14 October 2019: Park Plaza Hotels Group has grown its network of award-winning meetings and events spaces in in Leeds, London and Nottingham, as the Meetings Industry Association (mia) has awarded its venues the coveted AIM Higher Gold accreditation for the third consecutive period.
Park Plaza Leeds and Park Plaza London Waterloo join Park Plaza Westminster Bridge London, Park Plaza County Hall, Park Plaza London Riverbank, Park Plaza Victoria London and Park Plaza Nottingham – which were previously recognised in 2013 and 2016.
AIM Higher is is the pinnacle level of accreditation from the UK’s nationally recognised standard for service providers in the business meetings, conferences and events industry achieved following an inspection against a robust checklist of criteria.
Highlighted in the hotel assessments was the introduction of E-pay, cited as being one of the innovations that has dramatically improved operations within the Meetings & Events department allowing an easier and swifter process for delegates. The introduction of the new branding and website in 2019 has brought the brand to life and further strengthens Park Plaza’s meeting and events offering.
The Group’s new blueprint, “We Are Creators”, which outlines the company’s vision, was also noted as a contributing factor to this accreditation, ensuring that all team members are energised and optimistic about Park Plaza Hotels and its offering within the UK market – providing the best possible service.
The process includes legal compliance, accessibility and quality checks of facilities as well as the customer service proposition and experience, ethical codes of conduct and best practice standards. To achieve the AIM Higher Gold standard, venues must meet an even stricter list of criteria, and show excellence throughout the entire customer journey and business process supporting it.
The AIM Higher Gold accreditation swiftly follows Park Plaza Hotels UK Limited also being awarded the coveted AA Large Hotel Group of the Year 2019-2020 accolade. The milestone achievement celebrates a successful period of growth for Park Plaza Hotels with the United Kingdom as a region reporting a 9.3% like-for-like RevPAR growth, outperforming the London market at the Group’s (PPHE Hotel Group) interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2019. Park Plaza also led the unveiling of a new brand identity for its Park Plaza brand as Radisson Hotel Group’s (‘RHG’) exclusive partner in Europe, the Middle East and Africa earlier this year.
Jane Longhurst, chief executive of the mia, said: “We’re delighted that seven UK Park Plaza Hotels are once again among the elite list of venues with AIM Gold accreditation. The iconic status acts as a guarantee to participants that they’re choosing a service provider that cares about best practice and actively strives to meet and exceed expectations. With so many dedicated conference centres and hotels, sporting and academic venues to choose from nationwide, it offers buyers a smart method to quality control their selections that could ultimately save time, anxiety and reputational risk later down the line.”
Manju Goel, VP Sales EMEA at Park Plaza Hotels Group, added: “We are pleased to have achieved the AIM Gold Level accreditation once again, and this would not be possible without our fantastic team and company ethos, which places the guest experience at the heart of everything we do.”
As part of Radisson Hotel Group’s network, Park Plaza will also be running Radisson Meetings’ Spin to Win promotion, giving clients the chance to win up to 500,000 Radisson Rewards points. For every meeting or event booked up to 15 November 2019, delegates have the chance to spin the wheel and win bonus points.
For more information about AIM and AIM Higher Accreditation, visit www.mia-uk.org/aim.