Lane End Conferences

Mortgage servicing solutions provider Acenden enjoyed a superb summer party at Lane End Conference Centre.

Our conference and events team hosted a party for 150 delegates from Acenden’s London and High Wycombe offices.

Organiser Amy Edwards said: “It was brilliant! Definitely a big thank you deserved for all your organisation of the event – everything went perfectly to plan.

“A big thank you to the bar and catering staff as well, I was dealing with Stephen who was brilliant.

“Stephen and his team made sure everyone was well fed and watered throughout and were on hand if we needed anything throughout the day,” she added.

With five completely self-contained buildings, Lane End offers a wide range of meeting room hire options.

You can have exclusive use of an entire building – ideal for training room hire because it guarantees completely privacy for undisturbed study.

There are lots of reasons why a summer heatwave makes you appreciate Lane End Conference Centre even more than usual.

Our high quality purpose-built residential conference facilities are fully air conditioned and extremely comfortable – even when temperatures are at their hottest.

UK conference venue Lane End’s 26-acre landscaped grounds are always beautiful but never more so than on a balmy summer afternoon.

For the full effect, have lunch on the terrace and take in the sweeping vistas.

Life gets even better when you’re enjoying the delicious ice creams created by head chef Mike Day and his team.

Choose from toffee, chocolate vanilla crunch, mango sorbet and strawberry swirl.

Barely a few weeks after Easter may seem a little early to be thinking about Christmas parties – but that’s precisely what the major corporates are doing.

The bigger the party, the further ahead you have to book.

And for Christmas parties in Buckinghamshire, look no further than The Pavilion at Lane End.

This year’s Christmas party theme is ‘007 Licence To Party’ with:

a glass of Kir Royal on arrival

three-course menu

disco and cash bar until 1am

party novelties and crackers.

The decor by Chordiem Events will include giant martini glasses (shaken not stirred) plus plenty of glitter, playing cards (very Casino Royale), a starry backdrop and 2D pop-up images.

The Pavilion Christmas party venue in Bucks can host exclusive groups from 50-130. Smaller parties are catered for at the adjacent Wycombe Lodge building. Both buildings can host Christmas lunches.

The Pavilion near Marlow and High Wycombe is easily accessible via M40 and M4. It has 104 en-suite bedrooms and also provides a taxi booking service.

Lane End Conference Centre is saying goodbye to one of its team members. After 3 years working as part of the venue's sales team Sophie decided to accept a new opportunity of working in a completely different industry. 

Sophie has played an integral part in the success of our conference and training venue and we wish Sophie every success in her new role!

Cheryl, our amazing pastry chef, has baked this delicious going away cake for Sophie. Yum! 

“Its all about perception” – this is something our Operations Director Mike Gough always says. 

Our expectations are largely formed by the price tag – for example the food at a five star boutique hotel will be judged more harshly compared to catering at an all inclusive holiday. The level of expectation is just that much higher when one pays pay five star prices. 

Here at Lane End Conference Centre we always try to challenge the traditional perception of dedicated training centres – we may offer more competitive prices than the four star hotel down the road, but that is where it ends. The facilities, food, countryside views and friendly staff all make for an experience that is second to none. 

We work hard to exceed our customers’ expectations every time. Our Executive Head Chef Mike Day and his team use locally sourced produce to create menus that are both fresh and exciting – everything from our delicate range of desserts to the Danish pastries and even the bread rolls are freshly made on-site at our Centre - visit us online to look at image gallery of our conference centre catering. 

Several years ago couples would take at least 12 months to plan their wedding.

There was always so much to organise in the time between the wonderful “I will” proposal acceptance and the magical “I do” on the big day.

Now shorter engagements are becoming more common. More couples are leaving it later to book their venue (usually in the hope of last minute wedding deals).

But if you’re looking for outdoor wedding venues, don’t leave it too late.

The exclusive Pavilion at Lane End is one of only a couple of wedding venues in Buckinghamshire licensed to host outdoor ceremonies so it’s always in demand.

We were delighted to be chosen as the host venue for one of the construction industry’s most prestigious contests.

The aim of this top team building competition is to help develop the leadership and team co-ordination skills of young professionals in the construction industry. The event is a two-day cross-disciplinary construction contest and has been running for 22 years.

