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The U.K. SPC will take place in Oxford at the historic Randolph Hotel, located in the heart of Oxford, 10 miles from the M40, Junction 9, and a short walk from the Oxford Train Station.

If you are traveling by train (recommended)…

Oxford is easily accessible by rail from several points in the UK and all of the major airports. The hotel is just ¼ mile from the Oxford Station — a 5-10 minute walk or even shorter taxi ride.

There are direct trains from London (Paddington Station), Reading, Birmingham and Manchester. There are frequent services from the South West, (Bristol, Bath and Plymouth) to Reading, which is just a 20 minute journey from Oxford.

If you are flying…

The hotel is located 6.8 miles from the Oxford Airport; 40 miles from Heathrow; and 75 miles from Gatwick. Once you land at your airport of choice, it is an easy commute by train to Oxford Station, ¼ mile from the hotel.

From Heathrow, you can

• Take the Heathrow Express Train (or Underground) to Paddington and then train to Oxford. One way train tickets on the Heathrow Express from Heathrow to Paddington cost £14.50. London underground can also be used which is cheaper but slower. The train from London Paddington to Oxford costs approx 16 GBP one way or less depending on time of day.
• Take the Railair Bus to Reading and then the train to Oxford. RailAir is a bus service from Heathrow central bus station to Reading train station (journey time 43 - 57 minutes). You can download a brochure for RailAir by clicking the link. At Reading you can take the train direct to Oxford which takes approx 30 minutes. To check prices and availability click here.

From Gatwick, you can

• Take the train: Gatwick Airport has its own railway station with trains connecting direct to London and other UK destinations. The trip to Oxford takes approximately 120 to 145 minutes, requires one change and costs approximately GBP 30 for an off peak return. The train can be an attractive alternative to the coach to Oxford because it avoids any issue with traffic and Oxford Station is just a 5 minute walk to Oxford City Centre. If you choose to go by train from Gatwick to Oxford it is recommended that you purchase your tickets online in advance. Tickets booked online are cheaper than just turning up at the station and can be posted to you or picked up at the station from an automatic machine when you arrive.
• Take the bus. The main operator of direct buses from Gatwick to Oxford is the Oxford Bus Company which operates a service called "The Airline", these can be booked through the National Express website. Buses run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from Gatwick to Oxford and at peak times the service is as frequent as every 60 minutes although during the night they only run every 2 hours. The cost of a period return ticket is approximately 35 GBP to Oxford although a 50% discount is offered between Gatwick Airport and Oxford to those over 60 years old see the - discount leaflet. The travel time from Gatwick Airport to Oxford is normally 120 to 150 minutes but can vary depending on traffic on the Motorways.

If you are driving…

Take M40 to J8 signposted to Oxford and Cheltenham. This is the A40. Follow road for about 5 miles, then through a set of traffic lights to the ring road roundabout. Take the right exit to Kidlington and North Oxford. Next roundabout take left exit to Summertown, you are now on Banbury Road. Follow road through Summertown and go through main set of traffic lights to the end of Banbury Road. Follow road to the traffic lights at the end of St Giles. The Randolph Hotel is on the corner.

Note that parking at the Macdonald Randolph Hotel is limited due to its city centre location. Parking is available close to the Hotel at a rate of £26.50 (valid from check-in at 2pm until check-out at 11am). If the hotel is full, they can provide parking locally at a rate of £29.50 for 24 hours. Oxford operates a free park and ride bus system from various points around the city. This offers free parking and chargeable bus fares into the city centre. For a list of nearby parking lots, click here.

Business casual attire is the most appropriate for the conference, so please dress comfortably.

Synergex will provide a continental breakfast each morning, lunch and snacks each day, and evening receptions Monday and Tuesday nights. With any dietary needs or preferences, please contact Liz Marmins at liz.marmins@synergex.com.

In order to participate in the hands-on workshops, each attendee will need laptop that meets the specs below, with the latest version of the free VMWare Player installed.

You can download this here: http://downloads.vmware.com/d/details/player_314/ZGp0YnR0KnRiZGh0QA==

Any additional required software will be supplied on external hard drives.

Platform Requirements

• Windows XP (x86) with Service Pack 3 - all editions except Starter Edition
• Windows Vista (x86) &x64) with Service Pack 2 - all editions except Starter Edition
• Windows 7 (x86 & x64)

Hardware Requirements

• Standard x86-compatible or x86-64 with Intel VT Intel™ Virtualization Technology feature turned on or most AMD64 processors (except the earliest revision C Opteron processors).
• Processor - Dual Core, 1.3GHz or faster
• Memory - Minimum 3GB
• Hard disk - 30 GB free space