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2014 Annual Member Opinion Survey
Unique Venues of LondonMonday 10th November 2014
Prepared and presented by Total Project Marketing Ltd. 07801 938422
Who responded to the 2014 Opinion Survey (56)
56 venues in 2010
(81%)
60 venues in 2011
(82%)
68 venues in 2012
(87%)
64 venues in 2013
(79%)
56 venues in 2014
(69%)
Respondents to the 2014 Member Opinion Survey(56)
195 Piccadilly, the home of BAFTA Harrow School
Museum of London, Docklands Somerset House
Banqueting House HMS Belfast National Portrait Gallery Spencer House
Benjamin Franklin Hon Society of Lincoln's Inn National Theatre St Martin-in-the-Fields
BFI IMAX Kensington Palace Natural History Museum St Paul’s Cathedral
British Museum Kew Gardens Old Royal Naval College Syon Park
Central Hall Westminster Leighton House Museum RIBA Venues Tate Britain
Christ Church Spitalfields London Wetland Centre Royal Air Force Museum Tate Modern
Churchill War Rooms London Zoo (ZSL) Royal College of Physicians Tower Bridge
Cutty Sark Lord's Cricket Ground Royal Festival Hall Tower of London
Dulwich Picture Gallery LSO St Luke's Royal Museums Greenwich Trinity House
Foundling museum Madame Tussauds Royal Opera House Wallace Collection
Freemasons’ Hall Middle Temple Saatchi GalleryWellcome Collection Events Spaces
Gibson Hall Museum of Brands Science Museum Wellington Arch
Hampton Court Palace Museum of London Shakespeare’s Globe Westminster Abbey
An overview!
The diversity of venues (56)
23%
SMALL VENUESunder 250
34%
MEDIUM VENUES
250-500
21%
LARGE VENUES
500-999
21%
VERY LARGE VENUESover 1,000
Refers to reception capacity
How venues categorise themselves (56)
23% Colleges & Institutions
39% Galleries
50% Museums
18% Performing
Arts
68% Tourist attractions
48% Exhibitions
33% have pro-active sales
& marketing teams (52)
20% have overseas markets exceeding 10% of total
revenue (49)
12% handle 30+ filming projects a year (49)
The diversity of venues (56)
Key business targets!
Corporate business
Financial sector
Corpora
te
Private
Indivi
dual
Gove
rnm
ent
Public S
ector
Associa
tion m
arket
Oth
er0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
50%
47%
24%
3%
8%
4%
13%
Most important business segments (49)
Education; 8%
Charity; 58%
Media; 25%
Art; 8%
97 answers by 49 venues
1st & 2nd choice
What do we do?
Unique Venues of London
28% of events are conference
related
72% of events
are dining related
The most financially significant events (50)
dinner dances, receptions, large dining events, private celebration parties, small dining events, weddings,
barbecues, award ceremonies & charitable
events
auctions, conferences, exhibitions, product
launches, fashion shows & small meetings
When do events take place?
67% of venues predominantly service evening events (54)
• 66% in 2013
68% in 2012
91% of business takes place midweek (54)
• 80% in 2013
90% in 2012
Unique Venues
of London
582 event staff (55)
Capable of handling 212 events at the same time
(55)
409 function rooms
(55)
Unique Venues of
London
21,107 annual events (55)
(internal & external)
£52.99M
annual revenue (54)
Business outlook
The business outlook a year ago (63)
Cautiously optimistic
(75%)
Very optimistic
(8%)
Slightly pessimistic
(17%)
0%
50%
100%
Business outlook going forward (55)
Cautiously optimistic
(71%)
Very optimistic
(20%)
Slightly pessimistic
(9%)
0%
50%
100%
Industry trends
Most financially significant external events in 2014
The most financially significant external events in 2014 (50)
1. Large Dining Events ( (Receptions events in 2013)
2. Conferences
3. Receptions
Venues that use advertising
Advertising by individual UVL venues (50)
76%
• spend money on advertising
Advertising categories (37)
Digital (electronic)
16%38%
46%
Most successful advertising titles…
SquareMeal • 21% (16% 2013)
Event • 14% (15% 2013)
Conference News
• 8% (9% 2013)
Conference & Incentive
Travel• 8% ( 10% 2013)
Squaremeal
Event
Conference News
Conference & Incentive Travel
Conference Blue and Green
Executive PA
The Wedding Directory
Wedding Magazine
Wedding Venues and Services
You & Your Wedding
Prestige Events
Meetings and Incentive Travel
Venue
Exhibition News
Marketing Week
Jewish Chronicle
Local press
Other
None
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%
20132014
Most successful advertising titles
1st, 2nd & 3rd Choice.
