Let’s start with a confession. The above headline is not entirely truthful. Anybody who is anybody knows that this particular honour belongs to Haltwhistle, 22 miles away. But in practice, Carlisle is perfectly placed to be the conference and meeting capital of Britain. Let us look at the facts of the case
Geography
Carlisle is just 22 miles off the true geographical centre of Britain with good road and rail networks. Train times put us just over 3 hours from central London, an hour from Glasgow and by car under 2 1/2 hours from a number of powerhouse cities including Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds & Newcastle.
Our geography makes us perfectly placed for regional team meetings with good access for all.
Value for Money
The Meeting Industry Association (MIA) Barometer of Trade for November places the national average day delegate rate at £50.96 whereas for the North West of England it is just £31.98. At Warwick Mill the day delegate rate for a full day including breakfast, lunch, tea, coffee, room hire, all facilities and parking starts at just £18.10.
We set our prices competitively with the rest of the market. Our price points aren’t set to make us the cheapest but we do look to offer great value.
Like many things that you will find in Cumbria and in Carlisle particularly, we might not be the biggest but the value of product and service you get is phenomenal.
Industry
Our geography and other factors have created an extremely diverse economy. The British Energy Coast is not only home to one of the largest civil engineering jobs ever with the building and development at Sellafield, but the potential for wind and tidal power is enormous. We are home to Eddie Stobart, the UK’s best known haulier who have now diversified into rail, biofuels and aviation as well as a number of major manufacturers including McVities, Cavaghan & Grey and Pirelli’s. Carlisle is a major hub for the rail industry as well as a key point or major stop over for a number of important historical trails including the Carlisle – Settle Railway and the Hadrian’s Wall trail,
Something a bit different
Every company is different. Every meeting is different. Why would you want to have your company meetings in an identikit space? With a wide range of options available in the city from Business Center’s such as Warwick Mill, hotels of every price point and sporting facilities. In Carlisle we have more than our fair share of heritage buildings; Georgian and Victorian beauties sympathetically redeveloped for modern business needs. At the same time there are plenty new, modern buildings if that is more your thing.
There are more reasons too; the joy of being moments away from 3 national parks, the warm welcome, calm surroundings, not having someone sat on your exhaust pipe as your drive here to name just a few.
And we’re (almost) the centre of Great Britain.