Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP)

Royal College of General Practitioners Annual Primary Care Conference
1-3 October 2015, Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre, Glasgow

Number of delegates: 1,000-1,500 per day

Client feedback is of prime importance to the Scottish Exhibition + Conference Centre in Glasgow (SECC) which conducts regular qualitative research with Association clients as part of its ongoing commitment to service delivery. According to Kathleen Warden, Director of Conference Sales, client input helps to keep the SECC both flexible and adaptable in its delivery of services – key themes for the SECC in maintaining a competitive edge.

“The most important things to think about in the Association market in particular are longevity, partnership and trust” says Warden. “And trust is boosted significantly by listening and acting on feedback from clients”.

These themes were put to the test when feedback from one of the SECC’s regular Association clients – the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) – suggested a different way of delivering catering to delegates at its conference last year.

As well as attending the RCGP conference at a different venue to experience the event, the SECC’s catering partner Levy Restaurants UK invited the RCGP into the SECC to test recipes, tour the facilities and learn about the sourcing of products.

The challenge was to create, prepare and serve a quality bowl food menu to up to 1,500 delegates all breaking from the Conference schedule at the same time – a more complex solution to manage than other forms of catering for large numbers. But together, the SECC, Levy Restaurants UK and the RCGP agreed a delivery method that made sure all delegates were supplied simultaneously with great food at the right time.

“The SEC really got it right.” says Tim Collard Courses & Seminars Manager at the Royal College of General Practitioners. “The catering quality in particular was excellent with one delegate even asking for the recipe. The SECC looked, listened and learned about what we wanted to deliver to delegates and we were happy to give them a ringing endorsement following the event not just for the catering but for all aspects of their service delivery”.