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24th January 2019
Our General Manager Anthony has celebrated his 10th year in the post. So, we thought we’d catch up with him and find out more about his past decade.
What have been the highlights of 2018 for Ellingham Hall?
There are three things that stand out: we’ve had our busiest ever summer with weddings! Our Head of Weddings, Wendy, was named Wedding Co-ordinator of the Year in the North of England Wedding Awards. And we officially launched the venue for corporate events. It has been very eventful, but I’ve enjoyed it.
What has been your biggest challenge this year?
As this has been the busiest summer, the biggest challenge has been on logistics. It was essential to ensure our guests’ expectations were met or exceeded, but it was equally important to look after and support our team.
What has been your proudest moment?
It was when Wendy, our Head of Weddings won her award! As well as being proud of her, I was also proud of the fact the whole team had been recognised for the service we deliver. We pride ourselves on our service, and this award highlighted that effort.
What are you currently working on?
I’m currently working on an exciting new venture! We will be launching our sister venue Lemmington Hall, as an exclusive-use event space next year, so I’ll be very busy with that. We are also arranging a calendar of events to enable the public to experience Ellingham Hall. As an exclusive-use venue, there isn’t the same chance to visit like you can with a hotel. If you’ve been a guest or a client in the past, we want to welcome you back. It will give you the chance to relive some great memories! We’re also working on building on the success of the corporate launch.
Tell us about your team?
I’m fortunate to have in place strong Heads of Departments, all of whom have been with me for between four and nine years. I appreciate it’s quite unusual in this industry to work with people for so long, and I hope that length of service shows how well we get on, and that we are a genuine team. I also think the key is mutual respect and listening to them. Their opinions and work are valued, and that’s what has helped make Ellingham Hall what it is today.
As we plan for further growth in 2019 and 2020, I recognised that we needed additional experience in marketing and sales and have made two new appointments in Lynn Sanderson and Rachel Barlow. I’m looking forward to working with them for many years to come!
How do you keep ahead of the competition in such a competitive sector?
We were one of the first exclusive-use wedding venues in Northumberland, and in that time, we’ve focused on customer experience, retained our exclusivity, and our attention to detail hasn’t wavered. It’s important to move with demand and offer a high-quality service at a good price. We listen to our customer feedback to help us improve where we can.
What services do you offer?
Exclusive weddings, corporate and special events; private parties; private dining and holiday cottage breaks.
Where do you see the business in 12 months’ time?
We should have experienced the planned growth and launched our second venue, Lemmington Hall, ready for trading in 2020.
“From first viewing Ellingham Hall on a virtual tour during lockdown to our wedding weekend the whole planning process was made so easy. Special thanks to Wendy for being so responsive to my many emails back and forth! Thank you to Charlotte and Charlie and the rest of the Ellingham Hall team who worked hard behind the scenes to make everything run seamlessly the whole weekend! We knew as soon as we visited Ellingham Hall it was the wedding venue of our dreams and even better that it could be exclusively ours for us to enjoy for the full weekend! Our guests absolutely loved it and we were all made to feel at home there for the entire time. The wedding breakfast food also got fantastic reviews from our guests with many saying it was the best wedding food they had ever had! We had the most amazing weekend at Ellingham Hall and wish we could relive it all again.”
Michelle & Andrew Farman, 1st October 2022
“We like to do something different, and Ellingham Hall is certainly out of the ordinary. We had a fantastic time for our staff party and team building. The activities were fantastic and enabled us to get our teams mixed up and get everybody bonding and having a good time together in an amazing environment. We would recommend Ellingham Hall to anyone, the guys here are fantastic.”
Ben Quigley, Group Chief Executive – Everything Different Marketing
“To everyone at Ellingham hall. A massive thank you to you all for such an amazing day! From arriving on Wednesday Debbie and Charlotte looked after us right up to the moment we left. The day was absolutely perfect and was planned to perfection by the Ellingham team, our friends and family have commented on how lovely all of the staff were and could not of done more.
The food was amazing from the sharing boards the night before to the fish and chips we were eating cold at 1am! The venue has so much character and we fell in love with from the second we walked up the driveway on that very first visit.
Thank you all so much again for one of the best days of our lives, we want to relive it all over again!”
Amanda Murphy & Christopher Fairley 24th November 2022
“First of all, we would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the 3 best days of our lives. We can’t put into words how perfect our wedding was – thanks to you. Thank you for patiently answering all our questions, for thinking of every single detail, for picking up the phone a few days before the wedding, making sure we wouldn’t change our minds ???? For making us feel part of the Ellingham Hall family and for making our wedding day perfect.
We couldn’t have asked for more and can truly say it was more beautiful than we expected. You are an amazing team who made us feel so comfortable and allowed us to make memories we’ll never forget. When we were looking for a box to send the letter, cards, and flowers, we came across the box in which we received our wedding rings and it seemed like the perfect option to post everything. Again, thank you for making our day perfect!”
Franziska & Aaron Marshall, 1st June 2023
“Thank you all so much for everything you did to help with our Annual Forum and Celebration Concert on Thursday. As usual, I was a bag of nerves for much of the day, but the calm efficiency of Connor and his team helped to get me through. I will definitely recommend Ellingham Hall as a corporate venue. Surprisingly, a lot of the attendees were unaware of the Hall and what you’re able to offer. The fact that we could move from one room to another and have two very different events at the same venue was a big draw for us. “
Catherine Gray, Funding and Communications Officer – Northumberland AONB Partnership
“The hall catered for everything we needed, from the luxury entrance rooms, to the grounds outside, which we used to talk with clients in more detail afterwards. It was exactly what we wanted to allow us to host a presentation of this size. Guests were welcomed with a selection of drinks and canapés in the entrance hall and then again on departure. The seminar itself took place in the Chapel, while the dining room and drawing room provided the perfect spaces clients to relax.
Michael Sage, Director, Sage Wealth Management
