NEWS FROM THE TREES GROUP

 

3 DECEMBER 2009
 

NEW BOARD MEMBERS STRENGTHEN EVENT VENUE'S ROLE 
 

Two major new appointments have been made to the board of Highpoint Conference Centre in Leicester by the region's largest social enterprise group.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The TREES Group has appointed the new members from different professional backgrounds to extend the wide range of representation on the Highpoint board and strengthen the role of the venue as a thriving social enterprise and conference venue.

Ian Betteridge, a Principal of MacIntyre Hudson LLP in Leicester and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, has almost 40 years' experience of advising owner-managed businesses across all trades and professions.

As a Member of the Academy of Experts, Ian provides expert witness and litigation services and helps businesses, public sector bodies and individuals resolve legal disputes. He is also a Governor on the Trinity Hospital charity board in Leicester.

Paul Stretton, Hospitality and Conference Manager at Leicester College, manages the college's hospitality services for smaller meetings to large corporate events, including its training restaurant and outside catering department. He won a gold award for staff excellence for raising Leicester College's profile this year.

Paul has worked in London for the Café Royal, International Press Centre and event caterer Ring & Brymer. The hotel won a CATEY (Caterer & Hotelkeeper) award for function menu of the year during his five-year stint as assistant manager of the Three Swans Hotel in Market Harborough.

Ian and Paul bring the number of board members at the premier conference venue to four. They join Ian Griffiths, a construction and property consultant with Summers Inman, and John Edmond, a solicitor with Marrons.

John Montague, Group Chief Executive of TREES, which also supports Newlife Regeneration Construction, including its landscaping division Ground Control, said: "I am delighted to welcome two people of such high calibre to the Highpoint Board. These key appointments will bring strength and depth to the executive team, as well as fresh impetus in maintaining Highpoint as one of Leicester's foremost conference destinations."

Ian Betteridge said: "With my experience in both the commercial and charity fields, I am looking forward with confidence to making a positive contribution to the future development and advancement of Highpoint."

Paul Stretton said: "I bring to Highpoint the ability to look at things from a different angle, to reframe things and look for alternative ways of reaching business goals."

Part of the TREES Group, Highpoint Conference Centre is a unique conference venue. It was originally St Catherine's Chapel and Convent before the site was purchased by Leicester Housing Association in 1997.
The £5 million conversion to create Highpoint, a state-of-the-art conference centre with residential accommodation, was completed in 2002.



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