73 answers in 2014
78 answers in 2013
(27)
(32)
Winners & losers verses a year ago…
More popular
Less popular
Meetings & Incentive Travel
Local press and smaller
titles
Square meal
Venues using social media
Venues now using social media
41% 2011 (54)
61% 2012 (62)
70% 2013 (64)
82% 2014 (49)
; 83%
Facebook,
8%
Linkedin; 8% Other; 3%
1st choice of social media used by venues (40)
81% in 2013
9% in 2013
4% in 2013 6% in 2013
Blogger; 1% Facebook; 24%
Flickr; 1%
Google+; 1%
Linkedin, 17%
Media; 1%Other, 8%Pinterest,
8%
Twitter, 40%
1st, 2nd & 3rd choices of social media used by venues (41)
25% in 2013
15% in 2013
4% in 2013
40% in 2013
97 answers by 41 venues
1st 2nd & 3rd choice
How often do venues use social media for marketing activities (41)
Frequency 2014 % 2013%
Daily (16) 39% 51%
Weekly (14) 34% 19%
Bi-monthly (3) 7% N/A
Monthly (5) 12% 8%
Quarterly(3) 7% N/A
Infrequently N/A 22%
73% of members are using social media on a daily or weekly basis
Venues using search engine optimisation
Venues that carry out search engine optimisation (SEO) (50)
56% of venues use SEO
44% of venues do not use SEO
In respect of external venue hire
Amounts spent annually on search engine optimisation (28)
In respect of external venue hire
Amount spent per year %
Over £5,000 25%
£3,000 - £5,000 21%
£2,000 - £3,000 11%
Under £2,000 29%
No money spent 14%
A close ‘relative’ to SEO is website responsive work.. to allow multiple devices to access a website
Low cost SEO methods
Hyperlinks to other sites (50)
46% of venues link their websites to
other sites
54% of venues do not link their
websites to other sites
Up from 38% in 2013
Hyp
erlin
king 48% - Suppliers
20% - Unique Venues of London
17% - Corporate members & partners
14% - Other
‘Suppliers’ include catering, lighting, florists, AV
‘Other’ includes Eventbrite. LoveTheatre, AIM, LCS, Issuu, Youtube, & Royal Collection
Posting special offers (52)
58%
of venues use their own website to
post special offers and
news items
56% of 63 in 201359% of 64 in 2012 43% of 60 in 2011
Venues that have pro-active sales teams
Venues with pro-active sales & marketing teams (52)
39 Sales staff
Generating pro-active
new business
At 16 UVL venues
26 Sales staff
Generating pro-active
new business
At 17 UVL venues
2014 (52)
2013 (63)
Monthly average appointments generated by pro-active sales teams 7.2 (highest 25/lowest 2)
Circ: 87 materialised appointments a year
Comments on pro-active sales
“… We have recently appointed a new business development manager for functions and events ”
“… Each member of the team is required to carry out proactive sales calls and have a KPI of weekly site visits to achieve from such calls”
“.. We send out regular newsletters and press releases to the event media highlighting special offers and new rates”
“.. We make regular agency visits and put on showcase events or get event managers to come and view ”
Venue participation at events and exhibitions
25% 2011 (60)
28%2012 (64)
37%2013 (62)
50%2014 (50)
Individual venue participation at events and exhibitions (50)
Why?
