Corporate Event Planning Tips
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Brand activation might be something you’re not familiar with or considering for your company, but not quite sure where to start. I thought I would pop together a quick guide on Brand Activation—what it is, why it’s important, and how it can benefit your brand.
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What ‘Really’ is Brand Activation?
To put it simply, brand activation is a marketing strategy that involves creating interactive and memorable experiences for consumers to create brand awareness and increase engagement. Unlike traditional advertising, which is often passive, brand activation engages consumers directly and builds a relationship with your target audience.
In recent years, consumers have been seeking more authentic engagement with brands, moving away from traditional advertising methods. So it’s key to remember: while brand activation is a marketing strategy, it is distinct from general marketing and advertising, which are ongoing processes of maintaining brand image and promoting products or services. Brand activation focuses on creating specific, isolated events or experiences designed to resonate personally with your consumers. It’s a powerful way to differentiate your brand from competitors, ensuring each brand activation is unique and memorable with multiple touchpoints and interactive, surprising elements along the way.
Who Can Benefit from Brand Activation?
Brand activation isn’t just the cherry on top for established businesses; it can be incredibly beneficial for a variety of brands at different stages:
New Brands and Businesses: Launching a new brand is like planting a seed in a vast field. Brand activation is the sunshine and water that helps your seedling grow into a flourishing tree. By creating memorable and engaging experiences, you can introduce your brand in a way that leaves a lasting impression, quickly generating awareness and building a strong relationship with your target audience from the ground up.
Brands Looking to Rebrand: For businesses undergoing a rebrand, brand activation is an excellent way to communicate your new identity. Think of rebranding as giving your house a stunning makeover, and brand activation as the grand unveiling party. It allows you to present your refreshed image, values, and message in a way that captivates both loyal customers and new prospects.
Brands Entering a New Market: If your brand is expanding into a new market, brand activation can help you make a significant impact. It’s a powerful way to introduce your brand to new audiences, ensuring they understand who you are and what you stand for from the very beginning.
Launching a New Product or Service: When introducing a new product or service, brand activation can create buzz and excitement. It offers an opportunity to demonstrate the value and benefits of your new offering in an engaging way, encouraging consumers to try it out and share their experiences.
Types of Brand Activation
Now that we’ve explored who can benefit from brand activation, let’s dive into the different ways you can bring your brand to life. Here are four key types of brand activation that can create memorable and impactful experiences for your audience:
1. Experiential Marketing
This involves creating an isolated event or occasion where consumer invitees experience the brand firsthand, away from their day-to-day lives. Picture a swanky dinner in a hotel ballroom, an overnight stay at a countryside retreat or wellness-focused activities. These types of events are typically designed for a specific, invitation-only guest list, ensuring the brand gets in front of the ideal consumer to drive results.
2. Sampling or Gifting Campaigns
Sampling or gifting campaigns offer consumers a chance to experience the brand or product in a more stripped-back and straightforward fashion compared to a fully curated event. Since the COVID pandemic, there has been a significant rise in sending “ready-to-use” gifting direct mailers, often hand-delivered in branded vehicles and beautifully packaged with thoughtful messaging. These campaigns need to be super creative to convey the key messages without a brand representative being directly present, ensuring the best results.
3. In-Store & On-Site Activations
Activations which are in-store or on-site at a specific location allow face-to-face interaction with the brand for a much broader audience. However, you cannot always guarantee the calibre of the audience and engagement, and some interaction might occur just for the “freebies”. These activations are usually in place for a longer duration compared to experiential events.
4. Social Media Engagement
Social media engagement can stand alone as a type of brand activation but equally ties in with each type of brand activation already mentioned. Brands often work with social media influencers to broadcast their experience of the brand or product to their channels, reaching a wider audience. This often comes with added incentives like discount codes or gift-with-purchase.
If you’re allocating budget, time and effort on brand activation, it’s essential to ensure your event gains the exposure it deserves. You cannot rely on your audience alone to do the work; social media engagement is crucial for achieving a much wider reach. Participants or invitees often interact with the brand and its products or services via social media both during and after the activation, and you as the company should be doing the same. PR is also intrinsically linked here, as inviting PR professionals and writers from noteworthy publications to the activation can result in positive printed features, all contributing to the end goal.
Why is Brand Activation Important?
Brand activation is essential because it goes beyond mere awareness. It creates a tangible connection between the consumer and the brand, builds an emotional connection and opens new channels of communication, fostering loyalty and long-lasting recall. Here’s why brand activation is crucial:
Drives brand awareness and differentiation: In a crowded market, unique experiences help your brand stand out and leave a lasting impression.
Improves customer engagement and trust: Direct engagement builds trust and meaningful interactions, making your brand more relatable and memorable.
Increases brand loyalty and long-lasting recall: Emotional connections foster loyalty, turning consumers into brand ambassadors who promote your brand passionately, often without any incentive.
