Conference & Banqueting Management | Assignment

Conference and Banqueting
Management

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1...........................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Market growth of C&B sector with scope and scale of it in UK.....................................1
1.2 Reason for growth of market share and all factors influencing the development of C&B
sector in UK............................................................................................................................2
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................3
2.1 The key strategies and operational issues in the effective management of a conference or
banquet operations. ................................................................................................................3
2.2 Discuss performance and quality techniques used by conference and banqueting
department in the hotel .........................................................................................................4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
3.1 Evaluate the suitability of a range of food production and styles and food & beverage
service style for a given conference or banquet.....................................................................5
3.2 The factors considered while organizing an off-site banquet and conference.................7
3.3 Menu planning considered for banqueting and conference events..................................7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................9
4.1 The assessment of ergonomic consideration for a given banquet and conference...........9
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Banqueting and Conference is about bringing and putting people together at some event.
It generally facilitates weddings, seminars and different corporate events. This is a facility where
food along with deserts are being provided to all the guest present there in the event.
In this present report Qbic hotel has been chosen for assessment. The hotel was opened in
2007 and is owned by Bridges Ventures Qbic is purely the result of lot of thinking and debating
of how the city hotel could look like.
The present assignment focuses on reasons of growth within the marketplace and studies
all major factors which are influencing the expansion of conference and banqueting sector. In
addition to this, growth of conference and banqueting sector in UK and factors which need to be
considered for conference will be covered in project.
TASK 1
1.1 Market growth of C&B sector with scope and scale of it in UK
Hotels have always major concentration on restaurant, bar and accommodation. But due
to the different events and requirement of a space for gathering emergence of conference and
banqueting has arisen. This sector has two areas where conference is for formal and official
events whereas, banqueting is for personal marriage, birthday or any other personal events
(Punnett and et.al., 2017). Hotels are planning to open conference and banquet hall in order to
grow its business and number of events. As it is the third largest sector of UK which provides
employment and revenue to the nation.
Banqueting facility in Hotel is really necessary in order to earn more revenue from the
same. Qbic is focusing as it is a seasonal requirement where advance bookings are made by the
clients. It helps the management in preparing all the things in advance, which is a major
advantage for the Hotel staff and manager.
In United Kingdom, there is a major requirement of conference halls for conduct of
formal meetings and events. It is the major source of revenue for Hotels where bookings are
made by the companies for their meetings and events (Pattajoshi, 2018).
Hotels are planning to open the same where major concentration by manager should be
on tools and equipment’s. As, Hotels where meetings are being planned should provide all the
other facilities as well. So that formal events can be successful.
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1.2 Reason for growth of market share and all factors influencing the development of C&B
sector in UK
Causes of market growth of market share C&B sector in UK
This C&B sector is highly in demand and has covered maximum of its market due to
many reasons. Some of them are as follows:
 Due to higher demand of organising family functions outside in Hotels so that every
person can enjoy. It has helped in growing the market due to the need of people.
 In United States, big corporates plan their events outside at some Hotel so that employees
can get a change and feel satisfied. There are many companies in UK and that is the main
reason behind market growth of the present sector.
 Banquet serves food along with desert which makes it easier for organising a party
without any problem. This has resulted in accepting the culture of this and its higher
growth.
 Social media is also one of the major reason for the growth of C&B due to recent trends.
One of the major reason is due to the fact that people are highly active on social media
and thus the recent trends made it more popular to create demand for growth of
Conference and Banqueting.
 Other than this, cities outside London has adopted the Conference and Banqueting and
this is also become a major reason for its growth in the city.
Factors that have influenced the development of Hotel
There are various factors from which some major one is as discussed below.
Economic factor: United Kingdom is a developed nation where people attain success and
celebrate the events. This nature has developed a new industry in country where people make
bookings of conference halls in case of carrier goals achievement. Else every small event like
birthday and festivals are being celebrated in Banquet halls (Gonçalves, 2018) This factor has
affected the development to a great extent.
Political factor: political forces or politics demonstrates the authority in the city and many
provisions that give shape to the management and legislative framework of sectors are created by
politicians. In the success of events in political parties they like to celebrate at such hotels where
all the facilities are being available under one roof. This will result in development and increase
in demand of Conference and banquet sector. Hence, it has affected it to a major extent.
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Technological factor: This is also an important factor which has influenced the
development of Hotels and its new additional facility of Conference and banquet. Every
company while plan for a meeting it expects to plan it at such place where there are higher
technological facilities. So, it is the duty of manager of Qbic where they have to look about the
different technology that can fulfil the demand of big corporate events.
