Capita Symonds at BSEC 2010 - Post 1

A brisk start to BSEC at its new home for 2010 at ExCel.

Putting aside the usual delegate complaints about travel problems getting to the Docklands venue, the first few hours have been well attended and emphasised BSEC's place as the conference/exhibition for school design, as it has been for the last few years.

Has the event lost anything in its move from Manchester Central (its 'bulging-at-the-seams' home in previous years)? The jury's still out on that one - its certainly larger but maybe that's not everything.

Highlights today include Capita Symonds' Richard Woods speaking at a live online debate today 2.30pm - Join the debate

We've put some photos on Flickr - have a look!

More photos and commentary to come over the two days.

Southampton FE Rugby Festival

More than 250 Hampshire students gathered for the inaugural Capita Symonds Further Education Rugby Festival at Trojans RFC in Eastleigh recently.

Organised by the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the Capita Symonds Southampton office, the tournament saw Brockenhurst College win the men’s prize while the Peter Symonds College from Winchester won the ladies’ trophy.

Both teams were presented with trophies and vouchers for a new set of team shirts by Craig Manton, Operations Director of Capita Symonds in Southampton. Craig said: “We were very impressed with the standard of rugby and the level of support from local colleges. We look forward to supporting the event in the future.”

Louise Hall, Director of Sport for Brockenhurst College added: “It was a superb tournament, very well organised. We had a great day and look forward to defending the trophy next year. Everyone would like to say a huge thank you to the RFU and Capita Symonds for organising the event.”

Jamie Sanders, Rugby Development Officer for Hampshire, commented: “It was great to see such a high quality of rugby from the higher education colleges and it’s fantastic that Capita Symonds allowed us the opportunity to run such a popular competition for the colleges in Hampshire. We look forward to expanding it next year.”

The ladies event attracted teams from across Hampshire and Sharon Evans, Community Rugby Coach for Women and Girls thanked all involved for their assistance: “It’s fantastic for the girls to have an opportunity to play in a festival and to put our skills into practice. We are grateful to Capita Symonds for sponsoring the event and look forward to being here next year.”

Capita Symonds would also like to thank Hampshire Referees Society, Trojans FC and Solent University for their help and expertise in organising the day.

The final results were:

• Men’s Cup Winners – Brockenhurst College, Brockenhurst (RFU accredited college)Men’s Cup Runners Up – Oaklands Catholic College, Portsmouth
• Ladies Cup Winners – Peter Symonds College, Winchester
• Plate Winners – Peter Symonds College, Winchester
• Plate Runners Up – Tauntons College, Southampton

Capita Symonds - Gold Sponsor of BSEC 09

Capita Symonds is a Gold Sponsor of BSEC 09 – the key annual conference and exhibition in the school design sector – in Manchester on 11-12 February.

Capita Symonds also has three speaking slots on the high-level conference programme:

• CABE Design Review Panel (11 Feb - 14:15) - Richard Woods, Senior Associate Director, Capita Architecture
• Procurement and the LEP Panel Discussion (12 Feb - 13:05) - James Cowlishaw, Director of Education Projects, Capita Symonds
• New Build – Shuttleworth College (Lancs BSF) case study (12 Feb - 14:50) - Richard Dinsdale, Design Director (Regions), Capita Symonds

Come and visit us at Stand 546 on 11-12 February.

Find out more about Capita Symonds at BESC
Go to the BSEC website