Achieves branding objectives: Whether launching a new product, rebranding, or entering a new market, brand activation ensures your branding goals are met with creativity and precision.
Boosts sales and increase repeat customers: Engaging activations encourage purchases and foster repeat business, driving long-term growth.
Achieve The Results You Deserve with Effective Brand Activation
The end goal of brand activation is not just measured in sales figures or social media followers, although these are important. The ultimate aim is to raise awareness, reach new audiences and build an emotional connection that encourages engagement and loyalty.
Whether you’re planning a small-scale sampling campaign or a large experiential event, the benefits of brand activation are undeniable. At ByChenai Experiences, we support you in bringing your brand activation to life and driving the results you deserve. We bring fresh perspectives and ideas to the table, leveraging an enviable network of trusted suppliers and contacts to ensure your activation truly represents your brand. We handle everything from location scouting and logistics to guest management, ensuring a seamless and impactful event. If you’re ready to take your brand to the next level, get in touch with us today. Let’s start planning your next brand activation.
June 16, 2024
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I read an article recently that said, “change the location, change the conversation,” and I think this perfectly reflects what a corporate retreat is all about. In this article, I’ve collated my top 5 locations where you can host your next unique corporate retreat, ensuring an experience that is both luxurious and inspiring.
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What is a Corporate Retreat?
Corporate retreats are such worthwhile investments for a company, offering an opportunity for colleagues to forge meaningful connections with their peers, slow down and unplug from their day-to-day environment, and come away with renewed enthusiasm. Simply put, they are off-site gatherings of company employees, typically held at scenic or inspiring locations. These retreats are designed to bring people together to reward team members for their hard work, provide training and development, encourage team building, or work collectively on blue-sky thinking, developing objectives and setting goals.
Best Corporate Retreat Locations in the UK
When planning a corporate retreat, determining the retreat’s objectives is crucial before choosing a location. Fortunately, the UK offers diverse landscapes and venues that cater to any business objective. From the serene landscapes of Scotland to the charming Cotswolds and the vibrant heart of London, there’s a perfect spot for every team’s needs.
It’s crucial to select a location that fits the purpose of the retreat and aligns with its goals, while also making sure it’s a place where guests can enjoy themselves, with opportunities to switch off and socialise with their peers. And that’s where we come in! Here are our team favourites for the best corporate retreat locations in the UK.
Top 5 Luxury and Unique Locations for Corporate Retreats
BORELAND, SCOTLAND
In the depths of Perthshire, you will find Boreland – “think wilderness, spectacular views, epic WiFi, unforgettable activities and the freedom to let your team truly connect”.
Less than 2 hours from both Glasgow and Edinburgh, Boreland offers a slightly more remote and off-grid experience than some of our other favourites, which is its charm. With accommodation up to 70 guests across various properties on the estate, sleeping between 8 to 18 guests, Boreland provides unique, individual styles, offering a relaxing space to unwind and rest outside of the retreat itinerary.
Boreland offers various spaces for meetings, events, dining and activities, catering to groups ranging from 2 to 200 guests. The smallest space is The Outpost, a cosy coworking space perfect for a private call or breakout meeting. The Cowshed, their most informal space, is ideal for groups to gather around the fire at the end of the day, sipping on a local dram and enjoying a delicious meal. The Barn is their largest space, accommodating up to 200 guests. Naturally, you can use this for larger events such as a gala dinner, but you can also run multiple activities or sessions within the same space for a smaller group.
Staying at Boreland gives guests access to Perthshire’s garden, with activities to suit those who wish to relax, and those who wish to burn off some steam. The team can facilitate quad biking, river rafting, Highland ‘safari’ drives, local whisky and chocolate tastings, Highland walking, wild swimming in Loch Tay, yoga and meditation.
THYME, COTSWOLDS
“Entertaining has always been at the heart of Thyme” and this is what makes it such a lovely spot for a corporate retreat. With a quaint backdrop of greenery and landscaped gardens, there is arguably no better place for a team to get together and seek inspiration and motivation from their surroundings.
Located in the heart of the Cotswolds, Thyme is a 2-hour drive from London or a 20-minute drive from Charlbury and Swindon train stations, both offering direct trains to London Paddington. Described as a village within a village, Thyme focuses on sustainability, seasonal beauty, and a deep connection to the land, visible at every turn.
Thyme offers a charming collection of accommodations, meeting spaces, activities, and private dining options, making it a perfect choice for a corporate retreat.
Their botanically inspired accommodation includes 31 individually styled bedrooms, each with its own charm. Depending on your group’s size, dining options range from a table in their restaurant to more special experiences like a Chef’s Table in the Ox Barn or a private table hidden within the Olive Garden. Their dedicated event space, the Tithe Barn, suits groups from 16 to 60 guests, perfect for a beautiful dinner, celebrating the locally grown produce or team-building sessions.