TASK 2
2.1 The key strategies and operational issues in the effective management of a conference or
banquet operations.
 Pricing and packaging: - Hotel is considered as the best area for celebration with its excellent
service of banquet halls. Therefore, the hotel requires exhibiting flexibility in packaging and
offer cost effective services of banquets & conferences.
 Discounts: - one more strategy that the chosen hotel may consider is providing discounts which has
served as a source of attracting clients. Hence, it would be helpful for hotel to set discounted services on
the variety of events they organise.
 Licensing laws: - local council in the UK grant permission through licenses to this industry
and hence, it is considered essential for hotel to avoid disruption of events by acquiring
relevant licenses for events which are held in the hotel (Yaduma, Williams and Park, 2015). Health and safety: - it is true that the conferencing & banqueting industry is yet to create its
way for its employees or staff members. Catering services such as food and drinks play a
vital role in conferencing and banqueting industry.
Operational issues:-
 Performance and quality: - This consists of the examination and review methods,
customers and guest evaluation process, profit attainment, venue appraisal methods.
 Operational challenges: - these issues are related to the safety measures, increasing cost
and quality management of bigger events and inadequate infrastructure facilities.
Moreover, the problems of room space, availability of vacancy, etc.
 Protocol problems :- These involves the order of priority, business cards, chair
arrangements, location, menu and table cards, recognition of esteem guests and cross
cultural principles.
 Permission and compliance: - it consists of those issues associated to acquiring the
various consent and compliance requirements. These are required from the safety point of
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view and government policies. These are in the form of written permissions or the licence
(Owusu-Mintah and Dacosta, 2017).
2.2 Discuss performance and quality techniques used by conference and banqueting department
in the hotel
It has been determined that performance and quality reviewing of events are used to
evaluate ways of generally enhancing current and future events. It is a broadly accepted best
practice process in management. Hence, as the hotel plans to host project managers in UK, an
estimated 200 guests are anticipated to elegance the occasion, hence the requirement to adopt the
following performance and quality review approaches for stronger performance in future events
(Frosdick, 2014).
 Food and drink review :- as stated in previous point that food and drink are considered core part of
conference and banquet, hence, hotel must take a review this service properly as nowadays people are
very health conscious
 Dress code review: - it has been observed that memorable celebrations or meetings contain
special feature such as matching uniforms or dress code of staff members that aligns the
background decoration always leaves a good impression on guests. Therefore, hotel must
consider this technique.
 Entertainment review: - the most intrinsic part of banquet is entertainment, so according to
this statement it is essential for hotel to carefully examine entertainment services particularly
through the perspective of preferences of customers.
 Transport review: - as to attain meeting or conferences or parties, people come from various
places and they require transportation facilities. Therefore, it is necessary for the hotel to plan
to bring those guests to their premises effectively.
 Contingency and plan review: - sometimes challenges are encountered by events that may
delay the process. Particularly outsourced programmes are affected by it. Also it is crucial to
make alternative plans and plans should be such that occasion arise. The recheck of this
contingency plan is essential.
 Table plan recheck: - it is considered important for the hotel to review allotted tables to make
sure that it makes with the entire purpose of the event differently that should leave memories
(Davis, Lockwood and Pantelidis, 2018).
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TASK 3
3.1 Evaluate the suitability of a range of food production and styles and food & beverage service
style for a given conference or banquet.
The system of food production includes all infrastructures and process that are involved
in order to feed a particular population or growing, harvesting, processing, packaging, marketing
and consumption. It also involves input and output that is generated at each steps. Food
production system and styles are the crucial part of conferencing or banquet sector (Popovic and
Cassidy, 2018). In addition, the sector is termed as highly shattered and very complex. It inspires
the range from many food concepts and cuisines.
The banquet and conference in Qbic hotel involves a variety food supply systems and has
beverages specifications dependent upon the referencing and size. Food & beverage at an event
are considered as the major part in this industry. Below mentioned is the classification of
banquet types, the methods of food production and food and beverage service techniques :-
 Services of F&B by pre-plate/American or plate service: The service of food and
beverages which are prepared in the kitchen and provided to the guest in a single serving
are known as pre-plated service.
 Platter/English service : The meals are served in Platters by the waiters in this style.
Each and every client have a plate on the table which is pre-heated.
 Buffet service : The buffet service includes hot or cold food and beverages. In this
service costumers take their own food and the buffet is served on their table(Durodola,
Iroham and Sanni, 2014).