This year we welcomed 70 competitors who formed 10 teams that were supervised and overseen by a team of judges and the event’s own organisers.

The participants had exclusive use of three self-contained conference buildings at Lane End Conference Centre and were able to work on their projects quietly and in privacy with no distractions.

On the first day of the competition the 10 teams worked on their construction project masterplans, procurement control and risk strategies in our three newly-refurbished conference and training suites in the Wycombe Hall and Wycombe Court buildings.

Each suite’s breakout rooms enabled the judges to deliberate in private but still have easy access to the ongoing project work going on around them.

After a busy and challenging day the competitors enjoyed a very welcome gala dinner in The Pavilion.

The second day saw the teams continue with detailed design work in Wycombe Hall and Wycombe Court before the clock ran out and finalists were announced. After a press photo shoot there was a closing awards ceremony in The Pavilion.

Everyone who came to the event had a very positive experience of Lane End with the event spokesman saying they would certainly be coming back.

“Everything worked well for us, we had some fairly specific meeting room needs that Lane End was able to cater for, the room sizes were ideal and the location just off the M40 made the venue easy to get to,” he said. “The meeting rooms were well appointed, as were the bedrooms. Most of our delegates remarked on the high quality of the food and the staff were extremely friendly and attentive to our needs.” said event spokesman, R. Hart.

Lane End Conference Centre provides a stunning and relaxed backdrop for a new team building activity, one which the English weather cannot spoil and that is guaranteed to provide entertainment for everyone.

The Specialist Conference Centre has introduced Chocolate Making workshops for delegates looking for something unusual and fun to indulge in.  The new concept for indoor team building activity was only introduced in September 2012 and has already proved a great hit with Conference Organisers with three events being booked for October, as the activity was launched.

The three events, were all different in approach, but used the concept of chocolate making to improve team performance and motivation. The first event was an intimate team event for a satellite office of a well known software company – the aim was to bring the group together to get to know each other and to build rapport; the second event was an apprentice-style team building challenge to enhance team work for a local company and the third was a local company who wanted to do something different at the end of a day conference to literally end the day on a (chocolate) high.

Expert Chocolatiers on hand

The workshops are run by professional Chocolatier Paul Hargreaves.  After being trained in the best place possible, Harrods pastry kitchen, Paul went to Switzerland and America to learn more about boiled sugar and sugar blowing before opening his own kitchen and starting his company Cocoa and Cream in 2005 .

Paul says:

“I really enjoy sharing the unique skills and traditions learnt at Harrods.  Everyone loves chocolate and this is great interactive activity which not only promotes teamwork, but also educates the participants about the chocolate making process”

Apprentice style or Workshop: the choice is yours

 The team building activity can be hosted in two formats. The “Team Building Challenge” presents the activity in an Apprentice-style challenge,  where the guests work in groups to develop a brand, produce their chocolates, present their finished product and demonstrate a profit margin – the winning team goes away with a carefully crafted chocolate medal each and a bottle of wine each to enjoy during the chocolate feast finale!

Alternatively the chocolate making process can be presented as a workshop; an informal and fun activity, providing entertainment and the opportunity to learn something new. Paul gives an informative talk about the history and process of chocolate making, followed by a very delicious chocolate and wine tasting to demonstrate the end result of different chocolate-making processes and ultimately price. Everyone has a chance to roll their own chocolate truffles, dip it in liquid chocolate, decorate it and take it home in a beautiful box.

Great facilities, excellent service and now...chocolate? Lane End provides it all!

Sweet toothed conference delegates are now able to indulge their love of chocolate during their meetings thanks to an initiative recently launched by Lane End Conference Centre.

The Buckinghamshire-based conference and events venue has introduced a Chocolate Making option for organisers to use as a team building tool or simply a fun social activity.

The sessions are lead by professional chocolatier, Paul Hargreaves, who, after training in Harrods’ pastry kitchen, went to Switzerland and America to learn more about boiled sugar and sugar blowing before opening his own kitchen and starting his company Cocoa and Cream in 2005.

Paul firmly believes that although the two hour class would provide a lighter moment during a company’s event it still can have a beneficial effect on what happens back at the office.

