A Different Outlook On Business Meetings

Finding somewhere different for a business meeting, product launch or sales conference can be a challenge.

One location with a real difference is the Battle of Britain Memorial at Capel-le-Ferne, near Folkestone, where the view from the window is of a replica Second World War Hawker Hurricane.

The replica fighter is painted to represent the Hurricane flown by then Pilot Officer Geoffrey Page with No 56 Squadron of the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britain in 1940.

On 12 August, while flying Hurricane P2970, Page’s aircraft was hit and caught fire. He baled out into the sea, badly burned, and was later treated at The Queen Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead by Dr Archibald McIndoe, becoming a founder member of the Guinea Pig Club.

Page, whose bravery saw him return to operational flying and become one of the RAF’s most successful fighter pilots, went on to become a Wing Commander and be awarded the DSO, OBE, DFC and Bar.

In later life he inspired the setting up of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust which, in 1993, unveiled the National Memorial to the Few on the clifftop at Capel-le-Ferne.

The Memorial has been enhanced over the years and is now also home to the replica of ‘his’ Hurricane and a Supermarine Spitfire, along with a number of other tributes to the men he fought alongside. They include the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall, which lists the names of all those who took part in the Battle of Britain.

In 2015 the Trust unveiled a new visitor centre, The Wing, which replicates the shape of a Spitfire wing and houses The Scramble Experience, a shop and a first floor cafe, as well as an education centre that doubles as a business venue.

Both this area and Hunting Lodge, the former visitor centre now repurposed as a library and resource centre, can be hired by businesses looking for somewhere different as a meeting venue. Both venues are airy, modern and fully set up with audio-visual equipment, although only Hunting Lodge has the view of Page’s Hurricane from the window.

The Memorial is easily accessible from the M20, has ample car parking and, on a clear day, offers delegates views of the French coast during breaks in the day’s business. There are full details at www.battleofbritainmemorial.org