Category: British Motor Museum

1. BMIHT wins support from Heritage Lottery Fund for £2.5 million project

   Posted on 12:01am Monday 31st Oct 2011

   The British Motor Industry Heritage Trust, based at the Heritage Motor Centre at Gaydon in Warwickshire has received initial support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the Multi-Story: Museum’s Collections Centre project. The £2.5 million project aims to create a new building to store and display the Trust's reserve collection of historic British cars.

   Following the award of a first round pass* by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), development funding of £51,100 has been awarded to help the Trust progress their plans to apply for a full grant in 2012. If second round funding is awarded and match funding is also obtained, building work on the new project could begin in 2013.

   The Trust has a collection of almost 300 cars, telling the story of the motor industry in Britain from the 1890's to the present and although more than 160 of these vehicles can be seen on display at the Heritage Motor Centre, the rest of the collection remains hidden in store. This project will enable people to see the whole collection for the first time in a purpose-built facility that will also include a vehicle restoration and conservation workshop. In addition the Trust will launch a new volunteer programme allowing people to get more involved with the collection by helping with its conservation and interpretation and will also run a series of events and other activities as part of the project.

   Tim Bryan, Head of Collections & Interpretation at the Heritage Motor Centre said: "We are delighted that the Heritage Lottery Fund has pledged their support for our project which will help us make our collection far more accessible than before and enable people to learn more about the motor industry which has played such an important role in the West Midlands".

   Anne Jenkins, Head of the Heritage Lottery Fund for the West Midlands said: “We’re extremely pleased to give initial support to the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust for their project to develop a new and improved display venue for this wonderful collection of historic cars. We look forward to receiving their application for a full grant in the future."

2. HMC wins prestigious national award!

   Posted on 1:01pm Monday 24th Oct 2011

   The Heritage Motor Centre, in conjunction with local design agency Box Clever Marketing, has won a prestigious national award for its conference marketing at the Meetings Industry Marketing Awards.

   The awards, which celebrate the industry’s best marketing initiatives of the year, were announced at the Park Plaza Riverbank London on Monday 17 October. The Centre was amongst the final four for Best Brochure – Venues/Destinations and beat off strong competition from the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Jersey Conference Bureau and Victory Services Club in London.

   The HMC and Box Clever Marketing successfully developed an integrated campaign with the tagline ‘an ideal blank canvas for conferences, meetings and events’. The campaign focused on the HMC’s unique selling points and was so successful it expanded into the reception area to improve communication, increase bookings and occupancy and maintain the conference rate during  the economic downturn. The campaign’s success was reflected by occupancy rising by 7%, confirmed bookings from new customers increasing by 25% and the e-version of the brochure receiving 100's of views per month.  8% of confirmed bookings so far this year have come via online sources compared to 5% for the entire 2010.

   Julie Tew, Managing Director at the Heritage Motor Centre stated “We are thrilled and honoured to have won the gold award at the MIMA 2011. Winning this award is testament to the quality of work and creative talent that has gone into creating our conference marketing”.

   The HMC is a dedicated conference and exhibition centre conveniently located off junction 12 of the M40 in Warwickshire. The Centre offers over 20 stylish meeting rooms for 6 - 600 delegates with internal and external exhibition space and outdoor event space licensed for 5000 people. Set in 65 acres, the Centre also boasts a meadow for team building, two 4x4 off-road tracks, 2000 free car parking spaces, and external hard standing (9700sqm), ideal for marquees and outdoor events.

   www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

3. Convoy for Heroes scoops the world record!

   Posted on 12:00am Thursday 13th Oct 2011

   The Heritage Motor Centre is delighted to announce that CONVOY for HEROES 2011 has beaten the Guinness World Record for the longest Land Rover convoy.  The convoy took place at the Heritage Motor Centre on Sunday 24 April featuring 348 Land Rovers and raising £15,000 for Help for Heroes.

   The previous world record was set at Towcester race-course in 2004 by a parade of 260 Land Rovers.  Next year’s event will be held at Prestwold Hall in Leicestershire over the Easter weekend (7 and 8 April) and the organisers are hoping to attract 1,000 Land Rovers and raise even more money for the charity.

   Organiser Patrick Stoner said:  “We are absolutely delighted with this result and quietly confident of smashing our own record next year.  The beauty of Convoy is that it attracted not only the dedicated Series and Defender enthusiasts but also drivers of high-end vehicles such as Discovery 4s and late-model Range Rovers.  Next year we are hoping to attract at least one Evoque – and in fact we are offering a modest prize to the driver of the first Evoque to sign up!”

