Corporate events in Reading - built around the Thames Valley
If you know Reading, then you know that this city runs on customer conferences, product launches, and branded corporate events. The town is well known for its technology tenant areas, and this includes Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, Pepsi UK and many more. Planet Pursuits is a corporate event organiser and mangement agency serving the city of Reading. We plan, organise and deliver conferences, product launches, team days and branded parties end-to-end. From venue sourcing to delivering on the day across Reading and Thames Vaslley.
At Planet Pursuits we deliver a high proportion of corporate events here and almost any city west of London. If you're looking for help with a corporate event, partnership day or a conference, we can certainly help you.
Talk to us today about your next event in Reading | Thames Valley | 01793 772999
Email us now events@planetpursuits.com
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Specialist management for events in Thames Valley since 2001
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Reading, just one hour east of our Wiltshire base on the M4
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We are Safe Contractor accredited
Recent Reading events we've delivered
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Apex Plaza Pop-Up Christmas Party
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1980s theme party at Reading Madejski Stadium
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Veterinary Conference at Reading Crowne Plaza
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Spy Game Treasure Hunt at Hilton Reading
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Accounting Conference at the Green Park Conference Centre, Reading
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The Big Picture team build at Malmaison, Reading
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400 delegate team event for Cisco at Select Car Leasing Stadium, Reading training dome
Three things that make Reading work as an event city
Reading isn't a tourist destination and it doesn't pretend to be - it's a corporate logistics hub, and the reasons it works are entirely practical.
In May 2022, the Elizabeth line was completed, and this changed Reading's event economics. Reading is also about 24 minutes direct to Paddington and connects to Heathrow without changing trains. This means that for events serving London-based clients or international audiences arriving by air, we are able to produce some fantastic options for this city. In our view, Reading is now the most efficient UK conference location outside of London city itself.
This makes the city a fantastic location for corporate events.
Next comes the fact that Reading venues are clustered quite tightly together. Most venues that can host corporate level events sit in three main pockets:
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The town centre near the station
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The Madejski / Green Park area south of the M4 (Junction 11)
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Thames Valley Park to the east
Choosing the right general area for your plans matters more than simply picking between specific venues within one of the clusters above. Things to be considered include delegate transportation, the realities of local parking and what options there might be for lunch, amongst others.
All these options flow from the choice of area.
Finally, Reading parking is known for its difficulty. In practice the town centre has very limited parking available for delegates at most venues. For events with a lot of delegates driving to the location, we’ve found that business park venues are far better placed to handle this than the town centre options.
We advise you to plan for this in the early discussion stages and definitely not after invitations have been sent
Where we fit into Reading Events
Conferences and customer launches
We've delivered events for customers at the Select Car Leasing stadium, conferences at several leading Reading hotels and product launches at unusual Thames-side locations.
Team days and off-site training
There are a lot of options for your team events in Reading due to its interesting geography. This can give team days some added interest.
For example, there are options for boat-based team days while Caversham and Goring give you the Chiltern countryside a few minutes to the north. Plentiful business park venues that have grounds and outdoor space for activity days can also be found here,
Christmas parties and branded corporate events
In our experience, Reading’s December events calendar is pretty much dominated by branded company Christmas parties. We've delivered themed Christmas parties or events ranging from just over 100 guests to well over 800.
Sourcing venues in Reading
To find the right Reading venue for your event needs local knowledge and experience. We know which venue is right for any size of event and which city centre hotels can be relied on to host an event successfully. We also know which venues offer unusual settings for different types of event.
Reading's Event Venues
As you may imagine, we work regularly with different venues across reading. Here are some example venues we can recommend:
Town centre and station area
Mercure Reading Centre
Traditional conference hotel with 12 meeting rooms, and within walking distance from the station.
Reading Town Hall
Historic venue for receptions and award dinners, 400 standing, Just minutes walking distance from the train station and the Elizabeth Line with links to London
Reading Old Fire Station
Historic venue in the centre of Reading, a converted venue that suits branded parties and creative events
Madejski and Green Park Reading
Select Car leasing Stadium
Formerly, the Madejski stadium with 16 event spaces, 600+ for major events, full conference infrastructure and excellent parking
Green Park Conference Centre
Purpose-built business park venue surrounded by tech tenant offices.
Our wild card near Reading
We always like to throw in a wild card, and here is our suggestion: Heron's Farm, Pangbourne, just West of Reading.
