CEO Today United Kingdom Awards

UNITED KINGDOM 127 www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2018 DOMINIC JONES CEO of Business Design Centre Ltd ABOUT DOMINIC JONES Dominic is the CEO of Business Design Centre (BDC), one of London’s leading conference and exhibition centres. He was born and educated in Hampstead, London and went on to begin his working life aged 16 as a trainee legal executive in a multi- practice law firm. He joined the Commercial Property side of the business in 1991, moving on to selling trade exhibitions and then marketing the BDC’s events, followed by a return to property as Head of the Property Department. Dominic was appointed Sales Director at the age of 29 and in 1999 took over as Managing Director. Dominic believes that the key to running an extraordinary venue is to have a great team, which genuinely cares about the building and the events that happen within it. From the front of house to the senior management, attention to detail is key. This includes continuous high standards of maintenance and of course excellent customer service with an emphasis on a personal and ‘nothing is too much trouble’ approach. The company has won many accolades over the years, including ‘Best Employer’ at the Exhibition News Awards four times from 2011 – 2015 and most recently awards for CSR and Sustainability. The company values are lived by the staff at the BDC, which contributed to its Gold Standard recognition by Investors in People in 2016. FIRM PROFILE The Business Design Centre, formerly the Royal Agricultural Hall is a Grade 2 listed building in the vibrant London Borough of Islington. Purchased in 1985 the once derelict building is now one of London’s leading events spaces as well as being home to over 100 other businesses in permanent office spaces. The companies that occupy the office and showroom spaces within the venue range from the creative and design industries, to legal and recruitment. Many of these complement the 250 events taking place every year. The unique concept was the brainchild of Sam Morris, whose family still own the company today and the family values are still held by the small in house team that operate and run the business from day to day. Investment in the fabric of the building is a constant focus, especially in the network infrastructure. The upgrades made to the venue space will provide an even higher speed internet service for the events with further plans for the coming year. This is an important factor considering a quarter of events in 2019 are in the technology sector. Business Design Centre is proud to be housed in a listed building. It is an incredible space to be able to hold events and run a business from but as a custodian of its history, maintaining the building itself is integral to preserving its future. In ensuring the continually changing needs of the workspace are being met, the BDC recently pioneered its brand new coworking space, BDC Works. The collaboration between the events, coworking members and office tenants have forged a unique synergy; an interaction which contributes to their growth and success. CONTACT T: 0207 288 6200 E: DominicJ@bdc.london W: bdc.london