With live events, conferencing, training and meetings opening up, Wyboston Lakes Resort is looking forward to getting back in the saddle and showcasing some great new spaces, new tech and safety and sustainability practices that ensure a ‘Better Tomorrow’.
Wyboston Lakes Resort is the largest independently owned business and leisure destination in Northern Europe. It includes a four-star hotel and two purpose-built venues for conferences and training events, as well as a spa, restaurants and golf course. It is sited on 380 acres of Bedfordshire countryside set midway between Cambridge and Milton Keynes, at the edge of the historic market town of St. Neots.
Trading throughout lockdown with essential services, the resort has put some rigid safety and mitigation procedures in place, including thermal temperature check technology, enhanced cleaning regimes, signage, sanitisation points and pathways. It holds three COVID accreditations ensuring the resort is leading the way for a safe return to live events.
The two purpose-built business venues for conferences and training events have both enjoyed recent refurbishments. The centres together provide a total of 54 conference, training and syndicate rooms – the largest of which has a capacity for over 600 delegates seated theatre style – and more than 400 bedrooms.
The Woodlands Event Centre is purpose-built, flexible in layout and ideal for larger bespoke events. With hosted service, creative flair, and ample space inside and out, it is truly an experience-led venue. The investment has created a stylish and inspiring event centre for now and for the future. It’s fully equipped with the facilities and technology to meet the needs of the latest generation of delegates and event organisers and has the capacity and flexibility to suit every type of event and the latest event trends.
Equipped with the latest audio-visual tech, the venue provides inspirational meeting areas, including a main conference room that seats 620 delegates theatre style or 380 cabaret style, with creative flair and movable walls to expand event options with dual projection for immersive imagery and customisable lighting, giving event organisers the ability to quickly set and adjust levels to suit the demands of the event.
An exciting range of food options, including the Mediterranean-inspired Olive Restaurant and the informal Cedar Bar, have also been created. Providing a modern twist on the traditional servery, the new Food Market provides a variety of international street food dishes.
The recently refurbished Willows Training Centre is a comfortable, flexible training space, designed with learning in mind, for a consistent training experience. Offering self-service options and freedom to relax, it boasts a laid-back games loft and buffet restaurant. It has been refurbished to meet the current and future needs of learning and development professionals, and those being trained, with a comprehensive restyling of its interiors. The result is a comfortable, flexible space, designed with the trainer and delegate in mind, offering self-service options and freedom to relax.
Under the refurbishment programme, the venue’s 12 meeting rooms have been upgraded, an additional meeting room has been created, including a sophisticated new boardroom for up to 24 delegates, as well as a creative space, Willows Parkway, which has been designed like a London tube station. The refurbishment has focused on creating light, open spaces that offer extensive easy-to-use technology and comfort with fun social areas, workstations and working areas suited to downtime with plenty of power points and wireless connectivity.
The public areas, reception, bar, restaurant and many of the venue’s 183 en suite bedrooms have also been upgraded.
The Cricket Kitchen, a self-service buffet restaurant, provides a bright open space with the added flexibility of a moving wall to provide clients with more options or added privacy. This is complemented by a newly created al fresco area and an easy self-service Pit Stop by Paddy & Scott’s Cafes.
Coffee artisans Paddy & Scott’s fuelling stations, available at multiple locations and kiosks across Wyboston Lakes Resort, ensure delegates and guests are fully energised throughout the day. In addition to serving high-quality coffee, the main fuelling station offers a wide range of drinks, pastries and snacks.
2Gb of high-speed internet is offered across the site and in all facilities, ensuring delegates receive bandwidth, with no passwords or limitations, completely free of charge.
Managing Director, Steve Jones, said: “Our research into trends in dedicated conference, training and events venues took us across several continents. This investment into both venues will ensure we remain top choice for the many blue-chip companies we work with. We’re delighted with their response to what we have created.”
On-site leisure facilities are comprehensive and include a full health and leisure club and an 18-hole golf course. The site also plays host to Ride Leisure, outdoor teambuilding and experience-led operators.
Sustainability is something the business is committed to, and it is engrained in everything it does. The team has created a culture of conscience and their slogan is quite simply: ‘More Sustainable, No Apology’ – meaning they are committed to making decisions which aren’t the norm but will help them be more sustainable. Wyboston Lakes Resort has aligned its own sustainability goals around the United Nations Good Life Goals and their own cultural aspirations for a hopeful future for all.
Wyboston Lakes Resort can be contacted on 0333 7007 666 or at www.wybostonlakes.co.uk
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