Report on Conferencing and Banqueting Management in the UK Industry

This report provides a detailed analysis of conferencing and banqueting management within the United Kingdom, focusing on the 'Service on A Plate' company. It begins by examining the size and scope of the industry, highlighting the roles of conferencing and banqueting, and discussing factors influencing its development, such as environmental issues, financial resources, and technological tools. The report then delves into key strategic and operational issues for 'Service on A Plate,' including booking processes, pricing, accommodation, and health and safety considerations. Performance and quality review techniques are also explored, emphasizing seating arrangements, client evaluation, and adherence to cultural guidelines. Furthermore, the report evaluates the suitability of food production systems, specifically the buffet menu service, and factors to consider when organizing off-site events, such as venue selection, transportation, and employee availability. Finally, the report touches upon ergonomic considerations for conferences and banquets, providing a comprehensive overview of the industry's multifaceted aspects.

CONFERENCING AND BANQUETING
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Size and scope of the conference and banqueting industry in UK........................................4
1.2 Factors which influenced the development of conference and banqueting industry in UK. 5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
2.1 key strategic and operational issues for “Service on A Plate”..............................................6
2.2 Performance and quality review techniques used by “Service on A Plate”..........................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Evaluating the suitability of a range of food production systems and styles and food and
beverage service for the Event....................................................................................................8
3.2 Factors to be considered in organizing an off-site conference or banquet service...............9
3.3 Analyzing the key menu planning considerations for conference and banqueting events..10
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................11
4.1 Ergonomic considerations for a given conference or banquet............................................11
CONCLUSIONS............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

Illustration Index
Illustration 1: Buffet System............................................................................................................9
Illustration 2: Food Menu..............................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
United Kingdom is considered as one of the fastest developed countries in context of
conference and banquet industry. They have a large scope for this sector as event management is
getting popular among people now days. This industry is one of the fastest growing industries of
United Kingdom as conferencing has a direct link with tourism and UK is a good tourism
destination for people.
This report will study about “Service on A Plate” company’s conferencing and
banqueting management which is UK based and operates different events and parties. It will also
discuss topics like size and scope of the conference and banqueting sector in the UK and factors
that affects its development in this industry. It will also discuss various measures to increase
effectiveness of the management of company. It also focuses on different types of food
production system and food beverages system.
TASK 1
1.1 Size and scope of the conference and banqueting industry in UK
Hospitality is the most diverse and specialized industry in the world and conferencing
and banqueting management plays an important role in United Kingdom. These events help UK
hospitality industry to generate good revenues and profits from these events. Conferencing and
banqueting are two different processes working in this industry.
CONFERENCE BANQUET
 Conferencing is a place where usually
large meetings are performed.
 It considered to be used for formal
gathering.
 These generally involve business
activities and official training.
 Banqueting is the facility given for
informal occasions like birthday
parties, wedding receptions, etc.
 Size and scope of Conferencing and Banqueting industry in UK: It is the most
important aspect to attract investors and depends upon various factors such as ownership
style, their orientation and service level they are providing to their customers. The scope

of this sector usually depends upon other industries such as restaurant, bar, pubs, hotels,
etc. There is a huge scope of this industry in United Kingdom as there is a great demand
of tourism that promotes this industry. There are around 46,000 hotels and restaurants
which are operating in UK and maximum hotels are providing conferencing and
banqueting facilities to their customers (Bootsma, 2016).
Another important factor that has a great influence on this sector is interest of people to
celebrate occasions like birthdays, weddings, etc. Increasing number of industries and
companies in UK which provides the facility of conference and banquet halls has also created a
great scope for this industry.
1.2 Factors which influenced the development of conference and banqueting industry in UK
The industry should focus on some issues that affect their development such as
environmental issue, accommodation, food, decoration, budget, special equipment, etc. and
these factors should be considered very carefully by an organization in order to deliver the best
services to their customers. These factors are as follows:
 Environmental Issues: The development of this industry should be environmental
friendly. It has to be considered as an important aspect.
 Financial Resource: Financial support is very important for any industry to run their
business smoothly in the market. Organizers should have proper budget to provide the
best services to their guests.
 Technological Tools: They should also focus on technological development. It is very
important for the organizer to have all required technological tools that will be used in
any event.
 Food and Beverages: It is the most important aspect of conferencing and banqueting
industry to follow very accurately. All the food items provide to their customers or guests
should be of the best quality and fulfills all the parameter according to them (Davis, and
et.al, 2018).
 Room Availability: Availability of rooms should be done very properly. All the facilities
of the room should be provided to them on time.
 Laws and Regulations: This is the main factor which has to be done very carefully
before developing any conference and banquet industry. Proper licensing of the place