“… they showcase us to an audience who we may not otherwise be able to reach”.
“… we’re able to meet and target new clients”.
“… BNC - for it's attendee screening
“…. because they generated a lot of leads”
Most important events/exhibitions 2014 (25)
BNC Event
Unique Venues of London Expo
IMEX (Frankfurt)
Square Meal
Meetings Show UK
Other
Confex
EIBTM (Barcelona)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
2013 20141st choice only
Venues with overseas markets
Venues with overseas markets (49)
Survey Year No. of venues with overseas business exceeding 10% of
turnover%
2014 10 20%
2013 (63) 9 14%
2012 (68) 29 43%
2011 (60) 22 37%
2010 (55) 24 44%
20% of venues surveyed have overseas markets exceeding 10% of their revenue…
…. In 2010 it was 44%!
Venues with overseas markets that exceeded 10% of turnover (10)
2013 2014
Hampton Court Palace
Madame Tussauds
Museum of London, Docklands
Somerset House
Tower Bridge
Cutty Sark
Natural History Museum
Royal Museums Greenwich
Spencer House
Tower of London
Benjamin Franklin House
Churchill War Rooms
Trinity House
Most financially significant overseas markets (9)
Europe (inc. Russia)
North America (inc. Canada)
Middle East
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
20132014
Venues with overseas markets -common characteristics
• They are generally tourist attractions• They are often museums• They tend to be larger venues in terms of
event capacity
Venues with overseas markets (10)
VenueReception capacity
1000+
Reception capacity
(500-1,000)
Reception capacity(250-499)
Pro-active sales team
Tourist Attraction
Museum Gallery
Cutty Sark - - Yes -Yes Yes Yes
Hampton Court Palace - Yes - -Yes Yes Yes
Madame Tussauds Yes - - -Yes Yes Yes
Museum of London, Docklands Yes - - -Yes Yes Yes
Natural History Museum Yes - - -Yes Yes
-
Royal Museums Greenwich Yes - - -Yes Yes
-
Somerset House - - Yes -Yes Yes
-
Spencer House - - Yes YesYes -
-
Tower Bridge - - Yes - --
-
Tower of London - - Yes Yes --
-
Incoming enquiries
How incoming enquiries are received? (54)
Email & Website (89%)
Telephone (11%) 2013 (27%)
2013 (73%)
Most important ‘vehicle’ for receiving enquiries
Survey Year Telephone%
Email%
Website%
2014 (54) 11 70 19
2013 (62) 28 58 14
2012 35 57 8
2011 43 47 10
2010 53 29 18
2009 69 20 11
2008 79 8 13
Highest yielding sources of enquiries
Top highest yielding external sources of enquiries (49)
Unique Venues of
London (43%)
Suppliers (35%)
Funky Venues (6%)
Unique Venues of London 21
Suppliers 17Funky Venues 3Its the Agency 2Square Meal 2
Choosemyvenue.com 1Lime Portfolio 1
London & Partners 1
South Bank Venues 1
Use of intermediaries
Use of intermediaries (53)
There is an increase in the use of intermediaries in 2014
And a decrease in direct bookings
Up to 2013 we had seen a 3 year consecutive decline in the use of intermediaries.
81% of venues pay 8% commission17% of venues pay 10% commission
Use of intermediaries (53)
Ex-ternal events
booked on a
direct
basis75%
External events booked through an intermediary25%
Use of intermediaries (53)
Survey Year % External events booked through intermediaries
% External events booked on a direct basis
2014 25 75
2013 21 79
2012 13 87
2011 21 79
2010 24 76
2009 25 75
2008 23 77
2007 23 77
2006 20 80
Venues interest in filming opportunities
• Venue interest in filming projects is growing with 32% of venues undertaking more than 11 filming projects a year (25% in 2013)
• 3% undertake more than 100+ projects a year.
Filming opportunities (35)
• We asked how many filming projects actually took place at your venues, during the last 12 months?
