Conference and Events Terms and Conditions

Definitions

‘The College’, ‘We’, ‘Our’ and ‘Us’ mean Newnham College, Cambridge and it’s representatives. ‘The Client’, ‘You’ and ‘Your’ mean the organising body/company and organiser contracting for the Client, normally the person responsible for commissioning and paying for the event. The ‘Contract’ means the agreement between the College and the Client for a specific booking or series of bookings. ‘Working days’ means Monday to Friday.

These Terms & Conditions will form part of the Contract, with Your signed and completed booking form (‘Booking Form’), function sheet with booking details and cost estimate, Our email confirming acceptance of Your signed Booking Form (‘Confirmation Email’) and any other terms agreed in writing by the parties. ‘In writing’ includes written correspondence sent by both post and email. The Policies and Procedures referenced within this document can be found on the College Website (www.newn.cam.ac.uk) and it is the responsibility of the Client to familiarise themselves with these policies.

1. The Contract

Our acceptance of a booking is made solely with You (the client) and ourselves (Newnham College) and the booking may not be transferred to an agent or third party, without our written agreement.  You accept responsibility for paying all charges, including any extra charges, arising under this contract.

2. Confirmation of Your booking

The booking contract will clearly state the accommodation, meals and other facilities, including the numbers that You have booked and will include a clear statement of any other arrangements that have been agreed between You and Us.

Depending on the size and nature of the event, and the result of credit checks, the College may require staged pre-payments and a larger deposit. This will be clearly detailed on Your cost estimate.

You must sign the contract and return to Us within 10 working days of the date shown on the contract.  The Contract shall not come into existence until We send the Confirmation Email.

3. Amendments by You

Amendments to numbers and/or arrangements must be confirmed to Us in writing. As the specific details of a booking are established, the value of the booking may change.

Reduction in the duration, or contracted value of the booking shall be subject to Our cancellation policy.

Details which must be provided in writing 10 working days prior to arrival:

a. Delegate numbers, timings, menus, dietary requirements and special requests.
b. If applicable, a complete alphabetical list of overnight delegates, on the accommodation spread sheet provided by Us.
c. Your conference programme and details of any external organisations represented or publicised and the name(s) of any proposed speakers. This relates to our duty under the Counter-Terrorism and     Security Act 2015 and Prevent Duty Guidance.

Should You make significant changes to Your booking or the expected numbers, this may result in amendments in the applicable rates and/or facilities offered by Us.

4. Cancellation by You

Any cancellation, postponement or partial cancellation must be received in writing from You and acknowledged in writing by Us.

Cancellation charges will apply according to the cancellation notice period given in writing by You, based upon the estimated value of the booking, as shown in the Contract. Please note time is of the essence in this circumstance and it is the Client’s responsibility to ensure the College receives this notification.

If a deposit and/or other pre-payments have been made by You in respect of a cancelled booking and such amounts are less than or equal to the amount of any cancellation charges due, they shall be non-refundable.

 5. Amendments or cancellation by Us

‘Force Majeure Event’ means any circumstance not within the College’s reasonable control including, without limitation acts of God, explosion, flood, lightning, tempest, fire or accident; war, hostilities (whether war be declared or not), invasion, act of foreign enemies; rebellion, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power or civil war; riot, civil commotion or disorder; acts, restrictions, regulations, bylaws, refusals to grant any licenses or permissions, prohibitions or measures of any kind on the part of any governmental authority; strikes, lock-outs or other industrial actions or trade disputes of whatever nature; pandemics, epidemics or other medical crisis which restrict movement of populations.

Should We, for reasons beyond our control, need to make any amendments to Your booking, We reserve the right to offer alternative facilities.

We may cancel the booking if:

a. The booking might, in our opinion, prejudice our reputation;
b. If the Client fails to provide the College with all information requested by the College at least 10 working days prior to commencement of the event;
c. If You are more than 30 days in arrears of payments for previous events held at the College or;
d. We become aware of any significant alteration in Your financial situation.

If the College cancels as per section 5a) or 5b) then the Client will be deemed to have cancelled the booking and the relevant Cancellation Policy as per section 4 will apply.

6. Charges and payment

If the booking is made for an event commencing more than 12 calendar months after the date on which the booking is accepted, the College reserves the right to amend the estimated cost of the booking to reflect any subsequent changes in the charges tariff. The amended total estimated cost will be sent to the Client in writing not less than 6 calendar months prior to the commencement of the event.

