Charitable Organisation – Annual Conference & Awards Ceremony

Sector: Charity and Voluntary
Venue: ICC Birmingham
Service Provided: Accommodation management, delegate booking portal and on-site support

The Challenge

A large charitable organisation required comprehensive event support for its Annual Conference and Awards Ceremony, hosted at the ICC in Birmingham. The event welcomed over 500 delegates, including senior stakeholders, key speakers, and event organisers.

The challenge centred on sourcing and managing a high volume of accommodation during peak season while adhering to a tight budget. The client also required flexible booking terms, long lead times for planning certainty, and a seamless delegate booking experience.

Our Approach

The venue sourcing division secured the ICC Birmingham as the main conference venue, while Event Express was appointed to manage all accommodation requirements.

We sourced and managed accommodation for:

• Over 500 delegates
• Approximately 600 rooms per night
• Multiple nights, including rooms for key speakers and organisers

Several centrally located city-centre hotels were identified to ensure convenience, accessibility, and value. Given the scale of the event and long lead time, accommodation was sourced and secured 18 months in advance, locking in competitive rates well within the client’s budget despite peak-season demand.

Negotiation & Added Value

Event Express negotiated flexible room allocations and favourable cancellation terms to protect the client against attrition risk while maintaining commercial security with the hotels.

To enhance the delegate experience and reduce administrative burden for the organiser, we:

• Created a dedicated online booking portal to streamline delegate reservations
• Centralised all bookings, amendments, and communications through a single point of contact

On-Site & Operational Support

An experienced Account Manager was present on-site throughout the event to oversee accommodation operations. This provided:

• Real-time issue resolution
• Immediate support for urgent relocations
• Management of last-minute room amendments

This hands-on approach ensured 100% same-day resolution of any accommodation-related issues, allowing the event to run smoothly without disruption.

Extended Event Support

Our relationship with the client extended beyond this event. For the Welsh edition of the conference the previous year, arrangeMY, also managed full travel logistics, including coach transfers.

This end-to-end service delivery demonstrated our ability to scale support across multiple locations while maintaining consistency, reliability, and attention to detail.

The Result

Through early planning, strategic negotiation, and on-site operational support, Event Express delivered a cost-effective, stress-free accommodation solution for a complex, high-volume event.

Our comprehensive and hands-on approach ensured a seamless experience for both organisers and attendees, reinforcing Event Express as a trusted long-term event accommodation partner.