Skip navigation

Testimonials

We continue to receive great feedback about events and conferences hosted at Northumbria University

CUBO Summer Conference 2025

I wanted to say once again a huge thanks to you and your team at Northumbria for the seamless organisation and delivery of the CUBO Conference. This event has been a long-time in the making and through all the planning calls we’ve had it was wonderful to see the event come together so wonderfully, with verbal feedback from members and partners being very positive. From day 1, the organisation, warmth, and friendliness of your team has been nothing short of brilliant – from the tour, to the conference/exhibition space, the food, and the awards night, everything was well executed. Thank you for all the support to the CUBO team, especially Sarah during these past few days and being flexible and accommodation to any changes during these days.

Nysa Pradhanm, Executive Director, College and University Business Officers (CUBO)

 

CSL 2025

Venue management & comms - Ailsa was our main point of contact from Northumbria and she was amazing! Very detailed, great at communicating changes and updates to us and very solution driven.

Onsite team - The team were so helpful, fast at getting changes sorted and very proactive! Special thank you to Ailsa, Faye, Riannon, Jonny and Phil.

Security - The security were great, clearly communicated how the security will work on the day and adapted where needed. E.g. when it started raining and queues were huge, they spoke with us first and then changed how the queueing was working during the rain.

Venue and facilities - The breakout rooms and expo space worked well.

Isobel Appleby, Project Manager, LiveGroup

 

Physiology in Focus 2024

 

For a conference size of 300 - 400 people, the CCE building was ideal. It has plenty of options for breakout spaces and a great space on the ground floor for exhibition and/or posters. Faye and her team were a fantastic support throughout; dealing with any last minute changes/requests in the run up to the conference and on the day they ensured they were well versed in the schedule enabling to adapt to our needs as well as being efficient with any support if any issues. With regards to the catering, the Masters Package was a great option and some of the best conference food we have ever had! We would like to thank the team for making it a fun and smooth experience for us.

Caitlin Oates, Event and Marketing Manager, The Physiological Society

 

Researching War and Conflict through Ephemera

The service was brilliant from start to finish. I had two meetings with event staff to discuss my ideas and requirements, one a few weeks before the conference and one about ten days before the conference date. Event staff (Rachael and Ailsa) were super knowledgeable and gave great advice, catching things I had not considered such as providing a coat rack and secure storage for luggage. Everything was taken care of, from the complicated business of registration to tech support on the day, and I was able to really focus on the event itself, not the technical and practical bits. On top of this, the event team on the day (Ailsa, Riannon, Ruth, and the student helper whose name unfortunately escapes me) couldn't have been lovelier - everyone was so impressed, and the conference left all the attendees with a top impression of Northumbria University.

Ann-Marie Einhaus, Associate Professor, Northumbria University 

 

BSA Sociology of Religion Conference 2024

We had a great time hosting the BSA SocRel Conference at Northumbria. Faye and the team were so friendly and helpful, nothing was ever too much for them. We are due to return in 2025 for another conference, and I am already looking forward to it after a great experience this year.

Georgina Sailes, Events Officer, British Sociological Society

Digital Civics Exchange 2024

Thank you so much to Ailsa Ingham [Conference and Events Manager] and Jonny Hurrell [Catering & Hospitality Service] for their excellent service and professional excellence. We all highly appreciated them. I've been working with Jonny for many years and he & his great Team have never failed our expectations. THANK YOU!

Tanya Vlasova, DCitizens Project Manager, Northumbria University 

 

BIOPOLE Annual Science Meeting, March 2023

It was pleasure liaising with Venues at Northumbria. The team is super helpful and friendly. They made us feel welcome and took the best care of us. Thank you very much for making our meeting at Northumbria a success!

Ruta Hamilton, Programme Support Officer, BAS

 

The National Youth Orchestra Summer School, July - August 2022

I wanted to drop you all an email now that we have returned and recovered from our concert tour to say an absolutely enormous thank you for everything over the last two weeks.

You all worked tirelessly to make sure that we had everything that we needed.  No job was too big or too small for any of you and you were all happy to jump in to make sure that our days ran smoothly, from helping to queue and serve musicians at meal times, to finding extra rooms at short notice and looking into infinite lighting and chair options for us.  It was also really great to see how often members of the staff were up in the balcony and having a listen.  It's so great for us and the musicians to see people interested and engaged in what they are doing, so thank you for spreading the word and coming to listen during rehearsal - I hope you enjoyed having us there for the 10 days.

The musicians had an absolutely fantastic time.  They were all comfortable and well looked after in the university, with great food.  The rehearsal rooms were fantastic for us as well.  This all lead to an immensely positive experience that allowed the musicians to relax and focus on their music making.