 Family or French service :- This service is famous in cuisines of France and Asia. The
food is pre plated and the guests tend to serve themselves.
 Reception: The appetizers and finger food is presented in the banquet or conference hall
in buffet style and guests tend to serve themselves.
 Cook chill production method: it is considered as a simple technique or control method
of advance food preparation designed to give more flexible food services in conference
and banquet industry.
 Dry heat cooking method: In this technique, the heat is transferred to the food without
the usage of any moisture. This cooking method is highly adopted by Qbic hotel(Fast,
Boer and Rowson, 2017).
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Menu of Qbic Hotel
Starters Price in Pounds
Spiced wings £4.79
Nachos for one £2.99
Soup of the day £2.99
Classics Price in Pounds
Hunters chicken £6.79
Chicken tikka £6.82
Chicken and mushroom pie £6.13
Soft Drinks Price in Pounds
Coke £2.2
Lemonade £2.2
San Pelligrino Lemonade £2.2
Draft Beer Price
Carling £3.8
Endinger £3.9
Twisted Thistle £4.8
St. Mungos £3.66
Fruit juices Prices
Orange £3.9
Tomato £2.95
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Mango £2.95
Guava £2.95
Pineapple £2.95
3.2 The factors considered while organising an off-site banquet and conference.
While organising an off-site conference or banquet by people. There are a number of
factors that a hotel needs to consider. The selection of the best venue is the first and the foremost
decision that needs to be made while organising the event. It also holds the largest influence.
Some factors are discussed below:-
 Budget: Budget is an important factor that needs to be considered during the organisation
of banquet and conference. People needs to place together a budget whether the
conference is sponsor funded or not. The budget process includes accommodation, venue
costing, catering etc. Also, it is important to decide the spending and earning of money.
 Venue: It is necessary that the venue comes under the prepared budget while organising
an event. Also, they need to know the capacity of the venue hall including fire and safety
codes also need to be checked. They have to consider size, location and atmosphere while
deciding venue.
 Ambience: - focus on the decoration that needs to be done based on the type of event they
are organising.
 Date and time: For a good conference it is important to consider setting several times or
dates before looking for a venue. This is going to help what kind of venue one is looking
for as per its needs and requirements.
 Security : Proper security needs to be maintained while organizing a banquet function or
a meeting. It will make the venue safer and better. (Venske, 2018).
 Parking and travel facilities: - It is important for one to arrange such parking facilities
which makes it easy for the guest to park their vehicles. The hotel can arrange nearby
parking areas for attendees and either involve the cost in the ticket prices, or have guests
pay when they park.
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3.3 Menu planning considered for banqueting and conference events
It has been observed that the services of food plays an important crucial role in conferencing
and banquet sector. Everything relies on the size and type of the establishment. Along with it, it
is important that a number various facilities and conveniences should be provided to the hotel
visiting guests. For the Qbic hotel, the menu planning for banquets and conferences needs to be
taken into consideration as well. Few of these factors are defined below:
 Learn about the client's profile : It is important to learn about the clients profile before
planning a menu. The hotel should be aware of the guests taste, preferences, personal
profile etc. before selecting the required menu.
 Provide seasonal food products: The seasonal food products are often liked by the guest
and it is important for the hotel to provide its guests with the seasonal food products.
 Consider ethnic menu: The ethnicity is another factor that needs to be considered before
planning the menu. For example, Indian guests needs to be served with Indian dishes.
 Beverages items: It is important to provide a good number of beverage items in the menu
by the hotel.
 Table service: In table services the guests are usually made to seat particular area. They
are later been provided with the list of menu. After this the waiters take the orders and the
food is served on the table. (Munjal and Bhushan, 2017).
 Single point service: - under this type of service, the food is ordered by the guest it is
served from a individual corner.
 Specialized service: - In the specialized service the guests are made to be sat in places
which are not meant for food consumption and the food is provided over there. For
example, when guests asked the food to be served in their resting area, the hotel provides
them with food are the required place.
Menu problems
Tiny font- small font and maximum amount of words will overwhelm and may also frustrate
customers. This leads to inpulsive and unsatisfying purchases.
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Dim lightining- this is also one of the common issue that has nothing to do with menu itself in a
sense. Dim lightining in evening may create more intimate atmosphere. It becomes difficult for
customers to decide their food.
Halal Food- The food is permitted and known as per the law in Islamic traditions. The meaning
of Halal is forbidden. Halal food is often cooked as per the guest preferences.
Cousher food- Cousher food is the food of Jews and cooked as per their preffered dietary laws. It
has is derived from Leviticus and Deuteronomy.