Filming projects that actually took place
% of venues
2014
% of venues 2013 (43)
% of venues
2012
% of venues
2011
% of venues
2010
100+ filming projects 3% 2% 8% 5% 2%
31 to 100 filming projects 9% 7% 8% 9% 14%
11 to 30 filming projects 20% 16% 10% 7% 16%
10 or less filming projects 68% 75% 74% 79% 68%
Venues membership with London and Partners
Individual venue membership of London & Partners (50)
Survey Year Members of London & Partners (any membership)
2014 50%
2013 52% (64)
2012 59% (66)
2011 64% (58)
2010 78% (55)
Small year on year decline in levels of individual venue membership
Unique Venues of London -
use of membership services
A reminder of the membership benefitsfor your venue (49)
Awareness; 25%
Industry contacts;
14%New business via
UVL; 20%
Other; 1%
Shared knowledge;
33%
The prestigious organ-isation; 7%
1. Shared knowledge2. Awareness3. New business
Sharing information (49)
The most important areas in which venues would be prepared to share information in 2014 …
1. ‘Venue Diary Management systems’
2. ‘Terms and conditions’
3. ‘Market Information’
2013
4. ‘Suppliers’
5. ‘Terms and conditions’
6. ‘Market Information’
2012
7. ‘Market Information’
8. ‘Terms and conditions’
9. ‘Suppliers’
Client
cont
racts
Conse
rvat
ion
and
hous
ekee
ping
Custo
mer
serv
ices
Datab
ase
Health
& S
afet
y
House
keep
ing
Mar
ket in
form
atio
n
Mar
ketin
g
Mys
tery
shop
ping
Other
PR
Public
liabi
lity
Staff r
ecru
itmen
t
Suppl
ier c
ontra
cts
Suppl
iers
Term
s and
cond
itions
Venue
Dia
ry M
anag
emen
t sys
tem
s
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
2014 2013
Using the members’ question service
… can involve sending an email or raising a question at a meeting.
Have you used the members question service? (49)
67% of respondents
53% in 2013
YES
33% of respondents
47% in 2013
NO
….and 96% are happy to share the findings with the membership (78% in 2013)
Sharing Information
“The sharing of knowledge and experience amongst member venues is a real benefit and just as important as the 'marketing' side of being part of UVL”
“… the most beneficial reason of being part of UVL….. it helps us feel we have a weight of experience backing us up”
“… an online bulletin board of some description might save time overall. The LinkedIn forum seems to be working in this format..”
“…. of the most valuable benefits of membership - sharing expertise and knowledge amongst the group”
Sending information to the social media team
Do you send information to the social media team? (50)
YES - 92%
NO - 8%
..and 89% follow Unique Venues of London on social media
The social media used to follow Unique Venues of London (41)
Social media %
Twitter 48%
Facebook 18%
Linked-in 20%
Pinterest 15%
82 answers from 41 venues in 2014
Attending meetingsShared knowledge, Industry contacts
Attending meetings (56)
Number of meetings attended 2014 2013 2012 2011
12 have attended 6 meetings 21% 16% 18% 20%
11 have attended 5 meetings 20% 19% 35% 24%
11 have attended 4 meetings 20% 21% 10% 17%
11 have attended 3 meetings 20% 15% 16% 14%
4 have attended 2 meetings 7% 15% 9% 10%
4 have attended 1 meeting 7% 10% 3% 7%
3 have not attended any meetings
5% 5% 9% 9%
81% of the membership have attended 3 meetings or more..
Hosting Unique Venues of London meetings
Hosting Unique Venues of London meetings (56)
• 77% of respondents offered to host a meeting
59% of 64 in 2013 68% of 62 in 201258% of 55 in 2011
Suggested topics
“… the supplier forum was incredibly useful and should be a more regular event”.
“… Another ice breaker like the 3G quiz at the Cutty Sark "speed dating" for the members ”.
