Exciting times ahead...

Welcome back to my next catch up with me, Matthew Hutchings. I do not know where that last month has gone, and now we are in March, the first Quarter of the year almost complete!

As we progress to living in a world with COVID we must accept it is here to stay. With the removal of restrictions over the past month, we have seen a spike in enquiries and bookings once again, with several of our regular clients, initially choosing to return less frequently with smaller meetings. However, we have also seen a huge increase in larger conference enquiries.

Looking over the next few months we already have days where we have sold out all our 12 meeting rooms and I am looking forward to seeing the centre busy and vibrant again!

If there was ever a positive from the Pandemic, it’s that it has allowed me to assess where we are as a business. So great news, we are currently undertaking a large refurbishment of all our meeting, conference rooms and bedrooms, which we plan to be complete by the summer. With this, you will see a significant upgrade to our meeting room technology, with new high spec projectors, screens, speakers, which we hope will take us to a new level. In an ever-developing and quickly changing IT world, we want to ensure we are now ahead of this so that you can have the highest standard when you book with us.

Alongside this, we are upgrading our coffee machines and installing a vending machine, so that you can enjoy fresh coffee/ tea or hot chocolate and snacks in your newly refurbished meeting rooms.

We will also install air conditioning in our meeting rooms and lounge before the summer heat arrives to ensure that the customer experience is comfortable.

This all comes at an exciting time, as I celebrate my 30th year in the hospitality industry. From starting my career at 16 in restaurants to being a Managing Director today, the world of Hospitality has evolved but what has remained the same is my passion to look after customers and deliver their bespoke needs.

More great news that I wanted to share, is that our monthly Derby Comedy Club shows are nearly back to capacity. We have had some amazing acts over the past couple of months and even more to come, so watch this space. The Comedy Club thrives off of people, the more people that attend, the better the atmosphere and it is one you just cannot beat anywhere. As the largest comedy club in Derby, we have grown an amazing following and I would like to thank our regular comedy goers, who have supported us throughout the last year, and some from 2019!

All of this just wouldn’t be possible without the amazing team that we have. The constant high standard they provide every day makes me so happy and proud of each one of them! Thank you team, and on to the next part of this exciting year!

Matt