Author: Rebecca Hurley

Christmas is one of the most wonderful times of the year. It is an opportunity to gather, share joy and celebrate.  Whether this is with family and friends or colleagues and even strangers who just happen to be in the same corporate event venue, the festive period includes a multitude of opportunities to attend events and is a vital event to thank staff for all their hard work over the year.

   

It all sounds fantastic doesn’t it – who wouldn’t want to attend?  We must however remember that all this fun and laughter comes at a cost.  The obvious costs are financial (particularly for those boozy affairs), after all someone needs to pick up the bill at the end of the night.  However, all too often the environment also has a bill to pay when the bar shuts and everyone goes home.  In our understandable focus on the fun, laughter and Christmas spirit we forget that it is all too easy for our festive partying to impact not just our corporate event venue, but the world around us.

So, what can we do to ensure our partying isn’t done at the detriment to the planet?  At BMA House this year we are dreaming of a Green Christmas that ensures every aspect of festive events are as kind to the planet as possible, whilst ensuring the event is exceptional.  With this in mind, here are five tips to consider:

• Consider first how you and your guests will get to the event, what are the public transport links like, is it possible to walk perhaps? Admittedly on a dark and cold winter’s night in party clothes the idea of walking isn’t always that appealing but it can be an option if local or onsite accommodation is used.

 

Realistically to ensure sustainability, transport should be considered right from the outset when booking the venue.  Ask yourself where the guests will be coming from and is it accessible to them?  If “in town” how close is it to bus, train and other infrastructure stops?  If further afield, can you book private buses or local rail tickets?  Ultimately, the way we get to or from any event is one of the biggest environmental factors and needs to be considered from the very beginning.

• It is all too easy to become focused on the concept of “single use plastics” but remember that anything “single-use” does have questionable ramifications for the environment. Just one example is wrapping paper – even if you choose a recycled option, it ultimately still uses various natural resources.  I am not suggesting you don’t wrap anything, but I would suggest you consider all the different elements of your Christmas party and establish whether they truly add value if they are single use.  One of the best examples here are Christmas Crackers – are they really worth all the packaging, content and materials for a quick bang and a dodgy hat that is only going to be worn by 20% of the guests for 20% of the party?

• In addition to single use – also think about what can be made multi-use. Décor and theming is a key consideration here.  Does it truly add value to create bespoke theming, costing both money and resources for one event on one night?  I am sure many of the guests will be delighted by the creativity of your ideas and how they are realised through decorations, trees and plants, fake snow, staging, props, lighting and sound.

 

It is far better for the environment to work with your venue and suppliers to ensure the theming is multi-use.  Perhaps the venue has a seasonal theme, perhaps the production company will use the décor elsewhere.  Whatever option you choose, there is no excuse to chop down 20 trees for just one night – nor is there a reason to buy 20 fake plastic trees for them never to be used again.

• Numbers matter – so make them count. One of the biggest areas of waste and environmental impact at an event is food waste.  A simple way to minimise this is catering numbers.  Talk to the venue about minimum numbers, be realistic about how many will attend and ensure you stay on top of your registrations.  You might hope to have 300 people attend, but if you only have 200 registered on the morning of the event there is no point the venue catering for the additional 100 people who won’t show up.

• Menu choice and event style can also be an ideal way to manage and minimise food waste. A sit down three course meal for a fixed amount of people generates different levels of waste to a buffet with five choices, which in turn creates different levels of waste to a buffet with one choice.  Your venue will know the best way for its catering team to decrease waste so seek their advice – and if there are left-overs, you might find creative uses such at the various chutneys produced by our caterers here at BMA House from unused vegetables etc.

   

There are so many ways to ensure your Christmas event is not just a success but also a sustainable success – you could even go meat free!  Whatever your choices and ideas though, make sure you communicate them with your corporate event venue and caterers right from the start as they are best placed to turn your Christmas wishes into Christmas reality. One way you can get your eco-Christmas rolling is to choose our ‘Greenest Christmas Dinner’ package where you’ll expect plant-based bubbles on arrival, a festive two-course set menu with hand selected dishes to reduce your carbon footprint, vegan wine, sustainable centre pieces, LED uplighters and much more!

For more information on holding your Christmas party at BMA House, contact our event planners on [email protected] or call 020 7874 7070.

Originally published on Go Ask eve.

In a recent blog we started to explore and detail some of the incredible work we are doing at BMA House to ensure we remain at the forefront of sustainable conferencing and events.  However, we wanted to provide a truly comprehensive description of what we do here to look after the world around us.  With this in mind, we have detailed below even more examples of the great work our team alongside CH&CO. has done to be more sustainable.

