Inside the Hilton Metropole: 50 Years of Big-Stage Events
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What makes the Hilton Birmingham Metropole a landmark venue for events?
Hello everybody and welcome to the Event Industry News Podcast. With me, James Dixon, wishing you all a very good morning, afternoon, or evening, whenever or wherever you tune into today's podcast from. And in terms of where you're tuning into today's podcast from, it's more a case of where we are recording today's podcast from. Um I am in the beautiful surroundings of the Hilton Birmingham Metropole. Um, adjacent, of course, to the NEC. In the heart of England. Um, and we've been afforded this brilliant opportunity today to come down and record some episodes of the podcast to celebrate the 50th birthday, 50th anniversary of this, I suppose, institution of the UK events industry. Um we're gonna be recording uh three episodes of the podcast here today, um, talking to various people who are involved in the running and the operation of the events here, finding
out a little bit about the history of the venue if you're not familiar with it and and I think most people in the events industry will be. So it's a huge thank you to uh all the people sort of behind the scenes here um for setting up and and giving us an invite here at Event Industry News to come down and record some of the podcasts today. Um kicking things off I'm delighted to say that I am joined in this sort of sumptuous booth. I feel like relaxing yes Try. Yes, by um Simon Jelly. Simon um is from ProTech, um fully on brand today. Yeah. Um Sim Simon is a national sales um and account manager for ProTech um and is very much base. Well, first of all, welcome to the podcast, Simon. Thank you, James. Um glad to be here.
And you are based here, uh have a base here. What's the sort of the setup with with ProTech, first of all?
Okay, um yes, well Protec has uh big warehouse and headquarters on site at the NEC, so literally a a stone's throw from here. It's obviously very handy for supporting all the events we do in the building. Um I personally uh am the account manager for the hotels, he's one of my biggest clients, and myself and my colleague David have an office in the uh Yeah, in the hotel here up with the sales team. In the the hotel staff offices.
A and and for anybody who's not been to this venue before, um, the w the first thing I remember coming here for the first time, you don't realise sort of how big a place it is, physically as a building. This is it's a big old space, isn't it? It
is. She is a big old beast, the Met, yeah. And I I think as you said in your intro, most people in the events industry know her. Everyone's been here at some time or another for an event. And uh yeah, the Birmingham Met is a very well known. It is a big hotel and there are a lot of spaces which obviously from an event production point of view is great. You've a lot of space to work with, there's a lot you can do, from smaller events up to larger events, there's huge flexibility. The weather rooms can join together gives us great flow sometimes. So That's fabulous, but I I've worked here personally since um two thousand and nine, so The more you're here, the less big it seems, if that makes sense. You get you get that completely.
It doesn't seem huge to me now, even even though it is a big building.
Yeah, yeah. A and and from a technical production point of view, you know, y you're you're a partner, but I bet the amount of time that you physically spend in here you you probably know every nook and cranny, you know where where every plug socket is, where well.
Well, mostly you'd you'd like to think that. And yes we do. Obviously we have a huge working knowledge of the venue, but there are still surprises, there are still things you find even after all these you go, I didn't know that was there.
Yeah.
Yeah, which is um, you know, part of the the charm of the old place, I think.
And I suppose w when we look at the technical production aspect of it, which is which is what you uh you know, you you deal with and you support clients here week in, week out for for many, many years on that. It it's important to stress, I suppose, first of all, that for those who haven't been to this venue, yeah, just
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What makes the Hilton Birmingham Metropole a landmark venue for events?
0:06–4:49
2
How do the Monarch, King and Palace suites differ and what events suit each space?
4:49–10:44
3
What staffing model does Protec use to support the venue’s busy periods?
10:44–15:12
4
How have AV technology and LED walls evolved at the Metropole over the years?
15:12–19:28
5
What hybrid‑event capabilities does the hotel offer for modern productions?
19:28–23:09
6
How should event planners account for major fixtures like the World Cup?
23:09–26:29
7
Can the venue’s outdoor areas and new glamping pods be used for events?
26:29–28:49
Speakers
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