Activities include a range of delightful classes, including cookery, floristry and painting. Each cookery class starts in the kitchen garden, teaching participants “field-to-plate” techniques in either a 2 or 4-hour course. Floristry classes also start in the garden, celebrating the florals, foliage and herbs grown on-site, from their formal cutting garden and wild meadows. There are also more informal activities available, such as local walking and bicycle routes, as well as tennis, boules and badminton, for those who fancy a little competition!
The Meadow Spa at Thyme is a haven for restoration and calm, offering a range of treatments such as facials and massages, as well as their signature ritual treatments at the Botanical Bothy. All treatments utilise their own Bertoli range of products, which aim to “harness the healing power of breath and scent to nourish the mind, body and planet”.
CASTLE INDIA, CORNWALL
Another beauty, perfect for a smaller group, is Castle India. Set on the banks of the River Tamar in Cornwall, this venue is a little off the beaten track, where you “Enter through the gates and into a world of pure imagination!”
Castle India is located just 1 mile outside of Saltash, accessible by a direct train from London Paddington in 3.5 hours. Torquay and Exeter airports are about an hour away, and for the ultimate jet-setter arrival, you can land a helicopter on the grounds.
The main property is set within 9 acres of sub-tropical gardens and orchards, with a natural pool and ancient Indian pool house, making it a truly unique destination. It sleeps up to 18 people across 9 bedrooms, featuring interiors that are certainly not for the faint-hearted, celebrating the castle’s history and drawing inspiration from the tropical gardens, all captured through bold colours and bright House of Hackney wallpapers.
Castle India offers a home-away-from-home experience, with its charm lying in the absence of formal meeting rooms or event spaces. However, there are many rooms within the house, such as the Library, Drawing Room and Music Room, which can be used for the retreat sessions and activities. There are some lovely low-key activities on site, such as croquet, swimming, sauna and table tennis, with other local options including foraging, cold water therapy, surfing and spa treatments.
You can access a list of preferred suppliers and arrange full catering, offering everything from a hilltop picnic to firepit feasting and fine dining tasting menus, allowing you to craft a one-off culinary experience for your group.
42 ACRES, SOMERSET
42 Acres was founded by sibling duo Lara and Seth, who created the site as a home for personal, social and environmental change. At its core, 42 Acres “invites people to reconnect with nature, self and others through well-being and nature-based experiences, regenerative farming and abundant nature reserve”.
The 173-acre estate is nestled in the Somerset countryside. Local train stations Gillingham and Frome offer direct trains to London Waterloo in approximately 1.5 hours, or it’s a 2.5-hour drive by car. Their eco-friendly accommodations sleep up to 41 people across 30 bedrooms, with additional bell tents available for adventurous guests. The interiors at 42 Acres reflect timeless simplicity and understated luxury, while outside, nature flourishes with a focus on agri-wilding.
“A place to retreat, restore and reconnect”, the team here have created a ‘soil-to-gut’ menu, showcasing a way of eating that continues old traditions, whilst shaping the future. They have also curated an amazing range of activities that can form part of your retreat. Highlights include an edible safari of their walled garden, a guided beaver walk, paddleboarding, a medicinal mushroom experience, foraging, meditation, and even a silent woodland disco!
LONDON
We may be a little biased, as London is home to ByChenai HQ, but it is undoubtedly one of the best places to host a corporate retreat. Even for those who live in the capital, there are endless options for experiences and accommodations to suit all group sizes, offering guests a truly unique retreat.
Some of our absolute favourite experiences in London include a private dinner in the White Tower at the Tower of London, followed by attending the Ceremony of the Keys — the oldest military enactment, whereby the main gates are locked. While there are long wait lists to attend, special access can be arranged for private events. Most people have heard of London Dry Gin, so a private tour and tasting at the Beefeater distillery or the ‘Ginstitute’ experience at Portobello Gin, where you make your own gin, are absolute musts.
You can’t come to London and not experience afternoon tea. Our personal favourites include the Ritz for those who like classic/old school, Prêt-à-Portea at The Berkeley Hotel for those who appreciate fashion, or The Petersham, where blooms take pride of place.
The capital is also home to some amazing hotels and venues which can become a home away from home for get-togethers, meetings, and all-important R&R. Each hotel and venue has a unique offering, meaning, there really is something for everyone!
>> Our top 8 corporate event venues in London
Planning a Corporate Retreat or a Team Off-site Day?
At ByChenai Experiences, we believe in the transformative power of corporate retreats. While we’ve shared some of our top picks, we have many more locations and retreat ideas that we’d be happy to explore for your next corporate off-site. With a bespoke approach to corporate and brand events, we tailor our venue search and itineraries to each event, ensuring a perfect fit for your unique needs and objectives.
Ready to start planning your corporate retreat or team off-site day? Get in touch with us today, and let’s find the perfect location to make your event unique and impactful.
