What Does a Venue Finding Agency Actually Do?

A venue finding agency searches for and compares event venues on your behalf, checking availability, rates and facilities and helping you choose the right venue. Function Fixers provides this service free of charge to clients, saving event organisers the time and effort of contacting multiple venues themselves

If you’ve ever spent hours searching for an event venue, sending enquiries, comparing prices and trying to work out what’s actually included in each quote, you may have wondered whether there is an easier way.

That’s where a venue finding agency comes in.

Put simply, a venue finding agency helps you find the right venue for your event. But a good venue finder does considerably more than run a search and send you a list of possible venues. They can help define your requirements, identify suitable options, check availability, compare costs, negotiate rates and guide you through the venue selection process.

For busy PAs, EAs, event managers and corporate organisers, this can save a considerable amount of time and effort.

What exactly is a venue finding agency?

A venue finding agency is a specialist company that searches for suitable venues on behalf of clients organising events.

Instead of contacting multiple venues yourself, you provide the agency with an event brief covering details such as:

• Event type
• Preferred location
• Date or date range
• Number of guests
• Budget
• Room layout
• Catering requirements
• Accommodation
• AV and production
• Breakout rooms
• Accessibility requirements
• Sustainability considerations
• Any particular style or atmosphere you’re looking for

The venue finder then uses this information, together with its knowledge of the market and relationships with venues, to identify the most appropriate options.

At Function Fixers, we source venues for events throughout London and across the UK, from small meetings and training sessions to large conferences, product launches, awards ceremonies, company parties and private dining events.

1. We turn your event brief into a venue search

One of the most valuable parts of using an experienced venue finder happens before the search even begins.

A client may initially say:

“We need a conference venue in Manchester for 300 people.”

But that doesn’t tell the whole story.

Do you need theatre or cabaret seating? How many breakout rooms are required? Is there a stage? Will you have exhibition stands? Do delegates need accommodation? Where are they travelling from? Is there a maximum day delegate rate? Do you need exclusive use?

An experienced venue finder knows which questions to ask before approaching venues. Getting the brief right at the beginning avoids wasting time considering venues that were never really suitable.

2. We identify venues you might not find yourself

Google is a useful place to start a venue search, but it doesn’t necessarily show you every suitable option. The venues appearing most prominently in search results are not automatically the venues that best match your brief.

Venue finders work with a wide network of hotels, conference centres, historic buildings, academic venues, museums, sporting venues, restaurants, blank canvas spaces and unusual event venues.

We also hear about new openings, refurbishments and lesser-known spaces that clients may not have considered.

Sometimes the best venue for an event isn’t the obvious one.

3. We check availability

Finding a venue you like is of little use if it isn’t available on your required date. Rather than asking you to contact venue after venue, a venue finding agency can approach suitable venues and establish availability on your behalf.

If your date is flexible, we can also look at alternative dates where appropriate.

This becomes particularly useful when organising larger events, where finding the right combination of main space, breakout rooms, catering areas and bedrooms can considerably reduce the number of viable venues.

4. We compare venue costs properly

Venue pricing isn’t always straightforward. One venue might quote a day delegate rate (DDR), another might charge room hire plus catering, while another could work on a minimum food and beverage spend.

Then there may be additional costs for AV, Wi-Fi, furniture, security, cloakrooms, staffing, production, service charges or exclusive use.

Simply comparing the headline price can therefore be misleading.

A venue finding agency can help you understand what each proposal includes and compare venues on a more like-for-like basis.

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

Read more: How to Choose a Venue That Fits Your Budget

5. We negotiate with venues

Another important part of the service is negotiation.

Because venue finders regularly work with venues and understand typical rates and packages, they may be able to negotiate on areas such as:

• Room hire
• Day delegate rates
• Catering packages
• Bedroom rates
• AV
• Complimentary rooms
• Upgrades
• Additional meeting rooms
• Added-value extras

Negotiation isn’t simply about getting the lowest possible price. It’s about achieving the best overall value for the event.

Read more: How to Choose a Conference Venue

6. We save you time

This is arguably one of the biggest reasons clients use a venue finding agency.

Imagine you need to find a conference venue for 400 delegates.

You could spend hours searching online, identify 15 possible venues, send 15 enquiries, chase replies, answer questions, collect proposals, create a comparison spreadsheet and then try to establish which three or four are actually worth visiting.

Or you can give the brief to an experienced venue finder.