 

BMA House has a true partnership with our catering partner, CH&CO., they support us throughout all our sustainability policies, enhancing them and bringing their own ideas.  Our joint achievements in this area include tracking the weight of food wastage, the sourcing of sustainable suppliers and close consideration of all our working practices, which include:

• We ask for final numbers to be confirmed before the event so that we can make adjustments to production – reducing wastage.
• Food is seasonal and built around local suppliers, with information throughout our menus on food sources, including a map to show food mileage.
• We have reduced beef dishes and increased plant-based options, which include not charging more for non-dairy based milk alternatives.
• We have introduced new Hot Fork Buffet Set Menus, which are set by day so we can produce the same menu for all events, minimising waste, whilst passing cost savings to the client.
• We have reduced buffet choices from 3 to 2 options, which further reduces food waste.
• Food waste and coffee waste is collected by Paper Round and used for energy production.
• A significant increase in disposable coffee cup prices has driven a successful “bring your own cup scheme.”

 

   

 

• Staff lunches use leftover or repurposed food.
• Soups are made using leftovers and food that might normally be thrown, whilst other unused and untouched leftovers / peelings are used to create our in-house chutney – 200 jars since January 2022! Additionally, bread and pastry product leftovers are used to make bread and butter pudding.
• Sandwiches and salads are now made to order in café rather than in advance to keep wastage down.
• Cakes are made, portioned and then frozen so that smaller numbers are used.
• During the pandemic we provided tinned and packaged food that was close to going out of date to local food banks.
• Through Ellis Wines, we offer a variety of organic, biodynamic, sustainable and vegan wines on our “Wine with a Conscience wine list.” All Ellis Wines are transported by train and boat rather than air, including our most popular entry level Spanish wine.
• And finally – any leftover cakes are taken to the teams within BMA House as a treat, which is great for morale!

 

BMA House sees thousands of visitors each year for conferences, events, parties and meetings.  In addition, we welcome hundreds of visiting members from the British Medical Association.  We believe it is our job to continually demonstrates sustainable success and best practice to everyone who walks through our doors, which is why we constantly promote sustainability at events such as the Sustainable Events Show, and the launch of the Sustainable Event Buyer’s Guide, which we hosted.  We have also achieved a Gold accreditation with Green Tourism; and was one of just two venues that went straight to Platinum level in the new ECOsmart Accreditation.

Ultimately, our team lives, eats and breathes sustainability – it has made us and our venue healthier and a better place to be – we love to share that success.

As mentioned in the last blog – you can also see some great examples of our sustainable approach in our case studies of EIN and London & Partners events.

Contact our caring Event Planners for more information on holding your sustainable event with us.

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 020 7874 7020

BMA House has an incredibly strong focus on being sustainable, it is something we have worked hard to achieve over a long period of time, resulting in changes to infrastructure, working practices and team ethos.  Much of this would be easy to achieve in a brand-new building, designed based on modern regulations using the latest in architectural research.  However, BMA House is a beautiful, listed historic building – which makes such changes rather harder to achieve.

So, what have we been doing to make BMA House more sustainable?  Through this blog and another to be posted shortly we are going to detail and explore some of our incredible hard work.

     

To see some of the following in action you can also check out our case studies from EIN and London & Partners, plus a very recent achievement to be named Top Ten Sustainable Conference Venues in London, by Hire Space.

Above all else we see it as our goal to breakdown the presumption that Grade II Listed buildings cannot be sustainable.  This is demonstrated through headline figures such as a 69% reduction in delegate carbon footprint and a 5.4m litre reduction in water usage; as well as:

Transport / Location

• In addition to our superb location, which makes the journey more sustainable, we promote a “Clean Air Walking Route” from Kings Cross, taking guests off Euston Road onto backstreets with 57% lower pollution.
• More than 40% of staff cycle to work (encouraged by additionally installed showers) and we provided 176 hours of free bike maintenance in 2019.
• The iconic first sight of BMA House is our Courtyard, with its biodiverse lawn. This is complemented by our Garden – an intimate space, planted with medicinal herbs that are used in our catering.