June 15, 2024
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Stepping out of the usual office setting into a unique event space can transform a regular corporate gathering into an extraordinary experience. In London, the possibilities are endless—no need to settle for dull, uninspired spaces when you can choose venues brimming with character and style.
At ByChenai Experience, we understand the power of a great venue to disrupt the everyday office monotony and ignite creativity and connection among teams, and as event planners, we have a whole host of unique corporate event venues up our sleeves to offer a location that suits your needs. That’s why we’ve hand picked our current top 8 venues across the city. From intimate leadership meetings and vibrant client receptions to immersive experiences and large-scale conferences, our selection promises to match every corporate occasion with its perfect backdrop. Read on to explore the best that London has to offer for your next corporate event.
8 Unusual & Cool Venues In London For Corporate Events
1 WARWICK, Soho
Neo-Baroque Gem in the Heart of the City
Capacity: Meeting: 6-16 Reception: 80 Full Hire: 100
Location: Soho
Nearest Tube: Piccadilly Circus
Ideal For: Away Days, Intimate Dinners, Receptions, Meetings
Nestled within a neo-baroque mansion block, 1 Warwick presents a facade that’s unassuming at first glance. Yet, step inside and you’ll discover a world of thoughtfully designed interiors set across six floors. Managed by the renowned Maslow’s hospitality group (also behind Mortimer House), 1 Warwick offers an array of spaces, from cosy meeting rooms and chic lounges to dynamic event spaces, a studio, gym, and even a rooftop restaurant with a bar and terrace.
1 Warwick would be an ideal event space for a senior leadership away day with its beautifully designed meeting rooms, seating between 6 and 16 attendees. Their restaurants provide “room service” throughout the day, keeping things more informal and relaxed. The Library offers a welcome retreat from the lively streets of Soho, with a secret screen thoughtfully hidden behind artwork, alongside top-notch AV facilities. This space invites you to settle into its lounge-style furniture for relaxed presentations or breakout sessions.
For events that demand a grander scale, consider exclusively hiring Yasmin, the rooftop restaurant, bar, and terrace. It’s perfect for larger gatherings, accommodating up to 100 guests for a drinks reception, boasting panoramic city views, a Middle Eastern-inspired menu, and a contemporary cocktail and drinks offering, all within a stone’s throw from the city centre. 1 Warwick combines luxury with functionality, making it a great choice for your next corporate event in London.
100 BARRINGTON, Brixton
Modern Blank Canvas with Industrial Charm
Capacity: Reception: 190 | Dinner: 120
Location: Brixton
Nearest Tube: Brixton
Ideal For: Receptions, Dinners, Christmas Parties, Product Launches, Summer Soirees
100 Barrington, with its origins as a furniture factory, has been thoughtfully restored into the venue we know today, retaining its original brickwork, high ceilings, and exposed beams. Located in the heart of Brixton, an area buzzing with music and culture, 100 Barrington stands as a tranquil oasis away from the hustle and bustle.
This venue serves as a versatile blank canvas, comprising three distinct spaces that cater to a variety of event formats. The large warehouse space is perfect for formal dining or food stations, as well as dancing the night away. Outside, there is a wonderful courtyard, partially covered and filled with plants and festoon lights, perfect for a breezy outdoor gathering. Connecting the warehouse and the courtyard, the venue boasts a magnificent bar nestled within an old railway arch. This space features an impressive 24-foot ceiling and a stunning statement chandelier. The bar area is not only perfect for hosting drinks receptions but also offers a unique, intimate setting for dining beneath the chandelier’s glow. 100 Barrington merges industrial charm with modern functionality, making it a unique venue choice for corporate events.
EXHIBITION LONDON, Shepherd’s Bush
Historic Venue with a Contemporary Flair
Capacity: Reception: 2,250 | Dinner: 1,120
Location: Shepherd’s Bush
Nearest Tube: Wood Lane / White City
Ideal For: Large Scale Events, Brand Experiences, Conferences, Launches, Gala & Awards Dinners, Large Scale Receptions
Exhibition London, originally a historic Victorian railway engine house, has been reimagined for contemporary culture, offering one of the largest event spaces in the city. The 1,200 square meters of multi-purpose space is set across two floors, combining a heritage look and feel with contemporary design and cutting-edge functionality.
The dramatic design of the space features high ceilings, exposed roof trusses, original windows, and the original train crane structure. These elements, combined with modern materials and fixtures, infuse personality and character into the vast space in a considered way.
From a corporate events perspective, Exhibition London is a truly versatile venue, providing a broad scope for various event types and design possibilities. While the spaces are large, clever set designs can create more intimate areas for different elements of the event, enabling you to craft something very special and unique.
