Getting to know: Tinique Hay

Tinique has been at 10-11 Carlton House Terrace for three years now and works as a Venue Sales and Marketing Coordinator. As the first point of contact for all sales enquiries, she plays an important role in engaging prospective clients.

We spoke with Tinique this month to find out how her role has changed over the past year.

How has your role had to adapt over the past 12 months?
Working in events, it’s obviously been a big change adapting to working remotely and conducting virtual show rounds which took quite a few months to adjust to. I am so used to showing wonderful wedding couples and corporate clients around our stunning venue in-person that it’s become a new skill trying to show it off virtually!

What have you found most rewarding about working during the pandemic?
Seeing pure happiness and gratitude from wedding couples and corporate clients after safely delivering their micro-wedding or Hybrid AGM during the pandemic, as our team worked extremely hard to ensure our venue was ready to safely host events as soon as we could.

What have you found most challenging about working during the pandemic?
Having to adapt to constantly changing restrictions in relation to events and not being able to see my amazing team all in the office together!

What type of enquiry gets you instantly excited and why?
I would have to say fashion and exclusive hire enquiries get me most excited, as I love all things fashion, and exclusive hire enables me to tap into my creative and logistical skills!

What’s your favourite thing about Westminster as a destination?
The array of historic landmarks dotted around the borough make it a special place to be and a nice part of London to travel to and from work.

To tap into Tinique’s expertise or enquire about holding your next event at 10-11 Carlton House Terrace, get in touch at [email protected].

Get excited for London events again with a virtual tour of Westminster venues

Westminster venues are getting ready to invite people back on site for in-person show-rounds and events. In the meantime, there is plenty of inspiration to help you get ahead in your planning and remind you of the wonderful venues on your doorstep. We’ve pulled together all the virtual tours of event venues in the area in one handy list.

10-11 Carlton House Terrace

116 Pall Mall

Central Hall Westminster

Church House Westminster

Houses of Parliament

IET London: Savoy Place

Lincoln’s Inn

One Great George Street

RIBA

RSA House

The London Library

The QEII Centre

The Royal Society

There are plenty of other venues in Westminster just waiting to be discovered. View the full list here.

The gift of space: summer parties at Regent’s Conferences & Events

Regent’s Conferences & Events reports an uplift in enquiries for summer parties as outside space becomes increasingly appealing and confidence grows among vaccine progress and new of the reopening roadmap.

The London venue, named ‘Best Outdoor Space’ at the 2019 Academic Venue Awards, is seeing enquiries coming in for outdoor events for as many as 1,500 guests. Throughout the turbulence of the changing regulations, the outdoors has consistently been given precedence for both social gatherings and business events, and naturally, demand for expansive outside space appears to be on the rise.

Offering four acres of landscaped private grounds in Regent’s Park, the venue presents a solution for large-scale events unlike any other in London. Regent’s embodies a country feel in the centre of the city, comprising of pristine lawns and lush foliage with an elegant, ivory-lined marquee in the summer months for parties of up to 1,200 guests.

The venue’s show-stopping York Lawns have hosted an array of unique summer events, as well as classically British garden parties, either in the main gardens, or tucked away in a more intimate Secret Garden. Innovative catering, first-class customer service and impeccably kept grounds have all helped attract a wide variety of creative events to the York Lawns, from wellness retreats and petting zoos to bootcamps and funfairs. Entertainment spans from garden games like croquet, giant Jenga and boules; to new activities including archery and a 25-metre inflatable assault course for an unforgettable experience.

To create fresh and exciting experiences for guests, the venue’s award-winning caterers offers street food stalls catering for choices ranging from a New York dirty mac bar and an outdoor pizza oven bar, to a traditional hog roast. With innovative BBQ options, organisers can choose from Caribbean, American, Moroccan or British cuisines, including fun extras like a pick ‘n’ mix sweet shop, gin bar and an ice cream trike.

Find out more about hosting your summer party at Regent’s.

‘Build Your Own’ summer parties at RIBA

RIBA is offering flexible ‘Build Your Own’ bespoke experiences for summer parties this year in light of the varying needs of different businesses.

Remote working has meant team relationships and morale have taken a hit over the last 12 months, and in some cases, new recruits are yet to meet their colleagues in-person! With restrictions due to end by July, it’s the perfect time to gather your team together for a summer reunion at RIBA at 66 Portland Place.