“…. mentoring .. structured opportunities for peer support discussions”
“.. the Supplier Panel was incredibly useful”.
“.. Social Media - always more to learn!”
“.. more networking in a controlled environment, i.e. speed meetings”
New business
• 44 venues gave us information on new business
• These 44 venues received 4,404 enquiries • 75 enquires were reported as confirmed• With a value of £247,000*
The confirmed business excludes 15 confirmed enquiries which were not valued
Enquiries from Unique Venues of London (44)
Enquiries received
No. of venues receiving enquiries
No. of enquiries that went on to
confirm
Approx. value of confirmed enquiries
200+ 10 21 £103,000
150-199 3 10 £52,700
100-149 6 6 £4,000
50-99 10 29 £138,545
20-49 8 6 £40,000
0-19 7 3 £12,000
4,404 44 75 £247,245
What you would like from Unique Venues of London
in 2015
Market sectors
Unique Venues of London should target the following sectors…
Finance • 33%
Legal • 21%
Medical • 12%
66% of the membership chose these sectors
The market sectors to target (49)
Finance related
Legal related
Medical related
I.T. related
FMCG related
Travel related
Marketing related
Telecoms related
Manufacturing related
Retail related
Other
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
20132014
99 answers by 49 venues
1st & 2nd Choice
Advertising (51)
Unique Venues of London should advertise in the following categories…
Print Advertisin
g• 43%
On-line advertising
• 31%
Social media
• 27%
160 answers by 51 venues
Paid Newspaper
Free Newspaper
General Magazine
TradeProfessional Magazine
Social Media
Online
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
The type (or general category) of advertising (51)
Your top advertising choices for Unique Venues of London
10% of venue suggestions recommended SquareMeal.
19% of venue suggestions recommended Event magazine.
“44% of venue suggestions recommended “Other”
Emerald Street 3%
M&IT 3%
PA Life 3%
Stylist Magazine 3%
Time Out 3%
Conference news (online) 2%
Event Magazine (online) 2%
Executive PA 2%
Jewish Chronicle 2%
Local 2%
London Launch 2%
Mayfair Magazine 2%
Monocle Magazine 2%
Online 2%
PA Club 2%
PA Executive Magazine 2%
Screen and Trade Media Broadcast Magazine 2%
social media 2%
The Economist 2%
The Financial Times 2%
Trade Websites 2%
Weddings Conference News 2%
How does this compare with your own spend on advertising (37)
Digital (electronic)
16%38%
46%
Comments?
“… it would be great to have .. advertising/editorials in accountancy and legal .. industry publications”
“… technical events…an area.. unexplored by UVL .. a good place to advertise and generate new enquiries”
“High-end private events.. seem to be growing again. Perhaps features in broadsheet newspapers or lifestyle magazine”
PR activity
Public Relations
“… Like the direction it is heading and the way the PR company asks all venues to send them relevant content for press”.
“… It would be appreciated if some PR activity could be focused on the out-lying venues (not in the centre of town)”.
“…. selecting topics that are interesting, important and relevant.. Sporting Weeks, for example, only applies to a very small number of venues...”.
“..could we become more involved in joining / running our own charity event to raise profile of UVL”
“.. Can the call out for content from Triggerfish please be more frequent and more direct”
“.. Unique Venues of London club together to create a unique event experience…a common theme executed at the same time, a bit like what the V&A, Science Museum & NHM do”
Newsletter
Newsletter
“… I like the format and regularity of the newsletter - don't see that any major changes are required”
“… At present the newsletter looks haphazard as it often has many fonts within the short newsletter”
“…. Lots of colourful photos of events that venues have held, a recipe, any special open events that venues have e.g. new gallery openings”
“.. More image led with only strap line to offer and click through to the website”.
“.. Video content seems popular but I know this is expensive.”
“..How about a fortnightly feature on a venue or interesting space/event”
Participation at events & exhibitions
In the UK, Unique Venues of London should consider participating at…
BNC • 22%
Confex • 22%
Square Meal
• 15%
UK events and exhibitions that you would like us to attend in 2015 (32)
This year we left a free field for members to identify which tradeshows we should participate in next year.
