A dedicated events facility at the National Memorial Arboretum has been given a top award by tourism body VisitEngland.
Aspects was longlisted for the VisitEngland Awards for Excellence 2023 after winning the Business Events Venue of the Year category at the Enjoy Staffordshire Tourism & Good Food Awards 2023.
It made the shortlist of three and was invited to the prestigious awards ceremony after judges evaluated dozens of highly competitive entries from across the country.
Aspects picked up gold – the highest accolade – and the title of Business Events Venue of the Year at the event on Wednesday night.
The evening also recognised two other Staffordshire attractions with Carol Adams, from The Trentham Estate, receiving bronze in the Unsung Hero Award category, whilst country pub The Duncombe Arms, in Ellastone, was the bronze winner in the Pub of the Year category.
In total, 48 finalists from around the country were picked by industry experts for the awards, which were made up of 18 categories.
The VisitEngland Business Events Venue of the Year award recognises business events venues that ‘demonstrate an excellent understanding of the market, exceeding the expectations of their clients and have a strategic plan for future development within this area, with clear goals’.
“Our business facilities in Aspects are state-of-the-art, but it is the unyielding efforts of our incredible team that transform it into a world-class venue,” said Mark Ellis, National Memorial Arboretum Lead.
“We host hundreds of events a year, varying in both scale and nature, including board meetings, product launches, and national conferences, in addition to Remembrance events, family functions and live entertainment.
“The versatility of the event spaces and the dedication of our team members provide assurance to organisers that they will be able to realise their vision for an event in Aspects.”
The venue has a capacity for functions of up to 500 guests and offers views of the memorials, gardens and woodlands located within the 150-acre grounds of the arboretum, in Alrewas.
Although the whole team couldn’t attend the awards ceremony at Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, they gathered at Aspects to watch a live stream of the event, pictured above.
Carol Adams, Head of Horticulture and Biodiversity at The Trentham Estate, was nominated following the work that she has put into planning and delivering the reintroduction of beavers to the historic Trentham landscape.
VisitEngland Director Andrew Stokes said: “I congratulate all the winners and especially those who won Gold, an achievement cementing their place as the country’s crème de la crème, standard-bearers for England’s tourism industry.”
More information about this year’s Enjoy Staffordshire Tourism & Good Food Awards 2023, can be found here.
And entries have now opened for next year’s Enjoy Staffordshire awards, as reported by Daily Focus earlier this week.