     

Property and Infrastructure

• We monitor and report on gas, fuel and electricity usage, which are all sourced sustainably from renewable sources.
• We have devised an overarching carbon descent plan, which includes exploring environmental heating options and increased insulation. To aid this we have also implemented the “dead band” in offices where where heating is set to 19 degrees (max) and cooling to 25 degrees (min).
• All lighting has been replaced with LEDs and PIR (passive infra-red) lighting systems since 2014.
• We use Office 365, allowing us to save and archive files and folders to the cloud, reducing
• computers and associated energy consumption. We have rationalised data requirements and moved to specialist data providers where economies of scale and environmental impact are maximised.
• We have achieved a zero-to-landfill status since 2017 and promote a paperless/e-first way of working.
• Intelligent water management urinals have been installed alongside environmentally friendly toilet paper and dispensers are used throughout.
• High-capacity cleaning systems turn tap water into stabilised aqueous ozone – nature’s most powerful cleaner.
• Eco friendly products from carbon neutral flooring and wall coverings, with eco-friendly fabrics have been installed throughout.

Collapsible coffee cups are made using our leftover waste to create a truly sustainable giveaway / product!

     

Contact our caring Event Planners for more information on holding your sustainable event with us.

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 020 7874 7020

We’ve been incredibly lucky to be featured as Hire Space’s Top Sustainable Conference Venue in London, amongst six other spectacular eco-friendly venues!

               

When it comes to planning conferences, it’s crucial that your venue aligns with your sustainability objectives. There are plenty of venues out there that are making real leaps towards sustainable practices, but it can be difficult to know how to find them.

Hire Space have put together this selection of the top sustainable conference venues in London to make going green a little easier – read on to find out why we’re the perfect spot for your conference.

               

Industry accredited        Renewable energy          Low Waste

BMA House have been driving the sustainability bandwagon since before most got on board. Our commitments to reducing our impact on the environment have seen us recognised with a shelf-full of sustainability awards, including a Green Tourism GOLD award, and Hire Space’s own ‘Greenest Venue’ award in 2018 and 2019. In 2022, we were one of the first venues in the UK to achieve a Greengage ECOsmart Platinum level award – a serious mark of our efforts.

               

As well as implementing sustainability measures in-house, like using only renewable electricity, LED lighting, and intelligent water management urinals (all towards their goal of being carbon neutral by 2030), we incentivise conference guests to have a greener experience. To this end, we’ve created a ‘Clean Air Walking Route’ from King’s Cross to reduce taxis, and provide a map to show food mileage and help organisers make better menu choices. For an added bonus for conference guests, the venue uses leftover waste to create sustainable collapsible coffee cups!

               

Click this link to read about the six other sustainable London venues and why we’re all in this together for a greener world.

https://hirespace.com/blog/the-top-sustainable-conference-venues-in-london

Contact our caring Event Planners for more information on holding your sustainable event with us.

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 020 7874 7020

BMA House is amongst the first venues in the world to achieve Greengage’s ECOsmart Platinum accreditation.

Platinum venues are described as having an: Outstanding approach with the highest possible standard of environmental sustainability applied. Platinum ECOsmart venues are leaders in hospitality and have considered sustainability in all aspects of their business.

 

“As BMA House’s environmental journey continues, we are constantly looking not just for new ways to increase our sustainability but also new ways to demonstrate it,” comments Kathryn Winfield, Venue Manager, BMA House.  “As specialists in environmental sustainability across the travel and events sectors, Greengage audits are based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring those who achieve Platinum status really are at the top of their game and the whole BMA House team is delighted to have been awarded such a high-profile accolade.”

In addition to the UNSDG’s, Greengage basis its audits on the criteria of both the Global Sustainability Tourism Council and ISO 14001.  As specialists in environmental sustainability, Greengage provides independent advice and support to the travel and events sector as they help organisations on their pathway to commercial success through helping the planet.

 

Andrew Perolls, CEO of Greengage Travel and Event Solutions, concludes: “BMA House is a beacon of sustainable excellence, going straight in at the Platinum level due to their focus and dedication to sustainability.  Achieving such a high level in their first audit is a real challenge and I am truly impressed by the wide-ranging sustainable activity they take across the whole of the venue.”

 

Many will remember when Her Majesty the Queen, joined by James Bond, made a daring entrance to the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in London 2012, what a scene! But do you also remember when BMA House was transformed into Nike’s Hospitality house, a location for select media and athletes to relax during the Olympic period?

On 27 July 2012, day 1 of the games, our Grade II listed building saw a transformation like no other – from its typical medical and historical nature, into a great sporting and media hospitality space. Two weeks prior to the opening ceremony, the beating heart of BMA House saw many internal and external changes to its event spaces, these included: giant topiary plants cut into the shape of trainers and running legs in the Courtyard; corridors lined with the latest running shoes behind glass cabinets; and mannequins showcasing Nike’s sports clothing range – to name but a few.

