What Makes a Good Corporate Event Venue? 10 Things We Look for Before Recommending One

A venue can look fantastic online and still be completely wrong for an event.

After more than 35 years of helping clients find venues, we’ve learned that choosing a good corporate event venue involves far more than checking the capacity, location and price. Some of the most important details aren’t immediately obvious from photographs or venue listings.

When we recommend a venue at Function Fixers, we’re looking at how well it will actually work for the client, their delegates and the event they are planning.

Here are ten of the things we consider.

1. Does the venue genuinely work for the number of guests?

Capacity figures can be misleading.

A room advertised for 300 delegates might technically accommodate 300 theatre-style, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will be comfortable once you add a stage, AV equipment, production, registration areas or catering.

Equally, putting 80 people into a room designed for 400 can make an event feel poorly attended.

We look for a venue that feels right for the number of people attending rather than simply one that can accommodate them.

2. How easy is it to get there?

Location remains one of the most important factors when choosing a corporate venue.

For London events, we look at the nearest Underground and mainline stations and how straightforward the final part of the journey will be.

For events elsewhere in the UK, rail connections, motorway access, parking and proximity to hotels can all become important.

A venue that’s slightly more expensive but considerably easier to reach can often be the better choice – particularly for a conference attracting delegates from across the country.

3. What is the delegate journey like?

We don’t just consider the main event room.

What happens when guests arrive?

Is the entrance obvious? Is there enough space for registration? Where will delegates leave coats and luggage? Are there queues for lifts? Can people find the meeting rooms easily? Where will refreshments be served?

The best venues make moving between different parts of an event feel effortless.

This is something that’s very difficult to judge from a venue’s gallery photographs.

4. Are the spaces in the right places?

Having enough rooms isn’t the same as having the right combination of rooms.

A conference may need a plenary room, several breakout spaces, catering areas, speaker preparation rooms and somewhere for sponsors or exhibitors.

If the breakout rooms are three floors away or delegates have to cross a public area every time they change sessions, the event can quickly become disjointed.

We look at how the spaces work together, not simply how many rooms a venue has.

5. How good is the AV and technical support?

Technology is now central to most corporate events.

Reliable Wi-Fi, good acoustics, screens, microphones, lighting and presentation facilities can make an enormous difference to the success of a conference or meeting.

For larger or more complex events, we also consider whether there are in-house technicians, what equipment is included and whether clients are required to use a preferred production supplier.

A venue that initially appears inexpensive can become considerably more expensive once technical costs are added.

6. Is the catering appropriate for the event?

Food doesn’t have to be elaborate, but it does need to work.

For a busy conference, service needs to be quick enough to feed hundreds of delegates during a short break. For a board meeting or private dinner, presentation and service may be much more important.

We also look at menu flexibility, dietary requirements, sustainability, refreshment arrangements and whether the catering spaces are large enough to prevent unnecessary queues.

Good catering should complement the event rather than interrupt it.

7. What is actually included in the price?

Comparing venue prices isn’t always straightforward.

One venue might quote a room hire fee while another provides a day delegate rate including room hire, refreshments, lunch, Wi-Fi and basic AV.

Additional charges can include furniture, security, cleaning, cloakrooms, technicians, staffing, power, equipment and overtime.

That’s why we look beyond the headline figure.

The cheapest initial quote isn’t necessarily the venue offering the best value.

8. How flexible is the venue team?

This is something we place considerable importance on.

Corporate events change.

Delegate numbers increase. Timings move. A speaker suddenly needs to join remotely. An additional breakout room is required. Dietary requirements arrive at the last minute.

A responsive, experienced venue team can make these situations relatively painless.

We therefore consider not only the building but also the people running it. Good communication before an event is often a strong indication of the service a client can expect on the day.

9. Does the venue suit the company and the event?

A good venue needs to feel appropriate.

A creative agency holding a product launch may want somewhere completely different from a financial organisation hosting an investor meeting.

Similarly, a leadership away day, awards dinner and international conference all create very different venue requirements.

We consider atmosphere, style and personality alongside the practical details.

The question isn’t simply “Is this a good venue?”

It’s “Is this a good venue for this particular event?”

10. Are there any potential problems the client hasn’t considered?

This is where experience becomes particularly valuable. There are details that may not appear on a venue website but can have a significant impact on an event.

There might be restricted access for production equipment, limited set-up time, noise restrictions, another event taking place next door or insufficient space for registration.

Sometimes the most useful thing a venue finder can do isn’t finding another venue – it’s identifying a potential problem before the contract is signed.

A good venue is about more than a beautiful room. When clients first start searching for venues, photographs understandably play a major part in creating a shortlist.

But a successful corporate event depends on much more.

Location, layout, accessibility, service, technology, catering, logistics and value all need to work together.  After decades of looking at venues, one thing we’ve learned is that the venue that looks most impressive online isn’t always the one we’d recommend.  The best venue is the one that makes the event work.

Let us find the right venue for your event

Tell Function Fixers what you’re planning and we’ll look at the whole brief – not simply the number of delegates and the date.

Our free, independent venue finding service can source suitable venues across London and the UK, compare the options and provide a tailored shortlist based on your location, budget and event requirements.

Send us your brief and let us find you the venues we’d genuinely recommend.