The team behind Exhibition London has also prioritised practicalities, which are often overlooked yet crucial. The venue boasts bespoke kitchens, cloakrooms accommodating 3,000 people, production access and parking, a production office, dressing rooms, a box office (perfect for registrations or end-of-event gifting), and high-end technical facilities. This attention to detail ensures that your event runs smoothly and impresses your guests.
FRAMELESS, Marble Arch
Immersive Experience Combining Art, Technology & Creativity
Capacity: Full Hire Reception: 450 | Blank Canvas Reception: 130 | Full Hire Dinner: 250 | Blank Canvas Dinner: 80
Location: Marble Arch
Nearest Tube: Marble Arch
Ideal For: Immersive Experiences, Product Launches, Brand Events, Private Dinners, Receptions, Fashion Shows
When we say Frameless is perfect for an immersive experience, we mean it! Frameless comprises four multi-sensory gallery spaces, showcasing 42 masterpieces from 29 of the world’s most iconic artists – think Monet, Van Gogh, Klimt, Cezanne, Kandinsky and more. These artworks are reimagined with hypnotic visuals and set to thought-provoking musical scores, creating an unusual and engaging atmosphere.
For larger events, you can hire all four gallery spaces. However, for up to 120 standing guests or 80 seated guests, their Blank Canvas space is ideal. As the name suggests, this space allows you to create your own environment for a truly unique setting. As London’s foremost immersive venue, Frameless offers state-of-the-art technical facilities to help you create a bespoke event design. This would be perfect for product launches or brand events, as you can display your own video campaigns, content, branding, and sponsor materials, creating a never-seen-before backdrop for your event.
Frameless combines art, technology, and creativity, making it an exceptional choice for corporate events that aim to leave a lasting impression.
MALL GALLERIES, St James
Versatile Venue with Artistic Flair
Capacity: Reception: 350 | Dinner: 150
Location: St James
Nearest Tube: Charing Cross
Ideal For: Receptions, Product Launches, Fashion Shows, Exhibitions
The Mall Galleries comprise three unique spaces, each offering varied sizes, layouts, aesthetics, designs, and features, making them ideal for hosting a wide range of events. They curate an inspiring programme of exhibitions throughout the year, with artworks providing an interesting and varied backdrop to events, sparking exciting conversations and engagement.
Set within a historic building on the prestigious Mall, just a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace, The Mall Galleries offer a blank canvas venue space. This allows ultimate flexibility to design your event’s look and feel. You could curate a private exhibition as part of a product launch or completely transform the entire space into a speakeasy or sensory woodland.
Hiring the Mall Galleries for an event also supports the charitable objectives of the Federation of British Artists, empowering artists through not-for-profit programmes and events, which is a lovely mission and a nice way for a company or brand to incorporate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) into their event.
THE ORANGERY, KENSINGTON PALACE
Royal Retreat for Exclusive Corporate Events
Capacity: Reception: 300 | Dinner: 200 | Reception & Dinner: 120
Location: Kensington
Nearest Tube: High Street Kensington
Ideal For: Receptions, Dinners, Christmas Parties, Summer Soirees
The Orangery, nestled within the beautifully manicured gardens of Kensington Palace, has recently reopened for private event hire after being closed for restoration since 2017. This truly exclusive space hosts a limited number of events each year, set amongst the grounds of a royal residence. You can also opt to include private tours of further spaces, such as the State Apartments which adds an extra layer of something special for guests to enjoy.
The renovation includes restored south-facing windows and pristine white walls, creating a light-filled space to add your personal touch, whether with floral arrangements or corporate branding. The new extension to The Orangery provides additional space, making it suitable for a variety of event types.
Despite its proximity to Kensington High Street and its grounds’ popularity amongst visitors, The Orangery offers seclusion, privacy, and exclusivity. We feel the Orangery is perfect for receptions and dinners, especially in the summer, when guests can enjoy the private terrace and grounds before and after dinner.
Hosting an event at Kensington Palace supports the work of Historic Royal Palaces, a charity which gives the palaces a future, for everyone; through research, preservation and restoration. Their portfolio also includes Hampton Court Palace and Banqueting House, which are firm favourites of the ByChenai team.
THE LOOKOUT AT 8 BISHOPSGATE, The City
Sky-High Blank Canvas with Panoramic City Views
Capacity: Reception: 280 | Dinner: 130 | Reception & Dinner: 80
Location: City of London
Nearest Tube: Bank / Liverpool Street
Ideal For: Receptions, Dinners, Conferences, Brand Events
The Lookout offers an unparalleled event experience with the city of London at its feet. Located on the 50th floor of the 8 Bishopsgate building, the Lookout boasts floor-to-ceiling windows that provide stunning views of the city skyline, impressive both day and night.
