The Events and Conferencing Team at Keele University are celebrating after beating competitors from across the country to win a major national tourism award.

The team received the Gold award for Business Events Venue of the Year at VisitEngland's prestigious Awards for Excellence, after judges evaluated dozens of entries from across the country.

Held each year, the awards champion the very best of the country's tourism industry – celebrating quality, innovation and customer service.

Emma Woodcock, Head of Catering and Events at Keele University, said: "I am so unbelievably proud of the entire catering and events teams here at Keele for this outstanding achievement. There are thousands of business event venues up and down the country and to be recognised that Keele University is the best venue nationally is nothing short of amazing.

"As a team, we pride ourselves on delivering seamless events and conferences, with customer service and sustainability at the heart of everything we do. However, this achievement wouldn’t have been possible without all the support we receive daily from colleagues across the wider university, especially those within the Estates and Campus Services directorate – this award is an entire university achievement."

The University's Events and Conferencing team has been operating for more than 40 years and regularly hosts a huge variety of large and small events, from meetings to local, national and international conferences, banquets, sporting events, festivals, public lectures, and weddings.

Keele's campus features a diverse range of facilities that are available to hire, from the Grade-II listed Keele Hall with views over the Italian gardens, to unique, high-tech flexible spaces in the Science and Innovation Park and a range of meeting and conference spaces.

The award is the latest accolade for the team, including winning Gold for the second year running in the Business Events Venue of the Year Category at the Staffordshire Tourism Awards.