Newbury and Berkshire Event Organisers - Country House Hospitality near London
Planet Pursuits are full-service corporate event organisers covering Newbury and the wider Berkshire area / M4 Corridor sicne 2001. From country house offsites, team-building away days, residential conferences and parties to awards dinners and milestones, we plan, produce and deliver whe whole end-to-end event. So your people arrive at something that is already running.
If you're thinking about a corporate event that doesn't look or feel like one, then this may be the location for you. Fantastic country house venues, discreet hospitality, the famous racecourse when needed and it's still only 60 miles from Paddington. Personally we think the town is a very underrated event base that's within easy reach of London.
As a whole, what isn't easy is knowing the best venues or how to get to them and this is where we can help you.
Have a chat with us about your Newbury event | 01793 772999
We are:
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Country house specialists and experienced with West Berkshire corporate event organisation
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40 minutes from Newbury and easy run for kit and our crew
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Safe Contractor accredited
Proud of recent Newbury events
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Murder Mystery Dinner at Highclere Castle for Nationwide
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Large multi-activity day for Microsoft at Newbury Racecourse
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Trade stand build at the Newbury Showground. Executive lunch at the Vineyard Hotel
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Meetings and events for the management team at PJ Carey's at Donington Hotel.
What makes Newbury different from a city event
Newbury is especially suited for a particular kind of event that you can't really run in a city.
The main venues that are popular with clients aren't actually in the town itself. The Vineyard at Stockcross, Donnington Valley Hotel, Foxhill Manor, the Watermill Theatre at Bagnor, Highclere Castle - the best of this area’s locations sit in a 10-mile ring around the town itself.
As a result, the location tends to shape the logistics involved with event-transport, supplier choices and the types of event the area suits. As a rule of thumb if your brief needs a short-distance walk between hotel and venue then Newbury isn't the right base. If your plans call for a destination within an hour of London, then its surrounding locations and villages are exactly what you need.
Popular types of events in the area that we helped manage have involved leadership offsites at Donnington Valley, senior team retreats at the Vineyard, exclusive customer dinners at Foxhill Manor and more, down to very bijou and discreet locations.
Possibly one of the area's most underused venues, in our opinion, is Newbury racecourse. Beyond race days themselves this location has dedicated conference suites for 350 plus delegates, a high-capacity grandstand for major brand events and considerably more flexibility than it’s generally thought to have. In a nutshell, for events that require scale but want a different feel from a hotel then it's definitely worth a serious look.
Planet Pursuits is also based just 20 miles west of Newbury near Swindon thus ensuring safe delivery of your event logistics.
Our corporate work in and around Newbury
Executive Conferences and Country House offsites
We know there are few better venues for leadership offsites, away days, employee incentive days and senior customer conferences than Newbury’s country house collection. Highly recommended to you if you're looking for a location that has a different feel from a City Hotel. Donnington Valley for residential conferences with golf or the Vineyard for senior leadership weekenders with spa and fine dining are two popular examples.
Country-house Team Retreat
The truth is that most cities offer theme days. Newbury offers retreats - two or three days at a country house venue with residential accommodation, full board catering and grounds that suit both indoor strategy work and outdoor team activities. The local area geographically suits this type of event in a way that other southern English towns probably don't.
Milestone celebrations and private parties
Milestone events that don't want a generic corporate party feel are well served by the area's country house and racecourse venues. For example, 50th birthdays at the Vineyard with a string quartet. Perhaps anniversary dinners at Foxhill Manor with an exclusive feel. Then again, you may want themed brand parties at Newbury racecourse for 600 plus guests under the grandstand canopy. These, we know, are often a great success.
Discreet venue sourcing in West Berkshire
Take it from us that many of the country house venues that really matter here aren't on the standard directory sites. Access to and use are all by relationship, introduction or repeat booking. We are proud that we have great working relationships with the venues that are genuinely good for corporate use in this area. We also know the ones that look good online but don't work particularly well in practice.
Newbury area venues - town and country
Venue options here split fairly cleanly between the town itself and the country properties that are around it. A few examples;
Newbury town and outskirts
Newbury Racecourse
Large dedicated conference suites, 30,000 person capacity grandstand for major events, 5000 parking spaces on site. Ideal for corporate fun days and festivals
The Old Town Hall
A bijou smaller historic venue right in the town centre, great for receptions up to around 200 but no bigger. Great location for team building.
Donington Valley Hotel Golf & Spa
Lovely 4 star venue with golf course, 110 bedrooms, dedicated conference centre. The workhorse residential conference venue for us in this area.
