Corporate events in London for in-house teams, FM and EAs
Corporate event management in London means running your event end-to-end - venue finding, design, build, delivery and teardown.. Across central and west London. Planet Pursuits does this for facilities teams, EAs and in-house event teams. Without central-London overhead.
Planet Pursuits works with:
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Facilities management teams - running events from London office buildings,
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Executive assistants - organising directors' dinners and milestone celebrations,
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Communications teams - briefing summer parties and Christmas socials
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In-house event teams - that need more hands for bigger projects
What we deliver is full end-to-end event management. Venue finding, design, build, delivery, breakdown - the lot. We’ve supported corporate clients in central and west London since 2001. Our pricing tends to come in below comparable London-based agencies for the reasons we set out below.
Talk to us about your London event | 01793 772999
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Award winning end-to-end event management.
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SafeContractor accredited.
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Experienced with supporting FM teams, EAs and in-house event teams.
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Own kit warehouse outside London, no central storage premium passed on.
Who we help in London
Facilities Management Teams (FMs)
Aiming to run events from grade A central London office buildings. For example, tenant Christmas parties, summer roof terraces, all-hands events in atriums, building open days, charity activities in foyers and more. In our experience, the brief usually comes with a fixed venue (your building), a known audience and a set of operation constraints based on security, lifts and breakdown windows. We fit into the FM team and either assist or run the event end-to-end. Our FM client work includes CBRE, Anabas and Ethos Farm, for whom we've delivered at Battersea Power Station.
Executive Assistants and Communications Teams (EAs)
For events in Central London for corporates. These include directors' dinners at Mayfair clubs, milestone celebrations at private venues, leadership offsites at South Bank or City venues, partner hospitality at members clubs and more. For these we find the brief is usually fast and sensitive, the required standard is high and one calm point of contact can usually handle everything.
In-house Event Teams
At larger corporations that need extra capacity for events they can't fully work alone. For example, larger product launches, customer conferences, annual employee events and more of a similar scale. We effectively work as an extension of your team rather than replacing it. In the case of some clients that's full end-to-end, while for others it's specific strands such as venue finding, build management or onsite delivery.
Where we work in London
We work across both central and West London. In our terms, Central means the City, Mayfair, Westminster, South Bank, Covent Garden, Soho, Kings Cross, Marylebone, Fitzrovia and Bloomsbury. West means Kensington, Chelsea, Hammersmith, Olympia, Earls Court and Holland Park.
For smaller events circa under £10,000 We don't normally take East London work. The geography doesn't really suit how our crew and kit move into London and we'd rather be straight about it, rather than over commit. In the East you are better served by an East London-based agency. However, where budgets allow, of course we will support you in any part of London and the UK. We just know where costs can be eaten up in a budget for smaller events.
How we price London events
There are three reasons why our pricing tends to come in below comparable London agencies for the same range of deliverables.
We don't carry central London overhead.
Our office, warehouse and team-based costs don't carry central London rents or London weighting on salaries. An agency in the centre of London carries Soho or Fitzrovia rent and the corresponding salary loading. These costs certainly appear somewhere in their quote. They don't appear in ours.
We store the kit ourselves outside London
Our expansive event warehouse holds the stretch tents, props, bars, furniture, lighting, audio and conference AV we use across the west and the M4 corridor. Generally speaking, central London agencies hire in kit from sub suppliers per event, which is faster than owning it but more expensive to hire. For build-heavy London events our out-of-city warehouse arrangement is genuinely different on the bottom line.
We don't pad quotes for the postcode
Simply put, our pricing reflects the work and the kit, not where the meeting was held. The work itself is what you get from any senior London agency. The quote isn't. That's not a budget pitch. It's a structural one. We work to the same delivery standards other agencies do. We just run a different cost base
How a London brief usually starts with us
Briefly speaking, most London briefs come to us in one of three ways.
For example, an FM team has a Christmas party or summer event in their diary and needs an agency to run it. As a second example, an EA needs a venue and dinner organised for a director-level group. Thirdly, a comms in-house event team needs some build capacity, event delivery or venue finding capacity for an occasion already underway.
Our first call with you will be short. Your outline objectives, head count, venue or area, format, budget range. We guarantee to come back the same week with a written approach, potential venue short-list (if needed) and a sensible cost range. If your brief is already in progress and you want some extra hands rather than a full pitch, we can help - and the first call is even shorter.
The work generally runs through the same five stages as every project we deliver -
1. First chat
2. Design and venue work (site visit or venue find)
3. Event planning and or build
4. The event delivery
5. Post event feedback and catch-up. London events that involve building access, security desks or tenant communications get an extra coordination layer added.