The venue features a large, L-shaped main event space that can be thoughtfully divided to create separate reception and dining areas. Adjacent to this main space are executive suites with moveable walls, offering ultimate flexibility. These suites can either extend the main space or be used independently as breakout spaces, green rooms, or production offices, allowing you to tailor the layout to perfectly suit your event. It serves equally as a blank canvas, ready for you to decorate or brand as needed, and a simplistic space with the London skyline as your stunning backdrop.
One unique feature of The Lookout is the Think Tank, a state-of-the-art auditorium, located within the same building. It’s perfect for conferences, seminars, performances, and awards, with a theatre-style capacity of 200 people. The seating is fully retractable, allowing for creative use of the space for other activities, such as yoga or wellness sessions, making it an incredibly versatile venue for any corporate event.
UNIT X, HANOVER SQUARE
Modern Space in Central London with Endless Possibilities
Capacity: Reception: 400 | Dinner: 120
Location: Mayfair
Nearest Tube: Oxford Circus
Ideal For: Receptions, Dinners, Еxhibitions, Product Launches, Brand Events
Unit X at Hanover Square is a super modern space, unassuming from the outside yet a tardis once inside, set across two floors and boasting an impressive 600 square metres of space for such a central location. The venue is well-equipped for a range of events, featuring state-of-the-art lighting, sound and video facilities, with ample branding opportunities.
With its industrial-style interior, the space also acts as a gallery, with a rotating collection of artworks that change every five weeks, offering guests a more immersive experience. This allows you to design an event that holistically links the menu, beverages, tablescape, and artwork.
We feel Unit X at Hanover Square would be a perfect spot for a client dinner, offering a modest exterior but providing a super special, intimate setting within. The variety and flexibility of the space mean you can seamlessly transition guests from reception to dinner and post-dinner drinks without repeating the space, keeping guests engaged and making a memorable event!
Let’s find your perfect corporate event space in London
London’s diverse and dynamic venue landscape ensures that your next corporate event can be anything but ordinary. Whether you’re aiming for an intimate gathering, a grand gala, or an immersive brand experience, the right venue can make all the difference.
At ByChenai Experiences, we specialise in curating unforgettable corporate events that leave a lasting impact. Our expertise in venue selection and event planning ensures that every detail is meticulously managed, allowing you to focus on your goals and enjoy the process.
Get in touch with us today, and let’s craft an experience that will inspire, impress, and be talked about for months to come.
June 14, 2024
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Gone are the days when corporate away days meant a day in a stuffy hotel conference room, endless presentations, flip charts, and a buffet lunch – not the most exciting prospect! Nowadays, companies are stepping up their game, investing more to create away days that deliver the best results for both the business and their employees.
In this post, we explore what a corporate away day is, why they are important, and key considerations for planning a successful away day. By the end, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of how to create an effective and memorable day for your workforce.
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What is a Corporate Away Day?
An away day is just that — a day to get away from the office and the day-to-day task list. It is an opportunity to think and talk about work, but not actually do the work; more a time to generate new ideas and open the floor to wider discussions.
When working in the same place and following the same daily routines, unconscious habits can form which guide the way you and your team think and operate. An away day is the perfect opportunity to challenge those habits and shake things up, reigniting a new-found enthusiasm that benefits both the company and its employees.
Why Are Corporate Away Days Important?
Corporate away days are more than just a break from the office; they are a strategic tool for enhancing team performance and achieving business goals. Here are some key reasons why they are important:
6 Benefits of Team Away Days
- Improves communication and collaboration: Away days create an ideal environment for employees to connect, fostering stronger relationships and teamwork.
- Boosts employee motivation: A fresh setting and engaging activities can reinvigorate employees, leading to increased enthusiasm and productivity.
- Improves retention: Employees who feel valued and engaged are more likely to stay with the company.
- Enhances leadership skills: Away days often include activities that help employees cultivate new skills and leadership qualities.
- Fosters creativity and “blue sky thinking” : Stepping out of the usual environment sparks creative thinking and innovative ideas.
- Boosts employee wellbeing: Focusing on relaxation and fun can significantly improve employee morale and well-being, both physically and mentally.
Key Considerations When Planning Team Away Days
Organising a successful business away day requires careful planning and setting clear objectives. Here are some key considerations to keep in mind:
Set Clear Objectives: Yes, they need to be unique and fun, but you need to define what you want to achieve. Are you focusing on team building, developing relationships, or generating new ideas? Establishing clear goals will help shape the agenda and ensure the day is productive,
Avoid Overloading the Agenda: While it’s tempting to fill the day with activities, cramming too much can be counterproductive. Keep the schedule balanced with ample time for creative thinking, relaxation, and informal discussions.
Provide Necessary Tools: Make sure everyone has the tools they need to participate fully. This includes materials for brainstorming sessions, comfortable seating, and any other resources required for planned activities, as well as resting.
