Client
LUSH Retail Ltd – UK&I Retail Managers’ Meeting
Number of delegates:
120
Event spaces used at The Celtic Manor Resort:
Caernarfon Suite, Cardiff, Caerphilly, Denbigh 1 & 2, Conwy 1 & 2, Caldicot
Event Brief:
Bringing UK & Ireland Retail Managers together to focus on planning LUSH’s ‘Best Christmas Yet’. Including a main plenary section, alongside a festival of drop-in rooms to engage with different workshops, demonstrations and to showcase brand creative windows.
Event Set-Up:
Caernarfon Ballroom for main plenary and stage talks plus multiple ‘drop-in’ rooms where Managers could focus on a specific theme with round table drop-ins. It was great to be able to have a corridor of meeting rooms that could be transformed into the different spaces that we needed. A particular highlight was the room named ‘The Lushiverse’ which had full star draping, star flooring and displayed upcoming window displays for the Christmas season with added haze. It was magical!
Food and Beverage:
In-line with the ethics of the LUSH brand, wanting to leave the world Lusher Than We Found it, fully vegan food was required – a mixture of vegan buffet food, bowl food and on the final night street food stations including vegan churros were installed. Delegates were very well fed, and many commented it was the best vegan food they had ever eaten at a Managers’ Meeting and they had never felt so full! Celtic Manor delivered ‘wow’ food and even created mini-intergalactic-style vegan cupcakes inspired by LUSH’s best-selling bath bomb… it was a real crowd pleaser.
Event Solutions:
As always there were challenges on the day, and due to sickness, the event had to go from 4 ‘breakout’ spaces down to 1 large space for all our delegates, about 30 minutes before we were due to go live. The venue team was so helpful, with everybody in the area, whether they were a manager, assistant, senior or junior, coming in to help turnaround the room – it was a real team effort and we felt that the Celtic Manor team was always on-hand to make a success of anything that got thrown our way. Reactivity and teamwork at its finest.
The Venue:
We loved the combination of a multiple room venue, with large open spaces, greenery and wellbeing offering. Our managers sometimes don’t get time away from their busy lives at home so a mixture of impeccable customer service, delicious food and relaxing spa facilities were exactly what they wanted. The bedrooms were lovely and clean and again, our delegates felt like they were really looked after!
The Verdict
“We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Celtic Manor. The event really prepared Managers for the busy Christmas time whilst giving them the space to engage, network with colleagues, learn and develop their skills whilst also taking the time to relax and recuperate before a busy retail season. Celtic Manor’s customer service went above and beyond for our delegates and they walked away feeling well looked after, seriously well fed and inspired by some amazing content that Celtic Manor helped us deliver. Thank you!”
Events Manager, Retail & Internal Events Lead, LUSH Retail Ltd