What we cover
Corporate Event Management
Directors' dinners at Mayfair clubs, all-hands events in building atriums, customer conferences at venues like the QEII Centre and the Hilton London Metropole, leadership offsites at central London hotels. Read more about our corporate event management service
Team Activities
City-based treasure hunts, Thames boat hire, cookery schools, escape rooms, drinks-led socials. London opens up so many different team formats from country-based options like a shooting day at Holland & Holland, or a city-based challenge. Read more about our team building service
Themed Parties
Building Christmas parties, summer roof terraces, milestone celebrations, brand activations. Sometimes the venue is fixed (your building); sometimes it's a characterful London space - we've delivered at 100 Wardour Street in Soho, the Andaz hotel and the Honourable Artillery Company in the City. Read more about our themed party service
London Venue Finding
The London venue landscape is enormous, fragmented and changes constantly. We maintain working relationships with venues across Mayfair, the City, South Bank, Covent Garden, Kensington and the West End, and have delivered at spaces from Millbank Tower to Soho private venues. Most useful when a brief is unusual or time is short. Read more about our venue finding service
Recent London events
Après Ski Lodge, 100 Wardour Street
Client: Intuit UK
Brief: Après Ski, Alpine Lodge
Venue: 100 Wardour Street, Soho London
Create a wow alpine ski chalet at private event space, 100 Wardour Street, London.
End-to-end event management, logistics, supplier management and theming
James Bond Theme Party, The HAC London
Client: Intuit
Brief: James Bond Christmas party
Location: The HAC London (Honourable Artillery Company)
Our regular client Intuit, gave us the task to jazz up their Christmas party with the classic 007 Bond theme at the HAC, London.
Intuit QuickBooks Cloud Roadshow, Peninsula Hotel London
Client: Intuit QuickBooks
Brief: Cloud Accounting Roadshow
Location: Peninsula Hotel London
Delegates: 300
This event formed part of a 10-venue cloud accounting road show which we manage for our client Intuit.
How we work
Standard process works using the same five stages on each project we deliver.
First we have a chat with you about the brief behind the brief, then there's the design followed by venue work. This is then followed by building the event itself and a review catch up after the successful day.
For London briefs, we put in place an extra coordination layer covering venue security, lift access, logistics and windows available for breaking down the event and more.
Simon Maddison founded Planet Pursuits in 2001 and personally leads the first discovery session on every brief.
What QuickBooks said about the trade stand at Accountex UK
Thank you Planet Pursuits for your creative vision and Herculean efforts in creating the most ambitious UK trade stand we have ever undertaken. You were instrumental in understanding the customer journey and marrying it with our huge cloud accounting ambitions."
Sara Tempest Intuit Head of Marketing UK
Common questions about events in London
We're an in-house team. Can you work alongside us rather than take over?
Yes, absolutely and in fact this is what we do the most. You of course would keep the strategic ownership, audience communications and senior stakeholder relationships. We handle the workstreams you don't have the capacity for - venue finding, supply and management, build and breakdown, on-site delivery, technical coordination and similar. We have extensive experience working alongside in-house teams as additional capacity, in several cases for long-standing clients over many years.
Do you have your own suppliers list, or are you happy to work with ours?
We can do either. We’ve found that some clients have their own preferred caterers, AV partners or florists etc that they want us to brief and we'll work with them of course. Yet others want us to bring our own network of London suppliers that we know and trust. In practice, the choices are yours and don't affect what we charge.
How does the kit arrive for a London event?
Broadly speaking, the crew will drive in for the build, deliver the event and drive out at breakdown. For multi-day events the team will stay in London. All kit involved comes in from our warehouse on event trucks. As a general rule, our build takes place the day before the event for most central venues. Really complex builds will see us on site earlier of course. In practice that logistical geography is operationally invisible to you, with no friction.
Can you manage FM-tenant-led events in our building?
Indeed we can - this is a very core part of what we deliver in London and we have a broad client list for whom this is the service we provide. Unlike other event providers, the event doesn't have to be huge either. We are often working with facility management companies that need a quick install and removal on the same day.
What is your insurance level?
£10 million public liability, £5 million employer's liability, with full method statements and risk assessments per event. We're SafeContractor accredited. We can be added to your insurance schedule or provide a separate certificate for building access.
If London isn't the right area for you
For events in other parts of the south:
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Reading events - Thames Valley corporate, Elizabeth line link to London
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Oxford events - colleges, Cotswolds gateway
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Swindon events - hub-and-spoke geography, M4 corridor
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Corporate events hub - if you'd rather scope by service than location
Pick up the phone or send us a line
Phone 01793 772999 or use our form on the button below.
If you've got an event in central or west London and want a sensible conversation about it, get in touch. The first call is short. We'll come back the same week with a written approach, a venue shortlist if you need one, and a cost range that reflects the work rather than the postcode