             

The Great Hall was pumped with adrenaline when our flagship space became a games room for athletes’ families and half of the Hall stored over 4,000 Nike running shoes!

Rooms on our third floor saw top-of-the-range AV installed to project and display images of Nike’s products, whilst the Courtyard Suite on the ground floor became three individual physio massage rooms to heal tired bodies.

               

Our most popular spaces, the Snow and Paget rooms became the athletes lounge, a quiet space to relax and unwind and watch the live games on large screens, with flooring installed to resemble that of a running track.

Prestigious dinners for winning athletes took place outside in our stunning Courtyard, with food and drink provided by their own innovative Italian chef, who catered for every runner’s needs by serving up nourishing, fresh dishes to aid fatigue and energise.

               

BMA House was chosen as the perfect venue for Nike’s hospitality due to our British heritage, as well as our hidden location away from the limelight of the Olympic Park, our immense and beautiful building with seemingly endless corridors, our presentation rooms and stair wells.

So, we invite you to sit back and enjoy browsing these photos captured over this memorable occasion, you never know what our incredible venue will be turned into next!

             

Congratulations, you have got engaged – but now what?  Your friends and family have all been told, the ring has been showed to just about everyone you know and they have all said the same thing – “have you set a date”?  The answer at this point is probably no because you haven’t even thought about a venue yet – so where do you start?  The magazines, blogs and social media content can sometimes be overwhelming, which leads almost every couple, at some point to their first wedding fayre.

       

In theory a wedding fayre is a great place to talk to wedding suppliers and experts – those people who can help shape your theme and your day.  However, in reality there are good and bad fayres, traditional fayres in hotels, vintage fayres, themed fayres, destination fayres, creative fayres… the list goes on and on.  When deciding which to go to we recommend doing some research, starting fairly local and picking one that fits your general themes, ideas and personality.  If you really don’t have a clue, start with the more traditional fayre, gather some ideas and narrow your options for the future.

           

Before you go…

• Decide who you are taking – is this an initial research trip with your partner to get some ideas? Are you taking your parents or friends for a day out?  The company you go with can dramatically impact what you do whilst there and where you focus.
• Ask yourself whether you are going for research and ideas, or to make decisions and purchases. It is very easy for a research trip to become expensive, particularly if you get pulled into making a decision you might later regret.
• Think about who you want talk to on the day, have a look at who is there and who fits what you have in your head. Focus on those people and try to avoid the butterfly effect and get pulled in the wrong direction.
• Thoroughly review the fayre’s website and schedule, there might be showcases from particular suppliers that you want to see, so having your timings right is really important.

           

At The Fayre…

• Be open and talk to the suppliers about your thoughts and ideas. The more you tell them, the more they can draw on your personality to ignite and inspire their own creativity.
• Make sure you collect business cards and contact details for the suppliers that interest you. There is nothing worse than getting home and realising you cannot remember the name of the perfect venue or caterer.
• Be open minded – look at things that are outside your ideas and comfort zone – they might inspire you in different ways.
• Try and sample everything to find out what it is that you truly want – though be wary of signing anything or agreeing to anything after sampling the fizz… just in case.

           

Afterwards…

Hopefully you will leave excited and inspired.  Take some time to reflect and think through what you have seen, follow up with those suppliers of interest and where appropriate get the date in the diary for those you love.

Contact our caring team for more information on weddings at BMA House.

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 020 7874 7020

According to our good friends at Wikipedia – At the 2011 census, London had a population of 8,173,941. Of this number 44.9% were White British. 37% of the population were born outside the UK, including 24.5% born outside of Europe.

The result is that as a wedding venue in the heart of London, which is arguably one of the most culturally diverse cities in the world, we need to be on our game when it comes to meeting the needs of couples looking to use BMA House to celebrate their big day.

                                

From Chester to Chinese, Halal to Hawaiian, Kosher to Korean, this becomes particularly interesting when the couple are from two separate backgrounds.  Can you imagine the conversation when we advised our chef that a bespoke menu needed creating that reflected both heritages of the Sri Lankan / Spanish couple…? Or the Russian / Canadian couple?

To tell you the truth, rather than the chef seeing it as a difficult task, he saw it as a true creative challenge and delivered incredible menus for these couples.  In fact, looking back through bookings over the years, a huge proportion have been cross-cultural, one year we actually had 13 – all requiring bespoke menus.  Fusion cuisine is not a new concept but on the high street it rarely brings together some of the incredible cultures that love manages to and it is up to us and our team to make that a reality.

