Central Hall Westminster (CHW), part of Central Hall Venues group, today announces that it has been awarded AIM Higher Gold accreditation for the third time in a row. AIM Higher Gold is the Meetings Industry Association’s highest accolade.
The central London conference and events venue was audited by the MIA against stringent 50-point criteria including the quality of venue facilities, accessibility, legal compliance, customer service and best practice.
CHW, previously awarded the MIA’s AIM Secure Gold in 2016, is recognised by the organisation for maintaining superior service levels. The MIA assessors praised the venue for continuing to maintain a high standard and making great efforts to raise standards and procedures across the whole business.
The assessors also highlighted CHW’s excellent relationships with its in-house partners including caterers Green & Fortune, AV supplier, White Light and cleaning company, Atlas, who all maintain high levels of service in their respective areas. In addition, good practice was observed in all areas and evidence shown of extensive improvement works including new boilers, refurbished floors, new kitchen equipment, digital signage in meeting rooms, and a new fire alarm system. There are also plans for a sound system upgrade in the Great Hall. Moreover, assessors were impressed with a very high level of housekeeping throughout the building, including public washrooms.
Staff across the venue were said to be professional and approachable with customers’ needs well served and attention to detail evident in all room set-ups and F&B areas inspected. Moreover, assessors were impressed with how the team had already identified areas for growth and where the operation could improve standards even further.
Kerrin MacPhie, Chief Executive of the MIA, commented: “On behalf of all of us at the MIA, we congratulate CHV for achieving AIM Higher Gold at their venue, Central Hall Westminster. It is incredibly hard to reach all the criteria to win Gold so it’s a fantastic achievement. The whole site is an impressive and well-run venue.”
Sarah Ainsworth, CEO of Central Hall Venues which runs Central Hall Westminster, adds: “We are delighted to have won AIM Higher Gold from the MIA, and it is down to the team’s exceptionally hard work that we achieved this accolade. Every member of staff, partner and supplier had a part to play so a huge thank you to all of them, I am extremely proud of the daily effort they all put in to ensure the venue maintains the highest standards.”
Central Hall Westminster was also awarded Greengage Solutions’ EcoSmart Platinum Venue award and ISO: 14001:2015 in 2021 for its sustainability standards as well as for its environmental management system. In 2019, it was awarded Best Historic Venue in the London Venue Awards.