BNC; 22%
Confex; 22%
Square Meal; 15%
EIBTM; 13%
The Meetings
Show; 11%
IMEX; 6%
Wedding fairs; 4%
Other; 7%
54 answers by 32 venues
Internationally, Unique Venues of London should consider participating at…
EIBTM • 42%
IMEX • 37%
None or unsure
• 21%
18 answers from 17 venues
Events & Exhibitions - Comments?
“… Exhibitions are becoming less of a key sales tool for generating specific enquires”
“… I think a far more effective way of generating new enquiries is to do more events like the EXPO ….”
“…. We are understaffed to attend exhibitions so we appreciate UVL promoting our venue …. on our behalf”
Unique Venues of London - client entertaining & promotion
Unique Venues of London should consider holding the next expo.. (49)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
4% 10% 16% 12% 6% 6% 16% 2% 4% 20% 2% 0%
In October, March or July (most popular months)
What time during the day should the expo take place (51)
Time of day %
Morning only 20%
Afternoon only 8%
Afternoon into the evening 37%
Evening only 25%
All day 10%
Comments
“… . If we do a party again, could we please make sure data of attendees can be shared with all members”
“… the party this year worked far better then the expos in the past..”
“…. I think the exhibition is one the biggest assets to the membership and a strong reason why we continue to be members”
“.. I am not sure how beneficial it is having so many suppliers present”
The Unique Venues of London Expo (56)
77%
Would be willing to host this event in
the future (42% in 2013)
The UVL Expo (49)
39%
Would be prepared to volunteer for
the organising committee for
the 2015 Expo (28% in 2013)
Filming opportunities
Filming opportunities (48)
Year % wanting a dedicated section of the website
2014 75%
2013 (56) 71%
2012 (59) 76%
2011 (52) 85%
75% of the membership would like a dedicated section of the website to promote filming opportunities
Comments
“… We have been receiving a lot more filming requests recently and wonder whether location managers use UVL or other online listings sites as a starting point”
“… We have recently hired a dedicated member of the team to deal with filming”
“…. We are often used as a unit base while the filming actually takes place elsewhere … this is something we would like to expand on”
“… Filming is also not relevant to all venues” “… It is not a financially
worthwhile area for us as they never have any budget, are always very difficult to work with..”
Promoting the Unique Venues of London name
Promoting the Unique Venues of London name (50)
• 40% of members would agree to display a small Unique Venues of London logo or strapline as an email footer on correspondence with clients
London & Partners
Unique Venues of London relationship with London & Partners
Marketing opportunities
• 29%
Exhibition opportunities
• 26%
Fam trips • 24%
Sales opportunities
• 19%
Should focus on:
2% said none of these/’other’
Additional benefits that could be provided by
Unique Venues of London
OtherBenefits
“… Shared marketing strategy Industry feedback loop between partners to share experience in business cycles”
“..More opportunities to meet clients directly during frequent networking events, rather than just one expo per year”
“…. I am very happy with the benefits currently being offered … particularly impressed with Trigger Fish and their PR activity”
“.. Entrance to other members' venues at reduced fee/free for public events and exhibitions etc.” “.. Internal training cross
training between venues for more junior staff”
“.. Perhaps a shadowing / mentoring scheme to encourage newer contacts to develop their knowledge, skills and contacts”
“.. negotiated cheaper rate(s) .. with websites and organisations (Funky Venues, Square Meal, etc”
Management of Unique Venues of London
55%of respondents
currently volunteer their management
services (51)
37% of 60 in 2013; 38% of 64 in 2012;
47%
of respondents are prepared to volunteer
their management services in the future
(47)
55% of 60 in 2013; 70% of 64 in 2012;
Are we value for money? (50)
80%of respondents felt
that the current annual membership
fees were good value 79% of 62 in 2013
18% maybe
2%said no to the
‘value for money’
question