       

At BMA House all couples work with a dedicated member of our team throughout the whole of their wedding planning experience.  They get to know each other and ensure the perfect day, reflecting their true desires, comes to fruition.  A key part of this is the catering and the relationship with the chef.  Bespoke menus are a regular occurrence for us, which is why a tasting is such an important part of the experience.  It provides an opportunity to check that the creative ideas can truly be delivered and work for the couple, it provides a chance for them to give feedback, and of course it provides a chance to select and sample what works best for them and their guests.

         

Why not give us a call and challenge our catering team – they are dying to try out their Klingon / Hobbit Tudor banquet concept.

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 020 7874 7020

Images courtesy of:

Planner and stylist @emmajaneweddingplanner
Photographer @phoebejanephoto

In the words of Fleetwood Mac – “Everything’s waiting for you – You can go your own way”… which is all part of the celebrations and options available here at London’s beautiful venue, BMA House.

No, this blog isn’t an homage to 1977’s award winning Rumours album but an opportunity to reflect on something much more up to date – versatility and the fact that BMA House can be taken exclusively and used as a blank canvas to create your own event, your own way.

     

When you book BMA House exclusively it is yours to do with as you wish – assuming you don’t intend on abseiling from the Great Hall balconies!  In all seriousness though, we regularly work with people looking to do something exceptional and we understand most individuals prefer a private setting all to themselves.

In particular, exclusive use often starts with a review of the catering on offer.  We don’t want those booking with us to be limited by their perceptions of what we have to offer – so please talk to us about any potential changes you might like to make for a celebration.  This can include switching out our caterers entirely to meet the needs of different cuisines.  A perfect example is a Bah or Bat Mitzvah, where we can turn our kitchens over to one of our recommended suppliers specialising in Kosher cuisine.

     

Once the decision has been made to change the caterer then the whole venue is given over to that celebration.  This is primarily because two different caterers cannot use the kitchen at the same time – partly due to space but also due to potential contaminations of produce that might be acceptable to one client but not another – in this case “too many cooks quite literally could spoil the broth!”

Once the venue is yours the opportunities are endless in terms of how you wish to use it to maximise impact and create something truly memorable for your guests.  As ever our caring team are on hand throughout and as your single point of contact from start to finish can support with ideas and suggestions for making the most of an exclusive hire.

     

BMA House is famous for being a landmark venue steeped in history in the heart of London.  We are also the beating heart of the British Medical Association and therefore sit at the cutting edge of scientific research and medical knowledge.  This deep-seated passion for innovation and excellence runs through the whole of the organisation, including our event facilities and planning skills.  So put your perceptions aside and find out how you can use us to “go your own way.”

Note – our recommended maximum number of guests for events using external caterers is 200.

Contact our caring team of event planners for more information.

Email: [email protected]

There are many facets to a successful event, from venue facilities and catering to the marketing and registration process.  However, at the top of many lists, right alongside price and value for money are location and accessibility.  If you want people to show up, hold your event somewhere inspiring, somewhere that interests and excites – and then make sure that place is easy to get to.

     

Here at BMA House, we are lucky enough to be in the heart of a multi-cultural capital; a city full of sights, sounds and smells; a place where you can work all day and party all night.  As Dr Johnson said: “when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life.”  And though that quote is a little melodramatic spoken now, rather than in the 18th century, when other incredible places are just a short train fare, drive or flight away, it still rings true for many.

     

However, it isn’t just what the city offers that matters but how accessible the venue is when you arrive there.  BMA House is a stone’s throw from Euston, St Pancreas, Kings Cross and a further half dozen tube stations.  It is surrounded by bus stops and on major traffic arteries – it really is so incredibly easy to get to.  An hour and a quarter from Birmingham, two and a quarter from Leeds even Edinburgh is only four and a quarter hours away – and of course, we are served by several international airports, all of which are just a short journey via train.

And if sustainability is high on your agenda, guests can arrive on foot by following our Clean Air Walking Route from Kings Cross, where the air pollution is 57% lower than busy Euston Road. Furthermore, we have onsite cycle racks for those travelling by bike and two EV charging points in our car park for those driving in an electric vehicle.

     

As a city we sit at the hub of so many transport networks and as a venue we sit at the terminus of so many of those lines.  If you want people to come – choose BMA House and make it really easy for them to get to.

Head over to our Contact page to find out your best route to find us https://bmahouse.org.uk/contact/