Where the amended total estimated cost exceeds the figure quoted when the booking was accepted by more than 5% per annum, the client shall be entitled to cancel the booking by giving written notice of cancellation to the College within 10 working days of receiving notice of the amended cost and in the event of such cancellation the College will return the deposit. Otherwise, any alteration notified shall be deemed to have been accepted by the client.

We reserve the right to carry out credit checks on You and to withdraw or refuse credit facilities as We feel appropriate.

If credit has not been agreed, then full payment will be required no later than 14 days prior to the event date, or a staggered pre-payment system must be put in place.

The College may issue the Client with a non-refundable deposit invoice for a minimum of 10% of the total sums payable under the Contract or £500, whichever is greater, as well as prepayments at Our discretion, plus VAT where applicable.

All accounts are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate at the date of invoice unless Your organisation is VAT exempt. If the Client claims exemption from paying VAT then a completed VAT exemption form together with any documents as required by the VAT exemption form must be returned to the College at the Confirmation stage or before. If the invoice has been issued, VAT exemption will not be applied retrospectively and You must seek to reclaim the VAT from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC). VAT exemption forms are scrutinised by HMRC regularly. All liquor sales are subject to VAT regardless of any exemption. If HMRC finds that VAT has been excluded unlawfully, the Client will be liable for any financial implications of that discovery, no matter how much time has passed.

Payment of accounts is due as per the date shown on the invoice and must be paid in pounds sterling. We reserve the right to pass on any bank charges resulting from exchange of foreign currency payments.

The College reserves the right to cancel the booking and offer to hire the facilities to a third party without any liability whatsoever to the Client if the Deposit and Prepayments are not paid by the date shown on the invoice.

In the event of payment becoming overdue, Newnham College may charge interest at a rate of 4% from the date when payment became due, for each month or part of the month that the account remains unpaid.

It is the responsibility of agencies to inform the College in writing of commissionable rates during the initial discussions, which must be agreed in writing by Us. The College will not be responsible for paying any commission that is not detailed in the Contract. The Client will remain responsible for all obligations under the Contract.

Requiring Us to create an account for and use a payment platform for invoicing purposes will incur an administration fee of 2% of the estimated total cost of the event.

Any charges incurred during the event will be itemised on the Client’s final invoice. This includes fees to delegates for late checkouts, lost keys/cards, changes in food provision at the Client’s request and suchlike. It is the Client’s responsibility to reclaim these charges from their delegates should they choose to do so.

7. Insurance and liability

In no circumstances will We accept any responsibility for the loss or damage to any property including any film, video or audio-visual material. Or to any vehicles You may have on site. It is the responsibility of the individual to protect their possessions while on site.

The Client shall indemnify the College for all losses, damages, claims, costs and expenses incurred or suffered by the College arising out of or in connection with the Client’s use (and that of any attendee connected to the booking, including suppliers) of the College and/or its premises property.

Nothing in the Contract shall exclude or limit liability for any statutory breaches or regulatory fines caused by breach of contract, death or personal injury caused by negligence, bribery, fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, third party claims or Intellectual Property Rights infringement.

Subject to the above

a. Neither party shall be liable for any loss of an indirect or consequential nature including without limitation any loss of profit, revenue or anticipated savings.
b. In respect of all other losses, each party’s liability shall be limited as follows:

Our insurance provides public liability cover where We are held liable.

Insurance can be arranged by Yourself to protect You and Your event against cancellation or abandonment with a minimum sum insured based on the anticipated payments to Us. Our liability to You shall under no circumstances exceed the amount actually paid in respect of Your booking.

Neither party shall be liable to the other for any failure to perform its obligations under this Contract, where its failure to do so is the result of events beyond its reasonable contract.

This Agreement supersedes all prior agreements, arrangements and understandings between the parties and constitutes the entire agreement between them relating to the subject matter hereof.

8. The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and Prevent Duty Guidance

The Event Organiser undertakes with the College not to undertake any activity which promotes terrorism or the promulgation of non-violent extremism.

The College is strongly committed to the principle of freedom of speech and expression. Please see the published statement on Our website.

The event will not include any activities that may represent a risk to the health and safety of any individual.

In accordance with the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and the Prevent duty guidance issued by the Government, We may request additional details about your booking as part of our due diligence. Such as

a. Clarifying the type, purpose and target audience for the booking at enquiry stage or;
b. Requesting a detailed summary of event topics, the identity of speakers and presenters and a breakdown of the target audience demographics.