We do the searching and initial conversations with venues, leaving you with a much more manageable selection of suitable options.

For busy event organisers, PAs and EAs, the time saved can be substantial.

Short on time? Send us your event brief and we’ll search suitable venues on your behalf. Our venue finding service is completely free to use.

7. We create a shortlist – not just a long list

One of the differences between a venue directory and a venue finding agency is selection.

A directory may show you hundreds of venues; a venue finder should help you narrow those hundreds down to the handful that genuinely fit your requirements.

Our aim isn’t to send clients as many venues as possible. It’s to identify the venues that we believe are worth considering. That means looking beyond capacity and considering practical factors such as location, transport, event flow, catering, accessibility, atmosphere, service and value.

8. We help arrange site visits

For many events, particularly conferences, awards ceremonies, launches and larger corporate events, we recommend visiting shortlisted venues before making a final decision.

A site visit allows you to assess things that aren’t always obvious from photographs or floor plans.

How does the venue feel when you arrive?

Is registration going to work?

Are the breakout rooms conveniently located?

Where will delegates have coffee?

Are there queues likely to form?

Is there enough space outside the main room?

Does the venue feel right for your audience and organisation?

A venue finding agency can help arrange these visits and advise on the questions worth asking while you’re there.

9. We help solve problems

Event briefs rarely remain completely unchanged.

Guest numbers increase. Dates move. Budgets change. A CEO suddenly wants another breakout room. The preferred venue isn’t available. An event that was going to be a conference becomes a conference followed by dinner.

This is where having an experienced person involved becomes particularly valuable. Venue finding isn’t just about locating a room. It’s about finding practical solutions when the brief becomes more complicated.

How much does a venue finding agency cost?

This is one of the questions we’re asked most frequently.

Function Fixers’ venue finding service is free to clients.

We receive commission from the venue when a booking is made, rather than charging the client a venue-finding fee.

Using our service therefore gives you access to our venue knowledge, research and assistance without adding a separate venue-finding charge to your event budget.

We are also independent, which means we are not tied to recommending one particular hotel group or collection of venues.

Is it cheaper to book a venue directly?

Not necessarily.

It is easy to assume that removing a venue finder from the process must make a booking cheaper, but that isn’t generally how venue finding works.

Venue commission is normally built into the venue’s sales and marketing costs. An experienced venue finder may also know where there is scope to negotiate rates, packages or added value.

More importantly, we can help compare the overall cost of different venues so that a low headline price doesn’t disguise expensive extras.

Venue finder or venue directory – what’s the difference?

A venue directory is useful when you want to browse.

A venue finding agency is useful when you want someone to do the work for you.

With a directory, you search, filter, contact and compare the venues yourself.

With Function Fixers, you tell us what you need and we use our knowledge and experience to identify suitable venues and help you through the selection process.

For an event organiser with plenty of time and a very simple requirement, browsing directories may be enough.

For a busy organiser with a specific brief, multiple requirements or a tight deadline, a venue finding service can make the process considerably easier.

When is it worth using a venue finding agency?

You can use a venue finder for almost any event, but the service becomes particularly valuable when:

• You don’t know the destination or venue market well
• You need several rooms or breakout spaces
• You’re organising a large conference
• You have a strict budget
• Your dates are difficult
• You need accommodation as well as meeting space
• You’re looking for something unusual
• You have limited time to search
• You need to compare several complicated proposals
• You’ve already searched and can’t find the right venue

And there is no reason to wait until you’re struggling.

Giving a venue finder the brief at the beginning can save a great deal of unnecessary searching.

What makes a good venue finding agency?

A good venue finder shouldn’t simply send you the venues that respond first.

Look for an agency with genuine industry experience, broad venue knowledge, transparent pricing, strong venue relationships and the willingness to understand the detail of your event.

They should also be prepared to tell you when a venue isn’t right for your brief.

Sometimes good venue finding is as much about knowing which venues to rule out as knowing which ones to recommend.

Let Function Fixers do the searching for you

Function Fixers has been helping clients find venues for more than 35 years.

We find venues for conferences, meetings, training days, product launches, awards ceremonies, corporate parties, private dining and many other events throughout London and across the UK.

Our service is free, independent and tailored to your individual brief.

Instead of spending hours searching through hundreds of venues, tell us what you’re planning and we’ll identify the options we think are genuinely worth considering.

Need a venue? Send us your brief and let Function Fixers find the right one for you.