should be done by them in order to successfully run events. The development of this
industry should follow laws and rules and regulations made for them by the government.
 Protocols: There are various protocols and rules which they have to follow, for example,
addressing their guests, providing them required information, etc. All these types of
specific protocols should be under considerations by organizers (Gration, and et-al.
2016).
M1 : In UK, size of this industry is very huge and it helps to generate a good revenue from it.
There are approx 46,000 hotels in UK which provides services like conferencing and banqueting
to their customers. There is a huge trend of celebrating birthdays and parties, organizing formal
meetings, etc which helps to promote these industries.
D2 : For proper functioning of these industries, it is very important to understand all external
factors which can affects them. These factors can include, environmental issues, protocols,
budget targets, technological factors, lighting, sound systems of the event, food service, etc.
TASK 2
2.1 key strategic and operational issues for “Service on A Plate”
Working as an event manager, it is very important to have knowledge of event that has to
be organized in the hotel. For the proper management of this industry, organizers should focuses
on some critical issues to work properly. The event which has to be organizing in the hotel is a
wedding party. Various issues which can affect the event are as follows,
1. Booking Process: The booking procedure contains all details related to the event such as
date, time, venue, rooms, number of guests, etc. All these services should be made
available to guests while they book their service and it has to be maintained properly.
2. Price and Packages: The pricing and packaging system for the event should be managed
by the organization. It should be discussed properly with the guests to understand their
budget for event (Guan, Luo, and Tang, 2015).
3. Accommodation: It should be well managed by an organization; provided rooms should
be in a good condition, i.e. neat and clean.
4. Service Provide: For wedding party, services provided to their guests should be of the
best quality and on time.

5. Place or Venue: It is very important to have enough space to organize the event
smoothly.
6. Offers: There are various discounts and offers available which the organization is
providing to the guests. All related information should be given to them prior to the
event.
7. Health and Safety: Health and safety issue of the employee as well as of their guests
should be ensured by the law and this has to be monitored 24 hours, to make them feel
safe and secure (Guilding, 2014).
2.2 Performance and quality review techniques used by “Service on A Plate”
For conferencing and banqueting industry, performance and quality are two key factors
which have to be managed very carefully by the organization. There are various rules and
regulations to be followed by them, for example, implementation of licensing law, health and
safety legislation i.e. Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASWA). In this law, they must
regulate the health and safety issues related to their employees as well as their customers.
There are various factors which affects the performance and quality of the events, for example,
 Seating plans and Arrangement: It has to done properly according to their guests’
preference. It should be well maintained and organized.
 Client and Guests Evaluation: This is the initial step in which both parties interact with
each other to understand their needs and requirements from the event to make it a
successful one.
 Management: It plays an important role in the event management, as it manages all the
task happening in the event. There should be adequate staff to do catering and managing
their guests in the event.
 Cultural and Religious Guidelines: These factors vary from person to person. Event
manager of the company should ensure that he is not offending any religious values and
cultural aspects of guests (Jacxsens, and et.al., 2017).
 Venue: It should be in a good condition. It should be well maintained in terms of
cleanliness and facilities provided to their guests.
M3 : For the wedding party event held in the organization, all requirements of the client should
be been done in the given budget. Inspecting the venue, availability of rooms and quality food all
should be according to their needs.

TASK 3
3.1 Evaluating the suitability of a range of food production systems and styles and food and
beverage service for the Event
For conference or banquet, food production system is very important to be organized
properly by the manager. There are various factors which influence this system a lo, for example,
size and types of the organization in which the event is going to happen, availability of staff
members, various amenities and facilities provided to their customers, etc. There are so many
varieties available in the food production system, such as, buffet menu service, bar menu,
catering service, A-la-carte service, etc (Kirezieva, and et.al., 2015).
For the wedding party event the guest has decided to opt for buffet menu service, as it
will be convenient for their guests to have food. Organizers will provide well trained and
educated staff employees to serve the food. All the food items served in the menu are selected by
the client for their guests.
 Food and beverage service styles for the wedding party : For the buffet system,
manager has installed all the setting in the open garden as it will be give them more
space. All the guests coming for the event will have different opinions on food and
beverages system, considering all these factors, catering service will also be there in the
event which will help the guest to serve the food at their place and make them satisfied
and happy from the service. There are different types of food items in the menu which
has been chosen according to the type of guests, their origin and the level of preference,
the menu of the event has so many options on food items to choose from (Kjesbu, and
et.al., 2015).

