St Ann's Hospice Conference Facilities:
CPD Case Study

New figures released from the Office of National Statistics show that e-commerce sales in the UK reached £23.3 billion during 2002, an increase of 39% compared to 2001. With the Internet economy almost doubling each year, St Ann's Hospice takes a closer look at one of our first Conference Suite Internet booking successes and asks why www.sah.org.uk is proving one of our best communication channels.

One small click for man…

E-commerce has a huge impact on the way organisations like St Ann's do business. It has the potential to lead to a dramatic growth in trade and a greater diversity of markets. No surprise then, that in 2003 one of St Ann's first Internet bookings for its Conference Suite should come from an Irish company, CPD.

CPD Director, James Curran (pictured above), explains how his company came to book St Ann's Conference Suite online:

"As a training organisation that delivers high-quality seminars and workshops to Chartered Surveyors throughout the UK, I am used to picking out the right venue for my company's needs. The internet has always been a rich source of information and a great research tool for me, particularly as I am based in Ireland. When I came across St Ann's website (it was ranked in the top 10 of a Google search under "Conference venue, Manchester"), my initial reaction was good. The venue was in a prime location close to the motorway network and seemed to have excellent AV equipment - with the added bonus of free on-site car parking!" Any reservations about using the Internet to book the room were immediately allayed when I spoke to Conference Suite Co-ordinator" says James Curran.

The element of risk involved in buying online is minimized by a strong focus on customer service and attentiveness to the buyers' individual requirements. "The fact that St Ann's Conference Suite was then recommended to me personally by The University of Manchester, confirmed my gut instinct that this was the venue for us!" continues James.

Although, the UK tendency for online sales tends towards buying goods rather than services (66% of all sales in 2002 were in the wholesale, retail and catering sectors*), St Ann's Hospice has successfully used its website to create new business opportunities with companies like CPD.

"The fact that a proportion of my room booking fee helps to directly fund the Hospice's work is quite unique; at how many other venues in the UK can you say that your money is gong directly towards such a worthy charity?" says James Curran. St Ann's Hospice receives only 32% from the government to offer its wide range of services free of charge, leaving £5.4 million - that's £15,000 a day - that must be raised through a variety of fundraising initiatives and voluntary contributions, including Seminar Suite income. In choosing St Ann's Conference Suite, companies experience the value of supporting the Hospice, which cares for 3,000 people in Greater Manchester every year.

12 months on and CPD continue to book St Ann's Conference Suite. Delegates attending CPD seminars come from all over the UK and feedback is always very positive. James Curran finds the catering particularly enjoyable. He says: "Having travelled from Ireland to lead the day's seminar, it was very refreshing to be greeted so warmly and to enjoy such excellent food." James admits that it is very difficult "to find a cost-effective venue where you know the service will be first-rate and the room set up just as you need it to be." When asked whether he would recommend St Ann's Conference Suite to other potential clients, the answer was an unreserved "Of course, without hesitation!"

* Taken from The Office of National Statistics "2002 e-commerce survey of business: value of e-trading"