The College may, at any time, read any associated literature on or offline and listen to the event as it takes place.

The College reserves the right to cancel the event, in accordance with section 5b), if the Client does not provide any information requested by the College in good time to comply with the Prevent duty. Please note, some circumstances may require information to be circulated to senior College members for review. Time is of the essence and it is the Client’s responsibility to provide the information in good time.

Events that are planning to discuss views that the College deems controversial must provide completed risk assessments to ensure that any risks arising under the Prevent duty can be fully mitigated whilst allowing for free speech. If the risks cannot be mitigated to the satisfaction of the College the College reserves the right to cancel the event in accordance with section 5.

The Event Organiser undertakes with the College not to undertake any activity which promotes terrorism or the promulgation of non-violent extremism.

None of the speakers at the event have previously expressed views which may be interpreted as causing controversy or promoting extreme intolerance of the views of others.

9. Accommodation, meeting rooms and dining rooms

The College shall have access to the meeting rooms, dining rooms and/or accommodation hired at all times in accordance with College policies on the College website.

Where bedroom accommodation is booked, such accommodation will be available from/to the check in/out times current at the time of the event, unless specific alternative arrangements have been agreed in writing.

The College reserves the right to remove belongings that have been left in a bedroom or meeting room outside of the times booked at no liability to the College, and/or charge the additional fees shown below. We encourage you to inform delegates of this as part of your event communications to avoid additional charges.

Meeting rooms, unless otherwise agreed in writing, are available to during Our standard times which are as follows:

a. Full day: 00-18.00
b. Half day: 08.00-13.00 or 13.00-18.00

For any extensions beyond these standard times, including late accommodation check outs, the College reserves the right to make a charge of:

a. Meeting Rooms – £200.00+VAT per hour
b. Accommodation – the bedroom hire rate, as per that year’s current price list

If the College requests that you do so, You must leave the meeting room or bedroom immediately.

The College reserves the right to refuse admission to any individual whose presence is not (in the College’s reasonable opinion) deemed to be in the interests of the College.

The Client must ensure that it, and all attendees, return all issued keys and access cards to the College upon departure.

10. Food and drink

Most food preparation takes place in our main kitchen where there is exposure to all the prescribed allergens. You agree to advise all attendees accordingly and to request from them notification of any food-based allergies they may suffer. You acknowledge that without such information, We may not be able to provide food for such delegates to consume.

We give no undertaking of any kind to produce allergy-safe food where We have not been given sufficient advance notice (10 working days) of the requirement. You should also be aware, and You further agree to be responsible for notifying delegates, staff, guests and other attendees, that Our kitchen does not contain “isolation areas” and, while We will use all reasonable endeavours to provide food that does not contain any of the allergens that have been identified and notified to Us in respect of specific individuals, We cannot give any undertaking of a level of clinical food preparation conditions that would provide an absolute guarantee of total safety from any allergen contamination.

With consideration to the above, all formal dining bookings must either have a table plan or use allergen cards. For informal dining, attendees should make themselves known to the Catering staff and/or read the displayed allergen information.

If requested, we can provide name cards and seating plans, which includes printed copies of the seating plan displayed on an easel. Information for this must be submitted to the Conference Office no less than 72 hours prior to the event. Any changes after this time will only be accepted at the sole discretion of Newnham College.

a. Place cards £1.50+VAT per person
b. Seating plan £30.00+VAT

Should You choose to create Your own table plan and place cards, please liaise with Us. Two table plans will be required: one guest-facing and one containing the crucial allergen information needed for service. The final table plans must be sent 5 working days prior to the event and place cards 2 working days prior to the event.

Our Food Allergen Policy states that it is not possible for guests to move places during food service unless it has been confirmed with Us first and We are aware of where they are moving too. We mark allergen information on Our service plans so for the safety of guests, and so We would ask them not to move places.

Where additional costs are incurred in procuring and/or delivering food or drink as requested by the Client or their delegates, We will confirm these charges with You and they will be applied to Your booking.

A late meal charge of £10.00+VAT per attendee will be applied to Your booking if You wish to start dining after 19.30.

No food or beverages of any kind are permitted to be brought into the College by the Client or delegates, unless this is agreed in writing in advance. We do not operate a corkage system.

11. Health and safety and security

The Client shall be responsible for maintaining order at all times and ensuring that all delegates adhere to the appropriate policies on the College website.

