Venue Cranfield

We arrived at Venue Cranfield fresh off the back of the announcement of Universal’s new British theme park – which, once completed, will be located 10 minutes from this venue. The team here was buzzing with excitement as they greeted us with a warm welcome. We had a chat about all the exciting opportunities that Europe’s new biggest theme park, due in 2031, will bring to the area. As well as a £50 Billion estimated economic boost, the government looks to invest heavily in the area and its infrastructure, which means this venue is about to become the perfect place to hold your team meetings after the continent's best day!

That said, the venue as it stands is a total stunner - we were really impressed with this destination, particularly just how easy it is to get here. Less than thirty minutes’ drive to Luton airport means that international delegates will have no issue getting to Venue Cranfield. We mentioned the venue's fantastic road links in our overview, however what wowed us even further was the over 300 free parking spaces on site. It’s all well and good a venue being well linked, but sometimes parking can be a pain, not here. If your team is visiting as a group, it’s equally stress free to get straight down to business upon your arrival, with coach parking easily available upon request. The team also pointed out EV charging spaces onsite, as well as the fact they were only 15 minutes from Milton Keynes station - we were seriously excited about this place before we even got through the front door!

At Venue Cranfield, there’s three main options for the meeting spaces on offer here. The two main buildings, Cranfield Management Development Centre and Mitchell Hall rooms combine the heritage of the area with flexible, balanced meeting rooms. The other half of the meeting spaces can be found in the state of the art Vincent building. Which features exciting high tech spaces that perfectly suit more variable style events, like interactive product launches, or innovative networking sessions. This building also features a huge, impressive atrium space for you or your delegates to break off to at lunchtime!

On site accommodation is one of the things that really makes Venue Cranfield stand out. There are 246 rooms on campus that really caught us by surprise. The spaces are comfortable, smart and homely with nice touches like well-lit desk areas and free high-speed Wi-Fi in all of the en-suite rooms en-suite. The rooms themselves can be configured as single or double occupancy rooms, which are split across the site's two main buildings, the CMDC and Mitchell Hall. Stays here offer a variety of bed and breakfast options, for what we have to say is a really, really affordable rate!

Not to be overlooked are the brilliant sustainability efforts that are made at Venue Cranfield, that definitely don’t go unnoticed. In-fact, they go massively recognised! Cranfield is ranked 1st in the UK and 6th Globally for its work supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goal, with the university itself placing in the top 15% globally for overall sustainability. We’ll get onto the amazing catering next, but the kitchen team here have already won the prestigious Green Kitchen Award which recognises outstanding sustainability efforts in a catering department!

Address: Cranfield University, Cranfield, MK43 0AL
Website: https://venuecranfield.co.uk/
Sales Contact & position: Francesca Minali, Business Development Manager
Phone No: 01234754634
Email address: francesca.minali@cranfield.ac.uk

Travel time from nearest airport: Luton Airport - 30 minutes
Travel time from nearest train station: Milton Keynes Train Station - 15 minutes
Parking: Yes - over 300 free car park spaces
Dedicated coach parking places: Yes, upon request
Electric car charging points: Yes - 5

It wouldn’t be fair of us to mention the amazing dining on offer here and then leave you on a cliffhanger! There’s two bars and two restaurants on site, with a further large variety of social spaces that can be used to allow the team to cater to any kind of preference!

Firstly, there’s Reggies, a laid back self-service restaurant, located in Mitchell Hall. This spot does breakfast, lunch and dinner meaning that delegates staying onsite can grab their share whatever time of the day! One thing we particularly loved about this space was the option to dine outside, and that’s just what we did - soaking up the unusually brilliant British springtime weather!

The CMDC restaurant is the other dining option at Venue Cranfield. Here you’ll find a more refined experience which can offer both plated & buffet style of service. But has some lovely furnishings and is the perfect spot for a slightly more upmarket dining experience.

There are also two fantastic bars at this Milton Keynes venue, Hartleys Bar, in the CDMC and Mitchell Hall Bar. The latter provides relaxed outdoor seating, with the former providing a great selection of drinks - from draft beers to spirits and wines - along with a nice little bar menu of hot sandwiches, wraps and burgers! Both of these spaces are excellent for unwinding after a long day of on-site conferencing, before heading back to your cozy bedroom just a minute away!

Speaking of winding down, when your delegates aren’t working hard, there’s plenty of leisure facilities for you and them to take advantage of. There’s a fully stacked Gym, an on-campus sports hall (team building football match anyone?) and a heated indoor swimming pool in the CMDC - along with a sauna and gym within the same building. Point is - you’ll be hard pressed to find a meeting-space focussed venue with this many fantastic leisure activities at your fingertips! All of these facilities are accessible to residential guests as part of their stay.

