The Midland – Meetings across the ages

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Category: Hotel

Created on Friday, 01 June 2012 11:28

The Midland – Meetings across the ages

The Midland in Manchester is boldly making claim to being the UK’s ‘most trusted business venue’ as yet more staff this month celebrate 25 years of loyal service. Maitre d’ Anibal Cabral and Sous Chef Brendan Kenny celebrate their 25th year anniversary with the hotel whilst the longest serving staff member, Mike Leibrick, marks 53 years with The Midland.

As a trusted business venue, The Midland has 14 staff in total who have given the hotel their unwavering loyalty for some 25 years or longer and helped make it once of the most iconic hotels in the world.  It is also a hotel where household names have made important, life changing business decisions - kept under wraps thanks to the discreetness of its loyal staff.

The Midland is famously noted for being the venue where, in 1904, Charles Rolls struck a partnership deal with Henry Royce.  Hundreds of other meetings with a huge impact on Great British life have been conducted under The Midlands’ roof. 

Conservative Party Annual Conferences in 2009 and 2011 and Labour Party Annual Conferences in 2006, 2008, and 2010 have seen leaders such as David Cameron, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair use the hotel to vote on policies, discuss proposals and make major announcements. The hotel has a number of conferences already confirmed for the coming years, with the Labour Party Conference booked in for September 2012 and the Conservative Conferences scheduled for 2013 and 2015.

Sir Winston Churchill was also a regular and staff have commented on how much food and drink he would consume.  The same staff also spoke of a falling out with General Eisenhower when they both stayed at the hotel during World War II; on hearing it was Churchill’s birthday the next day, it was reported that General Eisenhower had his chef bake him a birthday cake with brandy and peace was duly restored.

During the 1990s, the hotel was often used by football legends such as George Best, Sir Alex Ferguson and David Beckham.  Fergie’s teams regularly stayed at The Midland before local games so the manager could keep a tight rein on what they were eating at breakfast.

Around this time, Gordon Banks and his FA colleagues would sit in the Octagon and put together the season’s fixtures lists while Salford born tenor, Russell Watson, was heard singing at a charity function being held at The Midland.  Russell was asked by Manchester United’s chairman, Martin Edwards, to perform at Old Trafford.  The rest, of course, is history.

Helping The Midland lay claim to being the UK’s most trusted business venue is the privacy it affords high profile guests and business folk striking confidential deals.  The Auden Way is a corridor that takes guests from the rear of the hotel through to its reception and lobby area while the Petersfield suite offers a private reception area with access from the rear of the hotel.

General Manager at The Midland, Mike Magrane said:  “Since the hotel opened its doors in 1903, many important decisions have been made and deals brokered between its four walls.  It is here that Mr Rolls agreed to sell the cars designed by Mr Royce, a birthday cake helped broker a small, personal peace deal between our Prime Minister and the President of the United States and one of the best Manchester United teams in the world psyched themselves up for big games under Alex Ferguson.

“We attract big names and even not so big names that have important business matters to attend to due to the quality of service and facilities we offer, as well as the privacy and confidentiality.  Are we the most trusted business venue around?  Well, we are confident to put our stake in the ground, put it that way!”