Poundland Conference 2018

Date: October 2^nd to October 3^rd 2018

Location: ACC Liverpool

Client: Poundland

Number of delegates: 1,200

Objectives

Poundland hosts an annual conference for store managers, head office staff and senior employees.  The aim of the event is for attendees to discuss strategy for the year ahead as well as hearing about incentives for store managers.

Format

This was Poundland’s second year at ACC Liverpool, having hosted its conference at the waterfront venue last year.  Previously it was a one day event but this year it grew to take place over two days, consisting of plenary sessions, an exhibition and with the addition of an awards dinner. 

Delegates arrived and registered in the galleria of the convention centre.  The plenary took place in hall one, focusing on updates from the previous year and recognising achievements.  Staff were also given HR, development, financial and distribution updates throughout the afternoon.

Hall two was used as a multi-functional space for catering and refreshments around a central supplier marketplace. The remaining half of hall two was used to create theatrical themed areas including Halloween and Christmas to display upcoming ranges to best effect. 

Poundland used the arena, also part of the ACC Liverpool campus, for the first time with a dinner and awards ceremony taking place on the arena floor.  Awards included Top Fundraiser of the Year, Area Manager of the Year and Regional Manager of the Year. 

Entertainment was provided by Poundland staff as the finalists of ‘Poundland’s Got Talent’ performed for their colleagues backed by a professional band.

Inspirational plenary sessions continued the following dayand were capped off with a catwalk which was created in the auditorium in the convention centre by Poundland’s own Pep&Co range

Event agency Meet and Potato worked alongside Poundland and ACC Liverpool to organise the entire event.

DBN & Keyteq provided full production, supported by the ACC Liverpool production team who provided full rigging for hall two. The ACC Liverpool team designed, installed and operated lighting for the main plenary and Pep&Co fashion show as well as providing full production for the awards and dinner including lighting, sound and AV solutions. 

Challenges

The format of the event changed from one to two days two months before the event.  ACC Liverpool was able to provide space in hall two and organised alternate smaller meeting spaces to conduct the fashion show rehearsals while build was taking place in the auditorium.

During the planning process, it was evident that the exhibition was expanding so ACC Liverpool was able to work with Meet and Potato and Poundland to move the dinner into the arena, allowing more space in hall two for the exhibition and store displays.

The ACC Liverpool production team worked closely with Meet and Potato to help reduce budget spend for additional crewing.

Verdict

Mark Wheeler, central operations, Poundland, said: “This year’s conference was a huge success and a great demonstration of the venue’s flexibility and potential to grow events.

“Entitled ‘The Power of One’, the quality of the event was a great testament of what can be achieved when working together with third parties as one team.”