“This is great interactive activity which not only educates participants about the chocolate making process but also promotes teamwork and really gets colleagues working together,” he says. 

This corporate team building activity can be hosted in two formats. 

First is the Team Building Challenge which is an Apprentice-style competition where the guests will work in groups to develop a brand, produce their chocolates, present their finished product and demonstrate a profit margin. The winning team goes away with a carefully crafted chocolate medal and a bottle of wine each to enjoy during the chocolate feast finale! 

Secondly it can be an informal and fun activity, providing entertainment and the opportunity to learn something new. Paul will give an informative talk about the history and process of chocolate making followed by a very delicious chocolate and wine tasting to demonstrate the end result of different chocolate-making processes and ultimately price. Everyone will have a chance to roll their own chocolate truffle, dip it in liquid chocolate, decorate it and take it home in a beautiful box. 

These days the accent in conference catering is firmly on healthy options and this is something we actively support and promote. However, the immediate success of the chocolate making option shows that there is room for unashamed indulgence, especially if clients can factor key valuable team building messages into the fun.

With over 5,000 individual venues listed on some online venue finder websites, the choice of venues is endless. However, selecting from such an extensive list of venues could be like finding a needle in a haystack.

The best way to simplify your search is to find a clear description for your event. There are many venues that specialise in hosting the following types of events:

Conferences – There is a vast variety of UK-based conference venues, many of which are purpose built and offer specialist facilities. Fully equipped meeting rooms, ample break-out space and free Wi-Fi are some of the things you can expect from specialist conference centres.

Training – To receive the best return on investment for using off-site facilities, it is recommended to use specialist training centres as opposed to hotels or other meeting venues. Specialist meeting rooms for hire not only offer fully equipped rooms, these are also generally free from outside interruptions.

Business Meetings – The tone of the meetings really determines the type of venue. For intensive meetings you may want to consider a dedicated conference centre, but for a more relaxed atmosphere and incentive-based activities a spa hotel may be better suited.

Team Building – Most venues with grounds to spare will offer team building activities. However, consider the size of available grounds, proximity to toilet facilities, catering options, indoor alternative in case of bad weather and finally the quality of activities on offer – the best venues often work with a specialist team building partner.

Lane End Conference Centre offers a choice of five individual venues in one location: Wycombe Hall, Wycombe Court, Wycombe Lodge, The Pavilion and The Quadrangle. This unique design means that the venue offers dedicated space for more than one type of event. It offers purpose-built training facilities with a light and bright conference room in the Pavilion, extensive team buildings grounds and a self-contained business meeting venue (Wycombe Court).

One of the most important aspects at any conference or training event is the catering. Get it right and people will talk about it for months, but get it wrong and it could spell disaster. Therefore, in our opinion the following five food trends are the ones to watch at any UK-based conference venue.

Gluten Free Diets – Coeliac disease is one of the most common, yet under-estimated food allergies in the UK with one in every hundred people are affected. Providing clearly labelled gluten-free menu options, or other allergy-friendly food choices, will certainly impress and relieve guests that worry about what to eat when attending conferences.

Lighter Lunches – Delegates are increasingly asking for lighter lunch options instead of three-course sit down buffets. Salads, continental buffets, bento boxes and sushi platters to share are increasingly popular choices at many conference venues.

Brain Food – It can be very difficult to stay focussed during a long, intensive training event and conference. Therefore, in addition to plenty of natural light the most asked for items are healthy snacks, such as fresh fruit platters, nuts and berries during break-times.

Creative Vegetarian Dishes – The most frustrating thing for vegetarians, when it comes to dining out, is the lack of choice – you will be surprised just how often an extensive menu with four or five main courses only includes one vegetarian option.  Additionally, grilled portabello mushrooms and macaroni cheese get very boring after a while. Be creative and offer a choice of at least two innovative, fresh and exciting vegetarian menu choices.

Greater Variety – Eating out is no longer a novelty when you stay at conference venues for two, three or sometimes four nights at a time. Not only do you have little choice over the menu choices, out-of-town locations could mean there is nowhere else in the area to turn to in need of something different. The best venues offer different dining options with two or more styles of menus, for example English and Japanese in the main restaurant with Italian in the lounge.