Create a Relaxing Environment: Remember, it’s an away day—an opportunity to step away from the usual work environment. Choose a setting that encourages relaxation and openness, making it easier for attendees to engage and contribute. Be mindful of the diverse needs of your team, especially if some activity content could be challenging or triggering, as you don’t want to put anyone in a situation they find uncomfortable.
Post-Event Follow-Up: Don’t forget, the away day doesn’t finish when the attendees go home! You need to show them that their contributions are valued and being implemented in the business moving forward, so be clear on what’s going to happen next. Openly discuss the takeaways from the day, what went well, what didn’t go so well, and how as a company you are going to address these things and make improvements they can tangibly feel or experience. This will further boost the benefits of hosting the away day as it shows you value their time, effort and contribution.
Striking the Perfect Balance for Your Corporate Away Day
So you know you want to organise a business away day, but are worried about how to strike the perfect balance to meet your objectives. You want the team to have fun and be productive, but you equally want to see results to be able to justify the expense. That’s where ByChenai Experiences come in!
We specialise in creating bespoke itineraries for business away days, taking the time to understand the company and you, the organiser, before diving deep into your objectives. This gives us the tools we need to build tailored itineraries that align perfectly with your goals.
Make sure to read our article on unique corporate retreat locations in the UK for inspiration, as there are so many wonderful places to hold an away day or retreat to break away from the stuffy conference room stereotype and into settings that foster creativity and engagement.
Ready to plan a team away day that not only meets your objectives but also leaves a lasting positive impression on your employees? Get in touch with ByChenai Experiences today and let’s make it happen!
June 13, 2024
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People often think planning an event is easy and glamorous – just a matter of choosing food, deciding on activities, booking entertainment and working out a colour scheme. But once you dive in, you quickly realise how time-consuming and complicated it can be. Planning corporate events involves more than just booking a venue and selecting a menu. It’s about creating an impactful experience that aligns with your business goals and resonates with your audience. For busy marketing teams, HR departments, and executives, the complexity and effort required can be overwhelming.
Another common misconception is that working with a corporate event planner is a costly expense; however, there are so many benefits of partnering with a professional event planner, regardless of the event size, many of which you probably haven’t considered.
I’ve put together this guide to explore the intricacies of corporate event planning, the essential role of corporate event planners, and why you should work with one.
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What is Corporate Event Planning?
At its core, corporate event planning involves the conceptualisation, coordination, and execution of business events on behalf of a company or brand. These events can range from award dinners, press trips, and product launches to team-building retreats and corporate away days. The goal is to create engaging experiences that align with the company’s objectives, whether that’s fostering team spirit, generating leads, or showcasing new products.
Successful corporate event planning is more than just logistics. It’s about coming up with creative concepts and crafting a narrative that tells the story of your brand. This includes designing experiences that meet and exceed expectations, ensuring your event has that ‘wow’ factor. Every detail, from the venue and decor to the lighting and entertainment, should be planned intentionally to ensure the event stands out and resonates with your audience, providing shareable experiences to increase your brand’s reach and drive tangible results.
8 Reasons Why You Should Hire A Corporate Event Planner
1. Save You Time
Planning an event of any kind, whether it be a gala dinner, product launch or away day, takes a huge amount of time, which takes your attention away from the other responsibilities of your working role. When you decide to engage with us as your planner; we will undertake an initial strategy meeting to understand your ideas, the audience, objectives and goals, budget, cultural requirements and so forth, providing us with the tools to create your event. Our insight and guidance will make the decision-making process much more structured and streamlined. We keep you involved only when absolutely necessary because your time is money, so we ensure everything is concise.
2. Experience & Expertise
While every event is unique and requires a bespoke approach, planning a corporate event requires a seamless process and trusted methods to deliver an experience that exceeds expectations. It involves tapping into a varied skill set and fast-tracking the planning process to meet tight deadlines. Knowing who to call, understanding supplier costs, and streamlining decisions are all critical for success. At ByChenai Events, we’re adept at handling these challenges. Our well-oiled machine of experienced professionals fast-tracks the planning process on your behalf, leveraging our expertise and connections. We know who can deliver to deadline and have ballpark costs for many suppliers, saving you from the hassle of cold calling and ensuring a smooth, efficient process.
3. Budget Management
We have already mentioned that there is a misconception that working with a corporate planner is expensive. Yes, our services will be an extra line item in the budget, but that does not mean an extra expense! By working with an experienced corporate planner, you’ll gain huge added value of access to our network and expertise. We know where to find quality for the best possible price, using our trusted industry relationships. You’ll be able to utilise our experience to understand what needs investment and where you can make savings, demonstrating the return on investment for each budget element.
There is no point in robbing Peter to pay Paul if a major element is then compromised. Suppliers often compete for their own piece of the pie, whereas a planner will look at the event as a whole and objectively make the right call to not compromise on any one aspect for the sake of another.
We know that last-minute expenses can arise – ideas and plans can change. A planner will have a contingency plan in place and be able to manage the budget to mitigate overspend.
