BNP Paribas, Aurélie Chivet and Carole Aerts

BNP Paribas organises its monthly meetings at Lille Grand Palais

In the Nord region, BNP PARIBAS employs more than 2500 staff serving more than 620 000 customers. With its 193 branches, the BNP Paribas Group Regional Office covers the Hauts de France and Upper Normandy. It has chosen to organise its monthly meetings at Lille Grand Palais.

Interview withAurélie Chivet and Carole Aerts
Executive Assistant and Communication Manager
BNP Paribas

 

 

 

Finding a place that’s easily accessible for monthly meetings involving 30 to 50 people

“For these regular monthly meetings of 30 to 50 people, we needed a room with greater capacity than we have at our own premises. We also wanted the room to be easily accessible near a train station as participants mostly come by public transport. If possible, for reasons of convenience, it also had to be close to our headquarters in Lille and offer catering services”, explains Aurélie Chivet, Executive Assistant, BNP Paribas. “As such, Lille Grand Palais is almost adjacent to the Lille-Europe tower in which we are located, and access is very easy from the stations if we have speakers coming from outside”, adds Carole Aerts, Communication Manager.

 

Lille Grand Palais: a professional welcome

“We were looking for a place to hold these meetings, so we consulted Lille Grand Palais direct. We received a warm welcome, and answers to our requests were provided very quickly. They immediately understood and took note of what we wanted”, explains Aurélie Chivet. “We were dealt with very professionally, which is important for internal meetings and just as important when we have clients to host or more important events to organise such as shareholders’ meetings, which we have already organised at Lille Grand Palais. Even for a major event, Lille Grand Palais has the capacity and equipment to match”, adds Carole Aerts.

 

Organisational flexibility

BNP PARIBAS has already organised a dozen of these meetings at Lille Grand Palais. These are internal meetings with participants coming from all over the region. “There is always a welcome coffee, a coffee break in the morning and lunch on site. They usually last half a day, but can extend over a full day. The catering is always very good, and there is a dining room right next to our plenary room. Everything is always well timed. They are always very good, and can easily adapt to our requirements even if the meeting lasts longer or is cut short – they are really flexible in their arrangements and respond quickly to our needs and requests”, Aurélie points out.

 

Fast and responsive

“We also appreciate the speed with which the Lille Grand Palais teams respond to our needs. We have already had to organise a meeting almost overnight, and the reactivity of the teams was excellent. Even as far as set-up is concerned, technical teams are available for signage and logos on screens to announce the meeting. They are always full of good advice and very responsive. On the day of the meeting, we have a mobile phone number for any small requests, which is very much appreciated. As for me, I arrange meetings but I’m never present, so it’s very reassuring for me to know that, even at a distance, I can be sure it will be well managed, and I can have confidence in them”, comments Aurélie Chivet.

 

Three words to sum up: welcome, responsiveness, location

“The end result is very positive. We will continue to organise these meetings at Lille Grand Palais. There is nothing negative that could cause us to end this partnership”, says Carole Aerts. “If we had to sum up our collaboration in 3 words, it would be the welcomewhich, I must emphasise, is very professional. The responsiveness, a strong point for Lille Grand Palais, and then the location, which is extremely convenient and easily accessible whatever the means of transport used, be it train or car. Access is easy and there are parking options. We’re completely satisfied with everything”, concludes Carole Aerts.