Prior to the pandemic, RIBA noticed a reluctance to opt for fully themed event packages in favour of a more pared-back style with a focus on getting teams together to spend some well-needed time in each other’s’ company. Post-pandemic, they expect to see something similar – with the focus on teams being able to meet face-to-face once again in a relaxed, laid back environment. So, for 2021, and in anticipation of the return of events, RIBA have re-launched its ‘Build Your Own’ experience – a subtle nod to the venue’s architectural roots – the premise of which is to offer multiple F&B options at different price points that can be selected as a standalone package, or in conjunction with another to suit budget and preference.

If the venue can ease the burden of organising COVID-secure F&B, it gives you more time to flex your creative muscles as much as you like with regards to theming and entertainment.

Summer is definitely the season for socialising, making it the perfect time for a company party or get-together, not least because it is a proven way to support workplace morale, relationship-building and retention. Summer parties are naturally more informal than a big end of year celebration, so the ‘Build Your Own’ package is the ideal option and if you confirm your event booking before 31 May 2021 to take place anytime over the summer until 30 September 2021, guests will receive a free house cocktail on arrival.

Contact the team by emailing [email protected] to book your summer reunion at 66 Portland Place.

Lincoln’s Inn offers hybrid event facilities from £90 per hour as of April

Lincoln’s Inn is preparing to welcome back guests from 12 April for safe hybrid events. The venue’s Ashworth Centre now offers hybrid meeting solutions in a COVID-secure environment.

To help you re-connect with clients, colleagues and peers, the venue is offering use of its meeting rooms with hybrid facilities from just £90 + VAT per hour.

Subject to conditions and availability, the offer is available to book as of now, for events taking place after 12 April. Please get in touch with the team for more information at [email protected].

The QEII Centre Stage: setting the scene for filming in central London

The QEII Centre sets the scene for filming in central London, catering perfectly for the most intimate of filming projects, down to the finest detail, and here’s why…

As a team of event professionals with extensive combined experience, QEII understands that it’s all about the detail. Filming crews and directors, rightly so, are very particular about lighting, angles, positions, timing and sound to encapsulate a vision for a story. The QEII Centre offers a platform for such creativity and precision, and with over 30 years of experience of running themed events for real guests, the venue is no stranger to responding to a brief and helping to create a believable backdrop.

With 32 varying sized and styled spaces to choose from, it’s no surprise that the centre – the largest dedicated conference and events space in central London – is a popular location for film crews looking for flexibility. Having featured as one of the locations for the BBC series The Capture in 2019 and more recently as a location for political thriller Roadkill starring Hugh Laurie, the team has become well versed in effectively managing all manner of filming projects.

Thanks to strong partnerships with reputable location libraries and an exclusive agreement with  Location Collective,  QEII continues to forge new relationships with top broadcasting and production companies for the seamless delivery of filming projects.

Ranging from suites holding up to 1,300 people, to smaller spaces lending themselves to interrogation room scenes, educational set-ups and promotional shoots, the venue offers spaces for many styles of film shoots.

Whether an advert, TV show or film, state-of-the-art facilities, versatile spaces and stunning backdrops, such as the stunning views of Westminster and Big Ben from the sixth floor, allow visions to become reality. A combination of internal and external spaces are available so, whether it is the lawn, a large reception area, rooms from 40sqm to 1,375sqm or an iconic view that is required, there are an array of facilities that can meet your brief. The blank canvas spaces are easily transformed and suitable for both modern and period sets.

Beyond the team’s confidence in a satisfying end product, they ensure the whole filming process and experience behind the scenes is as comfortable and stress-free as possible. For those requiring crew catering, QEII Taste, the venue’s in-house team are there to keep them fuelled with delectable refreshments, energising breakfasts and filling lunches throughout the day. The AV team, QEII Live, are also on hand to assist location managers. If required, sound, lighting, studio cameras and design and build camera platforms can be provided, as well as helping with bandwidth requirements and IPTV.

If your next filming project needs a home, whether journeying back in the past with an 18th century period drama, or travelling forwards for a futuristic, modern portrayal, consider working with The QEII Centre.

Find out more or get in touch about filming here.

10-11 Carlton House Terrace shares trends for hybrid events in 2021

Following the rapid development of virtual and hybrid events over the past 12 months, 10-11 Carlton House Terrace explores the emerging hybrid trends in the events industry for the year ahead.

