When it comes to meeting rooms and spaces for hire in London, you'll be spoilt for choice. Whether you’re hosting a business meeting, a family gathering, or a workshop, you will find the type of space you’re looking for without any fuss. Here at Tagvenue, we have a great selection of professional London meeting spaces, from high spec conference venues to modern boardrooms and light-filled function rooms. Your ideal London meeting venue is only a few clicks away. So what are you waiting for? Pick an exciting space for your meeting today!
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The benefits of face-to-face networking at meetings, functions and other business events shouldn’t be underestimated. Successful meetings create a sense of camaraderie, foster collaboration, win new customers, close deals, develop high-performing talent and serve as great education platforms. In comparison to conference calls, traditional meetings in rooms are generally shorter and have higher levels of engagement.
Whether you’re meeting to brainstorm, solve a problem or build relationships, getting together in the right venue is a whole lot easier with our smart venue search engine. Just let it know what you’re searching for and it’ll do the legwork for you. Perhaps you’re after a professional interview space in the city centre, a breakout room for a team-building session, or maybe you’re on the lookout for a seminar room with a view over central London? No matter what you have in mind, our smart search platform can recommend a meeting room that matches your individual needs.
You can make the most of your meeting by nailing down your key objectives early and planning with your purpose in mind. But before you get into the nitty-gritty details, make sure to check out the top meeting trends you can expect to see over the coming year:
There are a number of things to do in order to make your meeting a success. We’ve made a list of additional elements for you to consider for your meeting to be smooth and productive:
For more information on how to organise a successful meeting check out our handy meeting planning checklist.
When hiring a meeting room, remember to consider your budget and how the venue prices its space (is it by the hour, by day, or maybe by session). If you’re using Tagvenue, you can filter out the venues according to your budget and pick something that works for you.
Don't forget about the convenience of the location (distance to the airport, public transport connections, parking facilities, disabled access) and the capacity. Look at the number of attendees you expect, because choosing a London venue that will accommodate just the right number of people will help give your meeting the right energy. If you’re holding some sort of open meeting, create a way for the potential attendees to RSVP for your event.
Think through any cancellation policies alongside your catering needs and whether the meeting venue is able to cater to special dietary requirements. Keep in touch with your venue manager so that you can either ask them to organise a buffet, or accommodate a catering firm of your choice.
Consider the type of meeting space that will best suit your event. Do you need a last-minute meeting room for a business meeting in central London? How about a computer & IT training room with teleconferencing facilities? Maybe you’re trying to impress your guests with a large ballroom for a charity gala? If you have figured out both the feeling of your event and your budget, finding a space with what you want will be the easy part.
Furthermore, consider which meeting facilities you will require. Depending on what you want , check with your venue manager if they have video conferencing equipment, computers, WiFi, mics, projectors, flipcharts, space for exhibits, outdoor space or kitchen facilities. You can also ask for technical assistance during the meeting. Take into account the time of your event (day, evening, weekend), how long you’ll have access to the venue before your meeting is scheduled to begin and how quickly you’ll need to be packed up and out of the venue at the end of the session.
To host a top-notch meeting avoid surprises when booking a venue or working with vendors by getting all agreements in writing. Communicating with suppliers and arriving at the venue early is a must, so you have plenty of time to set up and check last-minute arrangements. If you want to see the venue in person before signing the contract, this can certainly be arranged.
Make sure to test computers, internet connections, projectors and other A/V equipment in advance (and if you’re showing a PowerPoint presentation, have it saved in three formats – PC, Mac and PDF), just to be on the safe side.
Schedule regular breaks, especially for half-day or all-day sessions (rest breaks every 60 to 80 minutes are ideal) and don’t forget about connectivity, especially if you’re hosting a hybrid or virtual meeting (and even if it’s not essential for the meeting, wireless internet connection is always nice to have).
While this seems like a lot to consider, the more answers you can get from the venue manager, the more prepared you’ll be. Having a solid plan for the day will help your meeting, conference or function run smoothly and ensure attendees get the most out of the session. More importantly, it will guarantee that valuable group time is spent productively, making it faster to solve problems and reach key objectives.
Facilitating a group session is no easy task. Leading a conference, meeting, seminar or training session is a balancing act, requiring you to keep your audience alert while covering all the essential information. It’s also important that you guide your group in a constructive way while remaining objective, open-minded and fair.
It will be easy to host your meeting with flair if you ask for input about who should be at the meeting beforehand. Let the attendees know why they’ve been asked to take part, so they can come fully prepared. At the beginning of the meeting, you can provide some background information about the topic. Tell them what will be covered during the meeting and what the main objectives are. You can keep the attendees engaged by presenting your material in a variety of ways (cartoons, videos, PowerPoint slides, etc.). Make a good first impression by preparing well-packaged, value-adding materials and bring your material to life by including relevant personal anecdotes or interesting case studies.
Don’t forget to encourage participation and active learning by incorporating activities into your session (Q&A sessions, role play, trivia etc.) and remain fluid with the agenda if attendees are making progress outside of the time parameters. It is important to leave plenty of time for questions (but be careful not to let the discussion digress) and ask for feedback, whether it’s via a web-based tool, like SurveyMonkey, a follow-up email or an old-school printed feedback form (remember that feedback works best when it’s written and anonymous).
Think about what information you want attendees to leave the meeting room with, and be sure to include your website, email address or social media site on which you want participants to connect back to you.
There are some things to avoid when holding a meeting. Consider the following:
The average cost of a meeting room in London is £250 per meeting event. Prices vary depending on the venue location and event length, as well as a range of other factors such as room standard, catering and extra tech. (Based on Tagvenue.com data.)
Meeting rooms are in high demand in several key areas, particularly around airports and financial districts. The airports Gatwick, Heathrow, and business districts such as Soho, Kings Cross, Victoria, Shoreditch, Covent Garden are all popular locations for meetings.
Hire fee per hour usually includes only the use of the meeting room space for the duration of one hour and the use of available equipment onsite, such as tables, chairs, whiteboards, flipcharts, projectors, Wi-Fi, etc. Price per person usually includes the use of the meeting room space for the duration of a few hours, the use of available equipment onsite, and refreshments.