growing trend of major congresses expanding in the city.

ESTRO followed the staging of the 50th Annual Meeting of the EBMT (European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation), which attracted a further 4,700 in-person registered participants, and the European Conference on Cystic Fibrosis, which also saw 2,200 researchers, scientists, and medical professionals meet at the SEC.

The SEC and Glasgow will be welcoming the annual conferences of EAACI (European Association of Allergy & Clinical Immunology), which will take place June 2025, and ERA (European Renal Association), in June 2026, with the conferences expected to attract over 8,000 and 9,000 delegates to the city respectively.

The news follows the announcement earlier this year, that the AC Forum will be holding its Annual Meeting in January 2025. To date, over 50% of AC Forum members have hosted or are hosting their meeting at the SEC, again underlining the city’s natural affinity with members of the organisation and its ability to work with European congress organisers.

“There has been tremendous leadership from our ambassadors and the scientific community within Glasgow to attract and grow these exceptional meetings,” commented Kathleen Warden, Director of Conference Sales, SEC. “We are delighted that events prosper in our city”.

“Glasgow Convention Bureau is delighted to partner with the SEC to support these prestigious European Association meetings to deliver successful and memorable events in our city. We look forward to welcoming the AC Forum Annual Meeting delegates to kick off next year,” commented Aileen Crawford, Head of Tourism and Conventions, Glasgow Convention Bureau. ”We are incredibly proud of our ‘Team Glasgow’ approach, where hosting events such as these are recognised as incredibly significant and important to the city’s conference community.”
23/09/24 The Live Group Sets Out Ambitions to 2025

The Live Group has announced a new vision into 2025 which will see the businesses continued expansion, both domestically and internationally, the growth of its team, and new investment in audience engagement and event technology. The news follows the group’s announcement of an injection of VCT funding from leading private equity group Foresight Group.

The investment from the Foresight Group earlier this year has been specifically earmarked for research and development within the Live Group’s already well-respected digital event products. The business is already investing in the latest technologies with a view to accelerating a suite of products that increase audience understanding and engagement.

“Anyone that knows Live Group has seen how much our business has grown and transformed in just a few years, however we know our heritage sits at the sweet spot between production excellence, smart technology, and market leading audience insight,” commented Stephen D. Pickett, Managing Director, Live Group. “Technology advancement gives us an opportunity to accelerate our audience-led learning, and this can only be good for the events we produce.”
In addition to the developments in event technology, Live Group continue to expand and actively seek the best talent, both in the UK and its Singapore office, which successfully launched last year. The group envisions leading the industry in creating inclusive and accessible event environments, which has helped shape its culture as an innovative, diverse, and equitable workplace. This vision is already attracting talent from diverse backgrounds, both within and outside the traditional events industry, to join its business on its exciting journey.

At the same time, the group has continued to put quality at the heart of its business, recently achieving ISO accreditation in Event Sustainability20121: 2012, in addition to their Quality Management, Information Security and Cyber Essentials Plus credentials. This substantial achievement has already led to positive growth across the Live Group, both within the businesses existing client portfolio, and in the form of new clients to its already healthy roster.

“The credibility of our growth has always been as important as its speed,” continues Stephen. “The event technology and audience profiling technologies we have produced are highly effective and have taken years to perfect. We’ve some really exciting plans in the offering that have undergone the scrutiny we needed them to. They’re nearly ready, and we can’t wait to share them with our clients.”

“This is about having the best people, the right products and an exceptional workplace, for Live Group to solidify its position as a leading international event brands, and one that is growing responsibly, sustainably, and with equity and innovation at its core,” concluded Stephen.

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Emirates Old Trafford signs long-term partnership with Sodexo Live!

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