4. Location & Venue Sourcing
You’ve been tasked with planning an event but with no steer on where to hold it, where on earth do you start and how do you narrow the options down? We have a little (well actually, ever-growing) black book of venues – we know the best spots for every type of event, many of which aren’t available on the open market! Working with us as your corporate planner saves you scouring the length and breadth of the country, as we provide you with a shortlist of perfect options to consider, ticking all the boxes for your requirements.
We know that some venues can be quite strict on regulations, and with good reason, as these are often palaces and historic buildings, so we know when these are appropriate suggestions and other venues where you can have more flex to do things outside of the norm.
Selecting a location and venue is not just as easy as knowing if it accommodates the right number of guests – there is so much more to understand. We know all the peripheral questions to ask and details to check. What would the guest journey be, what transportation would be required, what’s the access like, are there weight loading restrictions, what’s the power access like, are there noise limitations and so forth. These are things that would not spring to mind for someone who doesn’t have the experience of planning events, so leave it to us to help with!
>> Our top 8 corporate event venues in London
5. Fresh Perspective & Creative Designs
Event planning can be daunting – where do you start with creating an event that is exciting, engaging, and entirely unique? We bring fresh eyes to the project, new ideas and valuable outside perspectives to take your event to the next level. Perhaps you have a little seedling of an idea or design concept, but no idea how to pull it off. We keep up to date with emerging trends and innovative concepts, constantly seeking inspiration through fashion, interiors, art, landscape and architecture, bringing original creativity to the table. Trusting us as your corporate event planner transforms your seedling idea into vibrant design concepts, bringing your event to life!
6. Cross T’s & Dot I’s
An event planner should be meticulous in their methods. Throughout the planning process, there is a lot of going back and forth between venues, suppliers, guests, and hosts, from the initial enquiry through to contracts, execution, and post-event wrap-up. We handle these details for you, which is time-consuming yet crucial. Our agile events team acts on your behalf, quickly gathering information, creating designs and proposals in a cohesive and detail-oriented manner, while keeping you up to date through efficient and regular communication.
Behind every faultless event is a clear planning timeline. This ensures you know what decisions need to be made and when, keeping you on track to get the best out of your event. The all-important live event schedule, which takes time to bring together, gives you confidence that we have crossed all the t’s and dotted all the i’s for the event to exceed expectations.
7. Risk Planning & Legal Stuff
We always have plans A, B and C in place, but if something goes wrong (unlikely, but you never know!), chances are we’ve dealt with it before. We go into firefighter mode if needed and know all the tricks to resolve any issues efficiently and discreetly, without you or your guests needing to know or worry!
Risk management is one thing, but legalities can arise at any point – whether that be in the planning stages with contracts or post-event. We read through contracts on your behalf to ensure their terms are reasonable and align with the experience we are curating, raising any points that require your attention.
8. Be Your Support
Lastly, and on a more personal level, we act as an extension of your team. We aspire to be a trusted colleague, offering as much or as little support as needed. We listen, always give sound and objective advice, and are always honest. We’re here to help you deliver an exceptional event, without taking the glory!
Role of a Corporate Event Planner
The role of a corporate event planner is multifaceted, requiring a blend of creativity, organisational prowess, and strategic thinking. As your trusted partner, we take on the responsibility of transforming your company’s vision into a tangible, memorable experience.
We’re here to manage every aspect of an event from start to finish, including but not limited to:
- Creative Concept & Design: Developing a unique theme or concept that aligns with the brand’s goals and vision.
- Budget Management: Ensuring the event stays within the allocated budget while delivering maximum impact.
- Supplier Management: Sourcing and liaising with the best suppliers in the industry, including caterers, florists, audio-visual technicians, and entertainment providers. This ensures that every element of the event is of the highest quality.
- Execution: Overseeing the event on the day, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and any issues are quickly resolved. This allows the hosting company to focus on their guests and the event’s objectives without worrying about the details.
- Engagement & Experience: Creating engaging content and interactive experiences that resonate with attendees. This can include everything from live demonstrations and entertainment to social media integration and influencer collaborations.
Turn Business Goals into Unique Brand Experiences with Expert Corporate Planners By Your Side
Ultimately, our main goal as corporate event planners is to provide your guests with a memorable experience — something they’ll be talking about for months to come! We also strive to make every event valuable for you, the business and your clients. You are putting on this event with a business objective, and we will help you reach that objective far more effectively than if it were self-managed.
Planning an event is not easy, with so many moving parts and intricacies. That’s why having a planner involved at every step is invaluable and worth every penny! Whether you’re planning a small team-building retreat, a corporate away day to boost team morale or a large-scale product launch, the benefits of working with a professional event planner are undeniable. So, if you’re in the process of planning an event to achieve your business goals, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch with us today to start planning your next corporate event with a big ‘wow’ factor.
