Going global      (Industry - Conferences)

 

Turnover increasing year on year? Over £12.5million worth of conference businesss placed in the past 12 months?

So reports venue finding service, Conferences-UK which is preparing to reap bigger numbers through its plans to reach into overseas territory.

Bethany Hutton-Stigga (21 Aug'09)

Its founder and MD Simon Thompson (pictured) is now preparing to reap big numbers in Australia, the USA and Europe through plans for a global online service for conference bookers. Thompson is backing the plan with an imminent move to Brisbane for four months to establish the Australian office with New York following thereafter.

“ConferenceVenues.com will be our full international website and will be translated into multiple languages including French, German and Spanish," says Simon Thompson. "We’ll also be looking for multilingual employees, so will be creating jobs and providing investment in these regions.

The company includes hotel groups IHG, Marriott and Hilton among its client list as well as the NHS and pharmaceutical companies. With offices in Manchester and London, Conferences-UK sells itself as being the only searchable database for individual conference rooms/suites with around 5,500 conference venues listed in the UK and over 10,500 worldwide. It also cites the placing of over 3,100 enquiries with listed venues each month.

“We recently successfully converted our sales force into a commission-only sales force," Thompson says. "This has allowed us to have a tighter control over our operating costs and the highest calibre workers are attracted to come and work for us due to the high commission we pay, plus the option to work more flexibly from home appeals to a lot of our employees.

He attributes the company's growth, since inception five years, to listening to clients' suggestions and needs and continual innovation. “The next twelve months are going to be very challenging for us," Thompson concedes "but with a lot of hard work and sheer determination, I am confident we will be successful abroad, and achieve our goal of becoming the world’s number one conference venue finding agency by 2010.”

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