So, what is a hybrid event?

A hybrid event incorporates both a physical in-person event with a virtual online audience.

This isn’t a new concept however… Prior to 2020, it’s likely you had already attended a few without realising. Take the popular non-profit TED as an example. What started as an annual conference in the 1990’s became a “viral video phenomenon” and now encompasses a huge platform of hybrid events including TED Talks, TEDx and the TED-Ed series – all with aim of spreading ideas far beyond the room they are presented in.

The global pandemic has certainly thrown a few spanners in the works for event profs who are still running events. There’s increased demand for the best technology for every virtual event element, as well as the COVID-safe considerations for any in-person gatherings.

Over the coming months, the London venue expects the following hybrid event trends:

  • More innovative ways for delegates to engage
  • The necessary introduction of more breaks during events with suggestions like networking, virtual performances and fun icebreakers
  • Bigger and bolder creative ideas to keep people engaged
  • Much broader, far-reaching marketing to attract international virtual audiences
  • The introduction of VR into hybrid events

Read more about these trends here.

Broadway House continues investment programme with upgraded digital event technology

Broadway House, as part of Make Venues, has announced upgrades in the business’ virtual conferencing, hybrid and digital event technology at the London venue.

The upgrades are focused predominantly on video conferencing, hybrid events, and the capture and broadcast, and have been designed to complement the growing number of businesses looking to return to live events, but also reach growing ‘out of the room’ audiences.

The investments include installations of fixed 4K commercial LFD display systems (up to 98”), PTZ cameras for both ‘display’ and ‘presenter views’, microphone arrays that will pick up sound throughout meeting rooms, digital signal processing, including Automatic Echo Cancellation, and ceiling speakers, all of which can be easily used by moderators and organisers through a simple ‘plug and play’ process. As well as permanent installations in larger rooms, there will also be mobile units offering similar technology that can be quickly moved between smaller rooms.

The new digital event technology will be available across the group’s venues, with more exciting investments on their way.

Find out more about the investment here.

Church House Westminster becomes temporary asymptomatic coronavirus testing centre

Church House Westminster has become a temporary asymptomatic coronavirus testing centre for central London.

The coronavirus test for people without symptoms takes less than five minutes and uses the Innova SARS-CoV-2-Antigen lateral flow device which means you will receive your results within an hour.

The symptom-free coronavirus testing centre is open seven days a week. You do not need to book in order to get a free test and you do not have to be a Westminster resident.

For more information, please visit the website of Westminster City Council.

Head of Reactive Sales at Church House Westminster, Vedrana Dancerelle, commented: “Covid-19 testing is a vital tool for protecting people and communities and finding asymptomatic cases can help to control the spread of the virus. As a Covid-secure venue in Westminster, we are delighted to host the asymptomatic testing site, which enables those who need to go to work, and may not display Covid-19 symptoms, an opportunity to protect themselves and others easily by accessing an asymptomatic coronavirus testing centre”.

Filming and other essential meetings taking place at Covid-secure venue Church House Westminster can also make use of this asymptomatic coronavirus testing facility when visiting the events venue.

For more information, give the team a call on 020 7390 1590 to discuss your event.

116 Pall Mall shares venue reopening roadmap

After the government announced their roadmap detailing the easing of lockdown over the next few months, 116 Pall Mall have put together their own venue reopening roadmap based on each key date, giving clients clarity on when they’ll be able to return to the building.

Just like the government roadmap, this will be a phased approach and has full details on exactly what clients can return for, including meeting and working for members, weddings, events, meeting rooms and restaurants.

They’re even opening up their stunning outside terrace and garden to the public for dining for the first time on the 12 April, to coincide with the government’s plans that allow outdoor dining to take place for up to six people. Just a stone’s throw from Piccadilly Circus and Regent Street, you can take a well-deserved break from shopping (which also opens up on the 12 April) and enjoy a delicious lunch in their beautiful secluded garden.

The Terrace at 116 will be open Monday – Friday lunchtimes, with plans to open into the evening for drinks over the summer months. Find out about The Terrace at 116 and make your booking ahead of the popular London venue reopening.

All the key dates, booking information and opening details can be found on the 116 reopening roadmap, which will be updated accordingly if the government makes any changes.