St George’s Park, home of the National Football Centre in Staffordshire, has opened its new Outdoor Leadership Centre. Facilities include a 40 foot climbing tower, a linear ropes course, a range of low ropes activities, a powerfan and archery plus an indoor training facility.

The Outdoor Leadership Centre is designed for a diverse set of requirements from a fun-based team building session for sports and social clubs to a corporate staff development programme.

The Outdoor Leadership Centre is designed for groups from 10 to 160 participants and can be included as part of a conference or other events taking place at St George’s Park.

St George’s Park is the home of England’s 24 national football teams with facilities including 12 outdoor pitches, a full-sized indoor 3G pitch, a rehabilitation suite and sports science area plus a 2400 sq-mt sports hall. On-site accommodation is provided by Hilton at St George’s Park, with 228 bedrooms and suites, a restaurant and bar, indoor leisure facilities, 19 flexible meeting rooms, a lecture theatre and a ballroom.

St George’s Park is located in the geographical centre of England, six miles west of Burton upon Trent and 35 miles from East Midlands Airport, close to the M1, M6 and M42 motorway links.

Details:    www.thefa.com


The next two Village Urban Resorts to open will both be located in Scotland – both will be new build properties. The first in Aberdeen opens 1st December 2014 with 148 bedrooms. The second is scheduled to open in Edinburgh in January 2015.

Both Village Urban Resorts will feature standard and UpperDeck bedrooms, a Victory Chop and Ale House, conference and banqueting space plus a state-of-the-art Velocity Health & Fitness Club with a 25metre swimming pool and a Viva Urban Spa.

Village Urban Resort Aberdeen will be located in Kingswells just off the A944 on the western outskirts of the city.

Village Urban Resort Edinburgh will be located in Crewe Road South, close to Inverleith Park on the north side of the city.

Details:   www.village-hotels.co.uk


Work has begun on a £4.5million project to redevelop the Grand Hotel in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex into a 20 bedroom boutique hotel.
The Grand Hotel was built in 1899 in a classic design. It closed in 2008 and is now in a poor state of repair.
Along with the 20 bedrooms the revamped Grand Hotel will also include a piano bar, restaurant, private dining and meeting rooms plus a spa.
Completion is expected by the end of 2015.

Details: www.sugarhutbrentwood.com


Venuebooking.com is taking a summer break and will be returning at the beginning of September with a busy autumn season to look forward to.


Hotel Novotel London Brentford opens in Great West Road in June 2014 with 202 bedrooms. The newly-built hotel features the standard Novotel bedroom - air-conditioned with wi-fi. Two children up to the age of 16 stay free of charge sharing a parent’s room. In addition to the 202 bedrooms there are ten accessible rooms and two suites.
‘Elements’ is the restaurant and bar open daily from 6.00am to 11.00pm. There is an indoor pool and fitness area including a sauna. The main meeting room - the Kew - will seat up to 100 delegates theatre style and divides into three smaller rooms. In addition three boardrooms will each seat between 12 and 14 delegates. There is private outdoor parking and it is chargeable.
Hotel Novotel London Brentford is conveniently located in west London with Kew Royal Botanical Gardens and Twickenham Stadium just a few minutes drive away. It is twenty minutes to London Heathrow Airport. Northfieds is the nearest tube station just under a mile away.

Details: www.novotel.com