Alfie Whitbread, Residency Manager, The National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain

 

The National Women's Register Conference, September 2022

I just wanted to say a huge thank you from all of us to you and the rest of your team, including the accommodation team. You were all amazing and we could not have done it without your help and patience throughout it all!  A special thank you too, to the team in Domain who helped me to get one of our members out the back way to her taxi after the dinner - it was much appreciated!  Please pass on our thanks to everyone involved.

Your constant support with the booking system was particularly welcome and Sam and I are very grateful for your work on this.

The whole team pulled together to help make Newcastle 2022 a successful conference.

Sam Bushell & Sharon Gibson (NWR Membership Administration Team)

 

Schools North East: Northern Celebration of Education, 11 - 12 July 2019

Many thanks for your personal support in the run up to the event and on the day itself, it truly was an amazing day and we could not have made it such a success without that support.  Barry and the University staff were outstanding in the run up to the event and on the day.  The staff that supported the set up on both mornings were amazing; nothing was too much trouble.  Please pass on my thanks to all of them and to your catering team for the excellent BBQ. 

The feedback from delegates has been amazing, among the best, we have had for any event to date, and none of this would have been possible without the support of you and the University.  All of the partners and programme steering group felt that the event was a tremendous success, with just under 300 delegates attending over the two days.   

The venue itself was perfect. Delegates, speakers and exhibitors all commented on the outstanding facilities, and how different they were from the usual school environments; giving delegates the space to relax, engage with each other and the speakers, and truly celebrate the outstanding jobs that they do for children across the region, which is exactly the feel we were aiming for. 

Chris Zarraga MBA, Director of Operations & Development, Schools North East

 

Blackboard Europe, Teaching & Learning Conference (TLC), 13 - 16 May 2019

Thank you for a fantastic event and for an even better partnership.  When we set out on this journey all those many months ago, we all took a few gambles on each other.  Although we are not at end of job, I come away from this week feeling very happy with our decision to partner with Northumbria and very confident about our future success.

You were right to call out your team as you have a fantastic team.   I spend a lot of time travelling the world meeting with teams and so please don’t take this lightly, you have pulled together a top notch team and as much as I will want to let the Ultra product get credit for our future success, we all really know that we will be successful in large part due to the fantastic teams we have working on this project, both within Northumbria and Blackboard.

One of your objects at the onset of the journey was to become the institution that your peers looked to for leadership and best practice.  The event this week certainly accomplished that objective. 

I know we have a lot of work to do but thank you for your leadership, the partnership to date and for being a great host.

Lee Blakemore, Chief Client Officer and President, Global Client Operations & Success |  Blackboard Inc.

I’m just writing to express my appreciation to you and your amazing team for hosting us at Northumbria University this week. I have mentioned in my closing remarks that this is my fifth TLC Europe and clearly the best one so far largely to you and your team. We couldn’t have wished for a better venue and your keynote presentation was spot on and set a tone for the entire week. It clearly made many client think “Northumbria University set a clear vision and were able to bring it to life, perhaps it’s time we do it too”.  

I was really impressed about the passion and energy in your team, with this attitude sky is a limit.  I am also grateful for letting us being part of your journey and for a strong partnership that has been cemented over the last couple of years. I know that it wouldn’t be possible without having the right people on both sides.

Thanks again for amazing week, for your partnership and looking forward to getting closer engaged with Northumbria University going forward.

Oleg Figlin, Vice President Europe |  Blackboard Inc.

What came through was passion for the university, your students and your team. It was really a powerful message.

Your wider team are totally amazing – I was so impressed by their speaking and networking and being ambassadors for Northumbria both to other clients and to my many Bb colleagues. .

Finally and most importantly to you as the host university from the executive right through to academic colleagues who attended, the Norman team, the venue team and the heart of the facilities team who fed us it was a superb experience and we have all gone home with many ideas and impressed by Newcastle the city but especially the Northumbria University team. Thank you.

Anne Cross, Account Executive, Blackboard International

 

NewcastleGateshead Initiative (NGI) Annual General Meeting, 6 December 2018

Many thanks from all the NGI Team including our Chair, John Marshall, for hosting our AGM in the Great Hall last night. The room looked magnificent and the festive decorations certainly helped to dispel the gloom of the wintry cold outside. We’ve had great feedback from the event with many attendees commenting on the magnificence of the setting!

The words of welcome at the start of the meeting were also very well received, providing as they did a glimpse of recent achievements and the ambition of the University.

Thanks also to Rachel in the Events Team for working with us to organise the event – Anne and Sarah L were very grateful for your help.

Sarah Stewart OBE, Chief Executive, NGI

 

International Glaucoma Association, 30 November 2018

I just wanted to say a huge thank you for your support in organising our first North East conference. Unlike other venues who often just provide a room and a buffet, you were on hand through the planning stages and on the day to really make sure our event ran smoothly. All of the university staff we encountered, from the IT support to the food and drink servers were friendly and helpful and you all contributed to making our event professional and welcoming.

