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Centre wins gold in Green Award In April 2011The Taunton Conference Centre based at Somerset College, Taunton, won the coveted Gold Green Tourism Award – the top level in the national scheme to promote sustainability and green issues within tourism. It was awarded by the Green Tourism Business Scheme, validated by the tourism body Visit Britain and assessed against rigorous criteria ranging from energy and water efficiency to waste management and more. “We are thrilled, especially as the gold award is very difficult to achieve and we won it first time,” said Conference Manager Sam McIntyre. “We have worked hard to ensure we’re sustainable by analysing all processes from recycling policies to the food we use, from using renewable energy and reducing our carbon emissions to sourcing local food and supporting the local economy.” The Taunton Conference Centre includes two venues, the main Conference Centre and the unique Genesis Centre. This is a renewable energy training centre for the South West, a light and spacious environment that also demonstrates sustainable construction such as cob, straw and earth materials. The Centre offers up to seven flexible meeting rooms to hire for meetings, exhibitions and banquets in a sustainably aware environment. The venues cater for numbers from 10 to 200, and include everything from a conference hall to small meeting rooms, locally sourced catering and state of the art technology.
held at Somerset College in Taunton. KEG aims to help businesses in the South West develop knowledge and expertise in sustainable construction and green technology and is funded by the South West European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and South West Regional Development Agency. The networking event was the first since the project was launched, to help companies interested in the green economy forge links with complementary members across the region. The facilities at the Taunton Conference Centre are suitable for any organisation which runs any type of event, from training to product launches. The Centre offers a professional service while retaining its own unique character, through the excellent personal service it provides. Conference facilities which carry such evident green credentials are becoming increasing relevant to major companies such as Clarks International and Nissan who have both held events at the Centre. The Taunton Conference Centre is launching its new website in 2011, in order to engage effectively with the corporate market.
Taunton Conference Centre Contact Name Sam McIntyre E-mail sam.mcintyre@somerset.ac.uk Phone: 01823 252 934 Mobile: 07515 462 280
The Conference and Enterprise Centre, as it was then known, opened for business in July 2003. Its aim was to provide the College and the local community with a valuable resource in the promotion of enterprise skills, link Higher Education students with local companies for work experience and research projects, and provides a venue to hold large group lectures, events and exhibitions. The Taunton Conference Centre has gone from being a College facility that has a large room in it that would be good for conferences to a conference centre in its own right that offers some of the best facilities in the South West. The Centre was the ideal venue for a meeting on May 19th when a group of West Country companies gathered at the Centre for the first network meeting of businesses involved in the £750,000 Knowledge Exchange at Genesis (KEG) project,
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