At the beginning of 2012 Venues set out on a new venture after a management buyout from Tarsus PLC saw it become part of the BLC Ltd media portfolio. It has proved to be a successful move and the team have enjoyed continuing the work and development on the website with Managing Director, Paul Sung and Brand & Business Development Manager, Andy Hannigan at the helm.
Andy, who has been the driving force behind many of the site developments, commented: “Venues.org.uk has gone from strength to strength in 2012 with site visits increasing to just under one million per month. We understand our importance to our loyal customer base and based on feedback, we have made a number of changes to the home page and added major new features to enhance the customer and venue experience.
“In a difficult climate for the industry we have experienced major growth by adding and utilising our social media and increasing marketing spend and SEO to ensure that we continue to generate leads across all categories for our listed venues. We will continue to grow, evolve and expand the site during 2013 and we are extremely optimistic that Venues.org.uk will retain and enhance its position as the number one venue directory site in the UK.”
Many longstanding suppliers have continued their support for our company and we, in turn, have supported their business growth. The quote below, provided by Marketing Director of Hilton Worldwide, Steve Manfield, shows the value that Venues brings as a marketing and lead generation service: “Last year we received a 23% increase in exclusive leads received to our 78 venues. This huge increase in our ROI means that venues.org.uk is an essential part of our marketing mix.”
We really appreciate receiving testimonials like these as it proves that all our hard work has been worthwhile.
The team at Venues are all looking forward to Christmas and having a few days off work. The office will be closed from 24th December through to the 2nd January so that we can all celebrate the seasonal festivities. If you have any questions you would like answered before the office closes please email admin@venues.org.uk.
If you would like to get a head start on your marketing plan for next year, the Venues 2013 Media Pack is now available. The pack gives details of the advertising packages available as well as how to get extra publicity for your company via our e-news pages and our twitter and facebook pages. It should answer any questions you may have about the options available for advertising on the site. To request a media pack, email Andy Hannigan: Andy@blcltd.co.uk.
We will be looking towards 2013 with positivity and a determination to continue the good work we have done so far. I hope that you too are looking to the New Year with the same enthusiasm.
Whether you are celebrating Christmas or just celebrating the time off work, the whole team at Venues would like to wish you very Happy Holidays and a prosperous 2013.
Lauren Cayless White
Editor