Country venues within about ten miles
The Vineyard at Stockcross
Truly a five-star location, spa, art collection, Michelin-starred dining, nearly 50 bedrooms. Probably the area's premium offsite venue.
The Watermill Theatre at Bagnor
Unusual but appealing venue with a unique feel, a working theatre, dinner capacity for 80
Highclere Castle
Famed for its role in Downton Abbey, Highclere Castle is a Grade 1 listed country house with parts dating to the 17th century. Very popular venue around 7 miles south of Newbury, ideal for corporate events on selected dates. We have used Highclere Castle for team building events, executive away days and murder mystery dinners.
From our Newbury portfolio
Client: Vodafone
Team Building event at scale
Newbury race course chosen to accommodate this large-scale team-building event for 500
Client: Oracle
Offsite senior leadership team
The Vineyard at Stockcross chosen for its excellent five-star quality and setting
Client: Nationwide
VIP murder mystery dinner
Highclere Castle chosen as an exclusive venue for VIP guests
Five stages from brief to event
1. Discovery week - we work with you on the deeper brief and confirm if Newbury is the right base
2. Venue access and design [2-4 weeks] - shortlisted venues walked through in person, where useful, design and framework agreed
3. Build phase - all suppliers, content, hospitality, and on-site detail coordinated under one project plan.
4. Event Delivery - our crew on-site through the build, run, and strike, however many days the event spans
5. Closing out phase [usually within ten days post event] cost collated, delegates' feedback compiled, supply debris filed
Our founder Simon Maddison or our senior event manager Cindy Laing kicks off all Newbury and general Berkshire projects we are asked to deliver. In person or by video
“A huge thank you to the team at Planet Pursuits for organising such an incredible, thought-provoking team-building event for Vodafone."
Guy Lawrence, CEO, Vodafone UK
Questions Newbury clients ask
Which country-house venues actually accept corporate bookings?
In fact there are more than many people assume but actually fewer than the directory sites suggest. The Vineyard, Donnington Valley, Foxhill Manor, the Watermill Theatre and Newbury Racecourse all run corporate events as part of their core facilities. Some of the smaller country estates also accept a corporate booking on a relationship basis or with certain specific date options only. An important part of our job at the shortlisting stage is to filter out venues that look promising online but aren't realistic in practice for your needs.
Can we really hire Highclere Castle for a corporate event?
Yes, you certainly can but only on limited dates and its premium pricing there. Highclere takes corporate events outside its public opening calendar or, until recently, Downton filming commitments. If interested then this is not a venue you want to hang around for and we recommend you make bookings (or get us to) a long way in advance. This is a fantastic option for milestone customer events with the budget to match. It's not a default conference venue
How do delegates get to Newbury from London or Heathrow?
There are direct services from the station to London Paddington and these trips normally take about 60 to 70 minutes. The route is straightforward and Heathrow connections also work via Reading where your attendees can change to the Elizabeth line or the GWR mainline to Newbury. For events with a large number of delegates arriving from Heathrow, we would normally arrange a coach link from reading rather than asking individuals to work out the route themselves.
Is Newbury Racecourse worth considering as a corporate venue?
Yes, indeed but really only if your event is planning to have somewhere between 100 and 30,000 attendees. As a venue, it’s often overlooked but we recommend it highly for the right type of event. Dedicated conference suites can handle smaller meetings quite well and the grandstand parade ring can be opened up for major brand events, summer fun days and larger customer needs. Parking at the course is up to about 5000 vehicles and this can solve a problem that most country houses can’t.
What's the difference between hosting in Newbury town and the country venues?
Well to boil it right down, we’d say that the town suits events with a higher proportion of public delegates or in-and-out attendance. The country sites are more suited to events where the experience itself is part of the value - leadership offsites, customer hospitality, achievement celebrations. Most of the major events that we deliver in the area happen at the country locations while the town is a practical base for accommodation overflow and supplier logistics.
If Newbury isn't the right fit...
If your event needs a different base:
Reading events – you can consider corporate Thames Valley locations around 17 miles north of Newbury
Bath events – not a bad option if you're looking for history or heritage as an event theme. Further west from Newbury
Corporate events hub – try this if you’re interested in planning by service rather than location.
Talk to us about this area
Or email events@planetpursuits.com or Telephone 01793 772999
We are based around 20 miles or so from Newbury so if you want to walk a short list of venues in person before committing we can set up a tour and go along with you. There's no charge for the tour, no follow up nag and if it’s not for you, then it's not for you.
