'It’s crazy to me that more venues aren’t doing this'

Victoria Baths is a characterful and Grade II* listed event venue in Manchester. Widely recognised as the UK’s finest historic former municipal swimming pool complete with striking green tiles, original stained glass, vaulted ceilings, and period features, it is unlike anywhere else.

Prompted by the buoyant events market and a local appetite for live events, the venue is putting into place a bold marketing strategy to target the events sector with the help of a leading event organiser - Liz Taylor, CEO of the Taylor Lynn Corporation and MD of Liz Taylor Consultancy.

Taylor has been appointed as a special advisor to the Victoria Baths Trading Company to add her expertise and theatrical ‘out of the box’ thinking to develop its corporate and private events business.

Here, Suzanne Donovan, vice chair of Victoria Baths, and Liz herself share their perspective on the relationship, and importantly, why they believe it could be mutually beneficial for venues and event planners countrywide.

The venue trustee's view - Suzanne Donovan

Victoria Baths is a Manchester landmark, a place to discover, experience, and celebrate – we want to spread our experience of the venue to more people in our region and Liz is the perfect person to help us to do that. The Baths is an iconic venue which can host events of many scales from food events and craft markets to weddings and corporate parties.

We’ve had some amazing exposure, accelerated by the iconic Chanel exhibition and events that we hosted recently. It was a real coup for us, catapulting us onto the world stage. People are starting to sit up and notice so rather than make a big noise, then go quietly back to our business, we wanted to take that momentum and run with it. It has made us realise that we need to move to the next level in the event sector.

But it is an unusual space, and sometimes people can find it difficult to imagine it transformed for an exhibition, conference, or gala dinner. Its incredible uniqueness is a gift and a challenge rolled into one. But with the right inventive mind and industry contacts, I was sure we could elevate the space.

Who better than an experienced event planner to help us leverage more revenue from events? And who better than the leading planner in our region? Liz Taylor was the lady we needed and is already bringing her boundless energy. She is bursting with ideas on how to grow our event business. It’s exactly what we needed.

Any additional revenue will help fund the careful development of our buildings for the use of current and future generations.

The eventprof's view - Liz Taylor

One of the reasons I love Manchester so much is because of the eclectic architecture. From contemporary spaces to urban warehouses and vast arenas, the city is packed with unique and characterful buildings.

Among Manchester’s renaissance, we have been able to retain some of the important historic spaces that helped to shape our city and its people - little corners of history perfectly preserved for our enjoyment. As an event planner, this is pure gold. A venue with character is half of the battle won, and I’ve always looked at Victoria Baths as a prime example. It has genuine historic appeal and atmosphere – you can’t help but step inside and feel some of what has gone before. It has all the hallmarks of a truly fabulous venue and a unique space that I know event planners will see as I do, as an incredible creative opportunity.

When I was asked to come on board as a volunteer advisor and impart some of my knowledge and business connections, it felt like a natural fit. I was excited. The space is quirky and that’s what I love. I know what’s needed to run a successful event and I have the contacts in the industry to create mutually beneficial relationships, so it was an immediate yes.

“Both I and the team at Victoria Baths really believe that this partnership could provide a blueprint for venues and event planners to work together more strategically," says Taylor. "In fact, it seems such a simple yet effective idea. It’s crazy to me that more venues aren’t doing this.

“In developing a venue, for example, it’s commonplace to bring on a team of professionals such as architects, engineers, and interior designers. Yet even when a venue is specifically designed with events in mind, it’s rare to see an event planner working as a consultant on the build. Even though they are a key target customer once the venue is complete.

“The venue team is missing a valuable source of information. An architect for instance may consider the flow of space and even the acoustics, but what about access for deliveries or how people will enter and be contained in a space, or how planners will utilise the spaces? Event planners bring relevant, lived experience to the table on how they can transform the black canvas into an event – and importantly – what will attract clients to use this new space.

“It makes sense for an event planner to be a consultant early on in the process, and I hope through this partnership with Victoria Baths, we can illustrate that point to great effect and more planners can assume these roles.”

It’s an opinion that Donovan is in complete agreement with, she summarises: “It’s fascinating to see our venue through new eyes. An event planner has a unique way of looking at a venue – not just logistically but creatively and with an insider’s knowledge of how to make it look and feel the best it can be. We’re only weeks into this partnership and already we’re beginning to reap the rewards, I can highly recommend that other venues follow suit and tap into the wealth of knowledge that our events industry holds.”

Opened in 1906, Victoria Baths provided central Manchester’s community with spacious and extensive facilities for swimming, bathing, and leisure activities for 87 years. Now functioning as an event and community space, it retains many of the period's decorative features, such as stained glass, tiles, and mosaic floors which the public can view for free on Welcome Wednesdays and Sunny Sundays (check the website for dates).

Victoria Baths regularly hosts events such as the Vintage Home Show, the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, and The Clothes Cycle, plus it’s a popular wedding venue and filming location.

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Suzanne Donovan and Liz Taylor