The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Preparation for event is a whole year in the making
Kim Wilkinson of Apex Hotels says Dundee ceremony is largest single event in City Quay hotel’s calendar
When does the hotel begin preparing for the awards?
This is the largest event in the Apex Hotels calendar. Each year it gets bigger and better and everyone within the entire company is excited about it. As you can imagine with such a large event, preparation and project management are key. Therefore, we start breaking down each element of the event into granular detail as soon as it is confirmed. This happened directly after the success of the 2017 event, so this year’s event has been a full 12 months in the planning. As a four star hotel we also need to consider not only the CBA Awards, but also balancing this with the needs of our other guests and residents.
What are the logistical challenges in putting on a blacktie event of the size of The Courier Business Awards?
The Courier Business Awards want a menu to give a taste of Tayside and Fife to their guests so this has given us a great opportunity to work even more closely with local suppliers and showcase local produce.
From a logistical point of view, having acted as a satellite village for the Commonwealth Games, we have already invested in storage to cater for large numbers so we are well equipped.
What’s more, we have invested in additional power supplies, allowing us to power the marquee separately from the hotel.
Tell us about the venue?
The marquee is 1,125m in size and three metres high.
It can easily accommodate more than 700 guests – making it ideal for a prestigious awards ceremony, complete with dance floor.
It is also an ideal conference space for up to 1,000 delegates.
The marquee itself takes shape surprisingly quickly. However, it takes around five days to become fully operational with heating, sound and extensive lighting rigs. For the last two years the marquee has been up for 10 to 14 days. Dundee is crying out for such a venue to host larger conferences and events. Whilst Apex’s existing facility can accommodate up to 320 for a dinner, we don’t want to see larger events forced out of the city. We therefore decided to extend this year’s hire to nine weeks, allowing us to truly test the market and assess demand in the city for a purpose-built facility.
Apex Hotels is sponsoring the Small Business of the Year category at the 2018 Courier Business Awards. Why?
Apex has had a long-standing association with Dundee’s business community and is proud to support the area’s growing businesses with sponsorship of the Small Business Award.