Limitations
The major limitation is that they cannot meet everyones need. This is because need of
each and every person varies and also their demands. In addition to this, it is also difficult for
them to meet all the allergic needs of every customers. There are many kind of allergens that can
be cause to them. So Qbic hotel cannot cook specific food for specific person. They have to
provide common requirements to everyone.
It is the conference of 200 persons so it is difficult to meausre needs and requirements of each
and every individual involved in a conference.
For planning menu, the Qbic hotel needs to discuss it with the events host. This is
because it makes the task of planning easier and as per the needs of consumers. Furthermore, it
has been discovered that there is an important rule of planning a menu which asserts that one
should not run out of food in any case. The planning of a menu is a difficult task and therefore
and requires huge efforts in creating it as according to the requirements of the client(Millar and
Park, 2018).
TASK 4
4.1 The assessment of ergonomic consideration for a given banquet and conference
The hall of Qbic hotel is having an availability for total 400 persons. It will be large for 200
persons. The event’s arrangement needs to be done in such a way that should look like having a
screens in bigger sizes and the audio control systems. The success of the conference and banquet
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is majorly depends on ergonomic factors of employees (Reilly, 2015). This refers to appearance
or attitude that an employee or a staff member presents in-front of guests is known as ergonomic
factors. Following are the considerations :-
 Communication skills : The employees or waiters serving or working during the time of
meeting or celebration needs to have good communication skills in order to serve their
guests with the best services.
 Enthusiasm : The staff members needs to be more enthusiastic while working
 Consistency of the work : In order to make the work successful, it is important that the
employees much perform it in consistency.
 Commitment : The employees need to show commitment in their work to perform
successful operational. Such employees are required by the hotel in order deliver the best
services.
 Team work :- Team work is another essential factor that is required in managing a
successful operations/
As a manager of Food and beverage department I would make sure that all workers of
Qbic hotel hold the equal responsibility in managing the team effectively. Also, I would ensure
that their performance are being monitored and necessary efforts are being made to correct their
mistakes in order to make an event successful of Qbic hotel (Mammen, 2017).
CONCLUSION
The above report showcase the market growth causes and analyses those factors which
influence the development of banqueting and conference sector within the context of hotel Qbic.
Along with it, the report tends to explore the growth of banqueting and conference sector and its
scope and scale in United Kingdom.
It also explores the food and beverage styles and types provided by the hotel to their
guests. It also describes those factors such as political, social, and economical impacting the
hotel industry at large. Also, the factors while organising an event are considered as well such as
budget, venue, transportation etc.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
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ROUTLEDGE in association with GSE Research.
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Maverick Minds. Educreation Publishing.
Gonçalves, J., 2018. Analysis of F&B best practices in the hospitality industry to improve the
attractiveness of intercontinental restaurant in Lisbon-Akla (Doctoral dissertation).
Yaduma, N., Williams, A. and Park, S., 2015. Performance, labour flexibility and migrant
workers in hotels: An establishment and departmental level analysis. International Journal
of Hospitality Management. 50. pp.94-104.
Frosdick, S. J., 2014. Strategic risk management in public assembly facilities. In Stadia Arenas
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Durodola, O. D., Iroham, C. O. and Sanni, A.O., 2014. Assessment Of Features Of Support
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Venske, E., 2018. Rising to the Occasion: Experiential Learning Experiences of Event
Management Students at a South African University of Technology. Event Management.
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Munjal, S. and Bhushan, S., 2017. Push for the Food and Beverages Segment to Drive Revenue
Growth in Indian Hotels Debpriya De and Sandeep Munjal. In The Indian Hospitality
Industry (pp. 249-272). Apple Academic Press.
Mammen, R., 2017. Assessment of Physical Workload, Ergonomic Problems and Prevalence of
Pain among Low Wage Hotel Housekeepers in Orlando.
Millar, M. and Park, S.Y., 2018. Industry professionals’ perceptions of sustainability in meeting
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Fast, J., de Boer, E. and Rowson, B., 2017. The influence of the importance of event factors on
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Hospitality Management. 7(1). pp.27-38.
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Davis, B., Lockwood, A., Alcott, P. and Pantelidis, I.S., 2018. Food and beverage management.
Routledge.
Owusu-Mintah, S. B. and Dacosta, F. D., 2017. A study of events organised by hospitality
industries in Accra, Ghana.
Popovic, C. and Cassidy, A. L., 2018, May. Engendering Learning by Engaging Potential
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Online
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