The great hall looked beautiful, we all loved the tree! 

I hope to have future events at your venue.

Hannah Morrow, Development Manager for the North East of England

 

Trans Lives North East Conference, November 2018

I am really just reiterating what everyone else has said, but genuinely the events team were brilliant and a great support to me.

The event was a great success and your team were instrumental in ensuring that happened.

Sharon Stewart, Organisational Development Manager

 

NICE Network Conference, June 2018

"Thank you for your contribution to a great success in the 28th NICE Network Annual Conference, hosted for the first time at Northumbria University. Over 50 delegates from international institutions spent a few days with us, including 3 triple-accredited business schools, 7 AACSB accredited/members and several in the Top 500 ranking.

Comments from the participants were overwhelmingly positive, with everyone made to feel welcome, a great tour of Northumberland, brilliant food and accommodation and worthwhile activities. It was a great performance by a university-wide team.

Thanks again to everyone who worked over 6 months to make it happen."

 

BASES Student Conference, April 2018

The 2018 British Association of Sports and Exercise Sciences (BASES) Conference attracted students and professional from all over the UK, with over 200 attendees, we received great feedback from many of the delegates:

‘Just a quick email to say thank you for organising the conference. I thought it was engaging, inspiring and it definitely gave me a better idea of what area of sport and exercise science I want to specialise in’

‘I just wanted to say thank you for organising such a wonderful BASES conference - I had a great experience’.

‘Having spent the last couple of days reflecting upon it, I can honestly say it was the best experience of my three years at university (and that's not detracting from the great time I have had at university!). The opportunity to openly discuss my research idea with fellow undergraduate students and more experienced researchers was extremely useful going forward. In addition, I was inspired by each of the guest talks and workshops, and will certainly use the advice I attained to shape my career and "make it happen"’.

‘Just a quick email to say well done and thank you for your efforts in the student conference. I thoroughly enjoyed the event, the city and keynotes. The students were lucky to have such good practitioners on site’.

‘Looks like the conference was a huge success! I've enjoyed following it all on Twitter’.

‘Excellent job with the conference - I doff my cap’.

‘Many congratulations to everyone in the conference team for putting on an excellent show. The conference was overflowing with happy delegates, the presentations were outstanding and highly relevant to up-and-coming sport and exercise scientists, and the venues were all excellent for purpose’. 

‘I know that members of the BASES Board were very impressed with what you achieved! Northumbria University, the Department and all of you have much to be proud of’.

‘What a fantastic event.  Thank you all very much for contributing to the success of the conference feedback has been outstanding and is reflection to the work gone in to the event organisation and quality of the programme’.

‘Just a quick email to say a personal thanks for all of the noticeable effort that you and your team made to make the Student Conference run as smooth as it did. The opportunity to present my findings and listen to inspirational keynote speakers has really given me the last push I need to complete this dissertation and get excited about my future’.

 

University Forum for Human Resource Development (UFHRD) Conference, June 2018

We hosted an international conference on Human Resource Development in our City Campus East venue with over 200 guests utilising our various lecture theatres, classrooms and breakout space for their keynote addresses and parallel sessions. 

“Just wanted to say how much I enjoyed the conference and how well it all worked.  Such a wonderful experience, such good memories.”

“Such a great event with a really lovely team of helpers. It’s just been so good from before the start to finish”

“It was so nice to see so many of the Northumbria staff team so actively involved, and your students too. Everyone has been so helpful, and everything has been so well thought through”

“This has to have been the best ever goodie bag that I’ve ever received.  ‘It’s great!!’

 

If you would like to enquire about hosting an event at Northumbria University click here.

At Northumbria we are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of personal data. To view the University's Privacy Notice please click here.


Latest News and Features

High up drone footage of Antarctic Mountains
Book cover, Public Involvement and Community Engagement in Applied Health and Social Care Research: Critical Perspectives and Innovative Practice
Newcastle quayside cityscape at dusk
Lukas and Heather making a speech at the IntoUniversity Gateshead centre launch
Chancellor George Clarke
At home finger pricking kit
Image (front row): Jonathan Long, Director of the Centre for Visual Arts and Culture, Durham University, Gayle Woodruffe, Operations Director, North East Screen, Ian Fenton, Senior Lecturer in Film & Television Production, Teesside University, Catriona McAvoy, Education Partnerships Manager, North East Screen, (second row) Lawrence Brannon, Associate Head of School, Film and Media, Sunderland University, Neil Percival, Co-Director of Cultural Partnerships, Northumbria University
CHASE Public Lecture, November 2025
More events

Upcoming events

Christmas Market and Tree lighting
CHASE LECTURE - D6: Culture in Transit
Northumbria University Carol Service 2025

Back to top