The assessment came from the Meetings Management Forum 2008, held by meeting procurement specialist HBI at De Vere Venues in Canary Wharf last week.
At the Forum, Shawn Radek, Global Head of Meetings at Deutsche Bank, outlined the company”s global procurement initiative. Deutsche Bank is one of the first major companies to have adopted a global meetings booking platform ” hosted by global meetings management technology firm StarCite, which provides on-demand meeting management tools.
Deutsche Bank”s platform allows employees to book all their meetings worldwide via one tool, with the intention of creating a ”more efficient” booking process and ”smarter buying”. While compliancy in the use of preferred venues is not mandatory, the possibility has not been ruled out as yet, said Radek.
With procurement policy dictated on a global scale, small independent venues may not be able to provide what big business is looking for, commented Des Mclaughlin, Managing Director of HBI: ”This trend will have major implications for venues as bookings are increasingly driven to businesses that provide a global option. We”ve worked closely with Shawn and her team in the implementation of Deutsche Bank”s global procurement, and we”re sure other businesses will adopt similar models.”
HBI is assisting other major financial businesses in streamlining their procurement across multiple territories. Mclaughlin continued: ”Business is increasingly being managed globally and so it is not surprising to see this methodology now being adopted in the meetings industry. Procurement policy will continue to impact on where this industry goes; and this shift in thinking represents a real threat to independent venues.”
The prediction wasn”t unanimous, however. Guest speaker Danny Pecorelli, MD of Exclusive Hotels, insisted that independent venues will hold strong despite the threat of economic downturn. Independent venues are strong players, said Pecorelli: ”I am in a micro market where effectively its independents. Many of the top venues in the UK are independent.”
Pecorelli continued by comparing independent venues to organic free range chicken, versus chain-led battery hens. ”Both have their place in the market, but I know which I would rather be.”
Sara Turner