All of these great facilities feed into the wider plethora of team-building spaces on offer at Venue Cranfield. We’ll list them, you take your pick! Full-sized grass multi-sport pitches, flood-lit five-a-side football cages, four outdoor tennis courts (recently resurfaced too!). Two squash courts, complete with a viewing gallery! And that’s just sports! We’re sure you get the message by now, just as we did during our visit, that Venue Cranfield seems to just have well… everything! There’s also plenty of multi-use versatile space indoor and outdoor, as well incorporating some of the open plan meeting spaces into smaller breakout games rooms if you fancy.

It goes without saying that Milton Keynes’ location also means that you can easily incorporate a fun day out into a longer-stay conference. Bletchley Park, Snozone, FLY Indoor Skydiving, Milton Keynes Theatre and Silverstone racetrack are all a stone's throw from the venue, not to mention a certain theme park inbound….

Despite all those incredible facilities, the plethora of incredible meeting spaces took the cake for us as the most amazing element of what Venue Cranfield had to offer. The spaces just seemed to keep coming as we explored the corridors of The CDMC, Vincent Building and Mitchell Hall. Hence, we’ve picked one from each of these three buildings for our highlights, but honestly, we could have had 65!

There’s so much range in the kind of spaces on offer too, this isn’t just 65 box rooms with tables and chairs, Venue Cranfield discussed with us the importance of catering for every kind of event, from 2-person business meetings, to 250 person lectures, or even bigger exhibitions.

All three of the main buildings offer spaces for registration and have good systems in place to support those larger conferences that need a little extra to make happen, storage spaces, breakout rooms and dedicated loading in/out entrances are all available for your next event. Again, these are the kind of touches afforded by a team that genuinely knows what making an impressive event is all about, and with the magnitude of spaces available here - this team knows those details like the back of their hands!

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Meeting Space Highlight: Blenheim Suite - Mitchell Hall

The star of the Mitchell Hall space, The Blenheim Suite is spacious, flexible, and packed with conferencing potential. With high ceilings, built-in AV, and a layout that adapts to just about any kind of event. It felt perfect for everything from conferences to gala dinners and exhibitions. Whether you’re hosting keynotes, networking, or a formal celebration, this space can do it all with a gorgeous, regal style to boot!

Location: Mitchell Hall - Ground Floor
Natural daylight: No
Room size: 294 Sq.m
Theatre style layout - capacity: 200
Cabaret style layout - capacity: 130
Dinner - capacity: 180
Drinks reception - capacity: 200
AV equipment included: PA System with Microphones, Overhead Projector, Screen

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Meeting Space Highlight: LR17 - CMDC

Tucked inside the Cranfield Management Development Centre, LR17 is a bright, versatile medium sized meeting room that’s perfect for both day events and longer residential stays. With built-in AV, natural light, and flexible seating, it’s a great all-rounder - plus it’s just steps from the main reception and restaurant, keeping things easy and convenient.

Location: Ground Floor
Natural daylight: Yes
Room size: 135 Sq.m
Theatre style layout - capacity: 60
Cabaret style layout - capacity: 56
Dinner - capacity: N/A
Drinks reception - capacity: N/A
AV equipment included: PA System with Microphones, Overhead Projector, Screen, Hybrid meeting facilities.

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Meeting Space Highlight: Auditorium - Vincent Building

The gorgeous modern Vincent building features a 250-seat auditorium, multiple flexible meeting rooms, and a spacious exhibition atrium ideal for high-impact events that require a mix of presentation space, breakout areas, and open exhibition zones. The Auditorium is an amazing, modern space that feels like the dream of every training/product launch event planner!

Location: Vincent Building – Ground Floor
Natural daylight: No
Room size: 1500 Sq.m
Theatre style layout - capacity: 250
Cabaret style layout - capacity: N/A
Dinner - capacity: N/A
Drinks reception - capacity: N/A
AV equipment included: PA System with Microphones, Overhead Projector, Screen, Hybrid meeting facilities.

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Summary
Ultimately, Venue Cranfield is a truly modern solution for modern events. The team here really understands that the demands of today’s events are growing and requiring more flexible and versatile answers to what a meeting space can be. This venue is just that, with places for your delegates to eat, drink, work, sleep, and repeat!

We were really impressed by just how forward thinking this venue was, and all without having to travel into the city centre. With a bright future ahead, we left Venue Cranfield seriously inspired with the brilliant ways that this team had re-invented existing spaces and built exciting new ones!