Thames Valley Park, Reading
Thames Valley Park, located to the east of Reading, with good motorway access off the M4 via the A329M served by Winnersh Triangle rail station. Multiple venues with conference-grade facilities, including the meetings and events centre at Crowne Plaza. Headquarters of some major corporations, including Hewlett-Packard, ReadyPower Group, and Sage Wokingham.
Planet Pursuits have regularly used the Crowne Plaza at Thames Valley Park for conferences and meetings for clients including Oracle, Microsoft and PJ Carey's
If your venue isn't on the list, don't worry - our event finding service covers most of Reading and the surrounding area.
How we run a Reading project
Client: PJ Carey's
Off-site meetings
Reading chosen as central location for project off site meetings and easy access to London
Client: Microsoft
Team building event at scale
Former Madejski Stadium training facility selected for this large scale team building event
Client: Lathwaite's Wine
Corporate Festival Vibe Funday
Heron's Farm, Pangbourne, used for its country house vibe and outdoor space
Five stages for running a conference event in Reading
1. Initial discovery [one to two weeks]
2. Venue search, site visit, and concept/theme presented [two to four weeks]
3. Pre-event planning [the longest step 3-6 months] suppliers, content, AV, registration and more
4. Delivery - the event itself with our crew there from set up to post-event debrief
5. Reporting [usually within ten working days] if required, attendee feedback is collated and costs are closed out.
Our founder Simon Maddison or our senior event manager Cindy Laing kicks off all Reading projects we are asked to deliver. In person or by video
“Thank you Planet Pursuits for support in our Hinkley Point project and coordinating all our off-site meetings for PJ Carey during this difficult phase"
Tommy Carey, CEO, Carey Group.
Frequent questions we're asked about Reading
Does the Elizabeth line make travel straightforward for London delegates?
Yes it certainly does and significantly. Reading to Paddington is about 24 minutes direct on the Elizabeth line and, as we said, above Heathrow connects via the line without any change of trains.
Your delegates arriving from London or on international flights could be at a Reading town centre venue inside 50 minutes. Alternatively, for business park venues to the south or east of the city centre, I would factor in an extra 15 minutes by taxi from Reading station.
We knew it as Madejski Stadium - is it still viable as a conference venue?
Yes, the Madejski was renamed to the Select Car Leasing stadium in approximately 2021. That said, the conference and events set up there haven't really changed - there are probably 16 event spaces, capacity for major branded events and dedicated event entrances. On-site parking is also a useful feature.
How do we handle the Reading Festival weekend?
Our advice – don’t plan your event for this weekend (August bank holiday). The town centre becomes a nightmare and impractical really for corporate events over that weekend-the hotel rooms vanish, the traffic congestion is crazy and local staff are typically working somewhere else. If your event date is not yet fixed then we advise you to avoid the August bank holiday window in Reading. If it is fixed and by bad luck falls across that window, then we'd recommend a business park or out of town location rather than the town centre.
Reading parking is notoriously bad. Does that affect venue choice?
Be in no doubt, it affects it heavily. If you have an event with a significantly large drive in audience then the business park venues are far more practical than town centre hotels. On the other hand, if you have predominantly train arriving attendees then town centre venues are a winner. We always confirm delegate transport assumptions with you before recommending any particular venue.
I need some outside space. Where would you recommend in Reading?
There are a number of places with outside space, particularly around Thames Valley Park. However, we recommend Heron's Farm in Pangbourne, which is 4 miles west of Reading. Whilst busy on the weekend with weddings, it is also a really practical location for corporate festivals, company fun days and team building events. We regularly hold our Festopia event there for clients like Laithwaites Wine.
Would you suggest driving to Reading or using Rail services?
Reading is served particularly well by rail services heading east and west to London and the West Country. It is equally served well by the M4 corridor, which links to the M3 and M5, so Reading is ideally served by both rail and motorway links. This makes it an ideal hub location for company meetings, management training or sales teams as a south of England destination served by good transport links.
Are you considering elsewhere?
Here are some great options if Reading isn't right for your event.
Newbury Events - Country-house venues, Race Course, great M4 Links, showground and more
Bath Events - Heritage and history themed events slightly further west
Swindon Events - home of the Great Western Railway Steam Museum, with plenty of four and five-star hotels. Home of Planet Pursuits since 2001.
Our Corporate events hub to clue you in on all our business services
Brief us on your Reading event
Phone 01793 772999, contact us via our online form or email events@planetpursuits.com
Send us a skeleton brief and we'll reply within 24 hours with venue options for your size of event and an outline budget. If we’re not the right fit for your event then we’ll be upfront about it and see if we can recommend someone who is.