The Client and anyone associated with Your event are responsible for familiarising themselves with the emergency evacuation, fire, health and safety instructions located on or near the back of meeting room and bedrooms doors.

The Client must provide completed risk assessments for any activities taking place in College at least one calendar month in advance of the booking. This is to allow enough time for them to be reviewed by the College and where necessary, further questions answered or information provided. To ensure You can go ahead with your plans, if the activity is particularly unusual or complex, We encourage You to send the risk assessment/s earlier.

Should any third party supplier be providing anything on the College site in connection to Your event, they must also provide risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) for those activities, if applicable. It is the responsibility of the Client to request all appropriate documentation and send to the College within a reasonable time frame and no less than one calendar month in advance of the event date.

Any entertainment arranged by the Client must comply with all applicable laws and guidance, and the requirements of the College.

For some events external Security Industry Agents (approved by SIA), extra Porters and/or Cloakroom attendants may be required. Where the College deems this to be necessary the College will inform the Client in writing and detail the costs for which the Client will be liable.

CCTV is in operation throughout the College for the protection of the College community, its buildings and visitors. Please report any suspicious persons or incidents to the Duty Porters who can be found at the Porters’ Lodge immediately.

Any event attendees who may require support when evacuating in the event of an emergency should be made known to the College in advance of their arrival. If necessary an individual “Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan” will be drafted in consultation with that individual, and any equipment required for their safe evacuation prepared prior to their arrival at the College.

It is the responsibility of the Client to inform the College of any pre-existing health conditions of which they are aware, for example, severe allergies, heart conditions, epilepsy (this is not an exhaustive list), of anyone caused to come onto College premises in connection with their event, so that if someone becomes unwell We can respond appropriately. Should any delegates advise they are breast-feeding, please liaise with Us to provide relevant facilities.

If anyone caused to come onto College premises in connection with the Client’s booking requires emergency medical assistance while on site, please dial 999 immediately and then inform the Duty Porters.

Please inform the Duty Porters of any safety concerns immediately.

When using the College Internet service, the Client is liable for any consequence directly linked to the accessing of illegal material, illegal file sharing or illegal streaming. This is traced via network address and log in details and We reserve the right to disable access if We deem it necessary.

Please note that there are no parental control or other usage restrictions on the College Internet service and the Client is responsible for supervising use of the service by people under 18 years of age.

12. Filming and photography

The Client shall not photograph or film their event for corporate or promotional purposes, invite or allow access to any press, TV, film, radio or other media organisation without completing a Filming & Photography Form and receiving the College’s written permission.

Should the Client take photographs or record any video content which includes the College, including from the Art Collection, that are to be used for commercial purposes, You must read the Filming and Recording Protocol and complete a Filming & Photography Application Form in advance. Please note, some circumstances may require information to be circulated to the College Officers for review. Time is of the essence and it is the Client’s responsibility to provide the information in good time.

The Client is responsible for communicating the Filming & Photography policy to delegates taking photos or videos within the College will only publish such content (including posting the content on social media) in accordance with the College’s codes of conduct and not in any way that could misrepresent the College. The College reserves the right to exclude from attendance anyone found posting content deemed unacceptable by the College.

13. Marketing and GDPR

The College sends marketing communications as permitted by up-to-date UK legislation. We keep many of our clients updated regarding our products and services. Please let us know if You require more information or see Our Data Protection Policy.

14. Intellectual property

The names, coat of arms or logos of the College and/or the University of Cambridge must not be used on any publicity material or press reports, unless written authorisation is provided by the College.

The College has been contracted for the use of facilities for the Client but the Client acknowledges that the Client does not otherwise have a connection or association with the College or the University of Cambridge. This must be clear in all electronic and/or hard copy communications and materials.

15. General

No term of this contract shall be enforceable under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 by a person who is not a party, but this does not affect any right or remedy of a third party which exists or is available apart from under that Act.

The College will not accept bookings which include children younger than 16 years of age in bedrooms.

No animals or pets of any kind, other than guide dogs, are allowed on our premises.

We must comply with certain licensing and statutory regulations and require You to fulfil Your obligations in this respect. An appropriate performance licence is required for discos/bands.

If any part of the Contract shall be held to be unenforceable to any extent, the remainder of the Contract shall nevertheless remain in full force and effect.

This contract shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and the parties hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England.

Updated January 2024