   CONVOY FOR HEROES 2012 promises to be bigger and better than ever.  For the latest information on the event keep visiting the website, www.convoy4heroes.org.uk

   To find out more about the Heritage Motor Centre, visit the website at www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

    

4. HMC shortlisted for prestigious national award!

   Posted on 12:00am Saturday 8th Oct 2011

   The Heritage Motor Centre, in conjunction with local design agency Box Clever Marketing, has been shortlisted for a prestigious national award for its conference brochure and e-brochure.

   The Centre is among the final four for the Best Brochure – Venues/Destinations category in the Meetings Industry Marketing Awards (MIMA) 2011. The HMC has been shortlisted alongside the Hong Kong Tourism Board, Jersey Conference Bureau and Victory Services Club in London. All the award winners will be announced at the Park Plaza Riverbank London on Monday 17 October.

   The HMC and Box Clever Marketing have successfully developed an integrated campaign with the tagline ‘an ideal blank canvas for conferences, meetings and events’. The campaign focuses on the Centre’s unique selling points including the expert and personable team, the large amount of conference space, the central location, positive quotes from clients and that delegates can look round the Museum for free. The project was so successful it even expanded into the reception area to improve communication, increase bookings and occupancy and maintain the day delegate rate during the economic downturn. The success of the campaign is reflected by occupancy rising by 7%, confirmed bookings from new customers increasing by 25% and the e-brochure on the website receiving 100's of views per month.  8% of confirmed bookings so far this year have come via online sources compared to 5% for the entire 2010.

   Penny Tyler, Marketing Officer at the Heritage Motor Centre stated “We are thrilled to have been shortlisted for a national award. We hold conferences for blue-chip clients ranging from O2 and Hewlett Packard to Tesco and Virgin but we are still relatively unknown for the fantastic and diverse range of conference facilities that we have. We are competing against key global destinations for this award but the fact we have been shortlisted proves the calibre of the creative talent that there is here in Warwickshire”.

   Justin Woodman, Managing Director of Box Clever Marketing, said he was proud to have been involved in a campaign which has received national recognition. “Our ethos is to dig deeper than any other agency to deliver commercial return on investment to our clients. We carried out significant research before we developed the creative concepts and ideas to hit the conference targets and grow the conference business”

   The HMC is a dedicated conference and exhibition centre conveniently located off junction 12 of the M40 in Warwickshire. The Centre offers over 20 stylish meeting rooms for 6 - 600 delegates with internal and external exhibition space and outdoor event space licensed for 5000 people. Set in 65 acres, the Centre also boasts a meadow for team building, two 4x4 off-road tracks, 2000 free car parking spaces, and external hard standing (9700sqm), ideal for marquees and outdoor events.

   www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk

5. HMC hosts free National Bike Safe Show!

   Posted on 12:00am Monday 1st Aug 2011

   The Heritage Motor Centre is delighted to host the National Bike Safe Show, a fantastic free outdoor family event dedicated to motorbike safety on Sunday 4th September from 10am – 4pm.  

   Exciting highlights of the show include stunt rider Mattie Griffin performing some exhilarating motorcycle stunts plus displays of Manufacturers & Dealer bikes, Motorcycle Clothing & Accessories, Motorcycle Clubs, Mini Motos and a ‘Try before you buy’ scooter arena.

   Visitors will also have the opportunity of riding for free on demo bikes including top names such as Ducati, Yamaha, Royal Enfield, BMW, Honda, Triumph and Suzuki (please bring both parts of your license). In addition visitors can enjoy refreshments and live music from three talented local bands. Younger members of the family can also enjoy entertainment such as a funfair and face-painting!

   Emma Rawlinson, Event Executive for the Heritage Motor Centre stated “We’re delighted to be hosting the National Bike Safe Show at the HMC, the perfect venue for an event of this nature. If you ride a motorbike or scooter then this is the ideal show for you but even if you don't there is plenty for everyone to enjoy!”

   ‘BikeSafe’ is a nationwide police-led motorcyclist casualty reduction initiative that is run by the majority of forces throughout the UK. The Show is being organised in association with the Heritage Motor Centre, Sands Photography, The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, The Motor Cycle Industry Association and Institute of Advanced Motorists, Highways Traffic Management.

   National Bike Safe is just one of many exciting and unique motoring events held at the Heritage Motor Centre in 2011. To find out more information please visit the website at www.heritage-motor-centre.co.uk