3.2 Factors to be considered in organizing an off-site conference or banquet service
Organizing an off-site conference or banquet event requires so many factors to be
considered. For example,
1. Venue or Place : This is the first step while organizing an off-site event. The venue
should have enough space for the guests who are attending the event.
2. Transportation : There should be proper management of transportation for the selected
place or venue. It should be easily accessible by their guests to reach there.
3. Availability of Employees : Availability of staff member is very important for the
organization to perform smoothly. So it should be kept in mind that there should be
enough staff members to deliver the service to their guests.
4. Storage : It is very important to have a proper storage facility for the raw materials for
the event. It should be kept neat and clean. All the others materials such as, utensils,
Illustration 1: Buffet System
Source : (Catering system, 2015)

clothes and all related stuff should be kept separately from the food material in order to
maintain the hygiene of the place (Punzalan, Iand et.al., 2015).
5. Food Hygiene : It is very important for hospitality industry to maintain the hygiene of
the food, as it reflects company's image in the industry. Raw material used for the
preparation should be of good quality. All the prepared food should be according to the
requirement.
3.3 Analyzing the key menu planning considerations for conference and banqueting events
Planning a menu for the event is very crucial the organization. It has to done according to
the guests needs and preferences. For the wedding party, there will be approximately 70 guests
who will attend the event. In that list 15 are children, 8 guests are old age. So the final menu will
contain items that are suitable to all age group. The menu is planned according to their food
taste. For this event, menu will have 4 categories, i.e. drinks, starters, main course and desert.
 Drinks : This will be served as soon as the guests starts to arrive in at the event. There
will variety of drinks for them, for example, cold drinks, coffee or tea, shakes.
 Starters : For the starters, the menu has various items, like, cheese nuggets, fries, rolls.
 Main Course : For the main course, they have chicken fried rice, hot dog, spaghetti,
 Desert : For the desert, they will provide chocolate muffins, ice creams and candies
(Strianese, and Strianese, 2014).
Illustration 2: Food Menu
Source : (Catering food items, 2017)

For planning the menu for the wedding party events there are some factors which should
be considered by the organizers and need to be properly studied before planning the menu, such
as,
1. Studying the Guest Profile : When selecting the menu for any event, it is very important
for the organizer to consider their guest profile before finalizing the final menu for them.
The selected menu should be according to their guest's preferences and needs.
2. Providing vast Menu choice : The final menu should be flexible and provide a variety
of food items to choose from. The organizers should not provide them a fixed menu, they
have to give them choice between the items.
3. Event schedule : The selected menu should be according to the time of the event
schedule. All the preparation of the food should be done according to that time. It will
help the organizers to deliver their service on time (Sundaram, and et.al., 2015).
4. Comfortable Room Arrangements : If the food is served in their respective rooms, then
it has to considered by the manager that the rooms are arranged well. A comfortable room
setup helps the food service style and also it creates a good impression.
TASK 4
4.1 Ergonomic considerations for a given conference or banquet
It is very important for the organization to follow all the rule sand regulations while
conducting the wedding party event. They also have to consider the ergonomic consideration to
smoothly organize the event. These factors are as follows,
1. Commitment of the employee : The employee should be very sincere towards their
work. They should be committed to their work and give their full concentration.
2. Consistency of the work : Employees working in the organization should have a good
consistency in their work. If they maintain the consistency in their work then it will be
beneficial for then ans for the company as well.
3. Team work or group work: Working in team or groups helps the organization to
improve their quality of work. The conference and banquet industry should manage their
work by dividing their employees into different groups to perform their task (Yang, Yu,
and Wang, 2016).
4. Management ability : Having a proper management in the organization helps them to
work effectively and it helps to provide better services to their customers. The

management team actually managed all the work that is done by the employee. They help
to monitor the performance of their employee.
5. Enthusiasm : It is very important to have motivated employees in the organization, as it
will help to build confidence in them. The employee should have the enthusiasm
regarding their work.
6. Communication skill : Communication plays an important role while interacting with
their employees and to their guests as well. So, the employees should have a good
communication skill.
7. Facilities : all the facilities provided to their customers should be very accurate, such as,
Rooms availability, light and sound facilities, transportation, technological arrangements
and some other basic amenities required for them (Conference and Banqueting
Management Sample assignment, 2018).
CONCLUSIONS
From the above file it can be concluded that, for conferencing and banqueting
management, it is very important to have a proper management in the organization. There are
various factors which has a great influence on them, for example, pricing, communication,
booking diary, safety issue, evaluation of performance, keep record and database management
etc. Improving the performances and quality of their employees and their work by considering
various aspects such as, discounting initiatives, health and safety issues, implementing various
technologies, etc. This report will also help to analyse the overall functions and roles and
responsibilities required for a good conference or banqueting management.