About us

Academic Venue Solutions is a not-for-profit marketing consortium.

Founded in 1981 Academic Venue Solutions mission is to help member venues to identify and maximise their commercial opportunities, by working collaboratively and strategically. Our vision is to be the leading collection of academic venues, connecting event organisers with unique meeting spaces and learning environments across the UK.

Membership of Academic Venue Solutions is open to all types of academic venues, anywhere in the UK. We have nationwide members on our books and we’re proud of the variety of high-quality meeting spaces and hotel-standard accommodation that our members offer.

Our team, led by Rachael Lee, works directly with the member venues and event organisers to build relationships and understand their needs and requirements. The result is a free venue-finding service, matching event planners with a list of specialist academic venues that can help.

Our Board, chaired by Clare Forster, includes hospitality industry specialists and senior operations managers, as well as marketing and events experts. They have a profound understanding of both the needs and requirements of event planners, and the challenges the Higher Education sector faces in the commercial marketplace.