Rewrite the template for planning the perfect event with inspiration from the North’s leading unique venues.
Engaging delegates and motivating planners in ever-surprising ways, unique venues reflect the current industry standards while offering exciting new approaches to bring events together. With each possessing untapped event potential, a look at the revealing trends found across the North’s most unique venues can help create a truly special event.
Embracing new ideas
Taking the attention away from conventional buildings, converting alternative structures into a unique events space is becoming more commonplace in the industry. Hosting events on the move during 2022, the converted Great Western Saloon locomotive venue provided by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway showcases a unique way to host intimate networking events under the charm of the post-war era. Meanwhile on the River Clyde, The Tall Ship holds a reputation as one of only five sailing ships of its kind still afloat in the UK while combining glamourous private dinners and maritime themed activities as part of its diverse events package.
Boasting striking looks of the original space, these photogenic venues hold an instant visual appeal which aids planners when marketing an event before, during, and after its launch. But behind the lens, the preserved original features across these standout venues also provides endless discussion points for delegates as they mingle and create vital lasting impressions of the unique event.
Encouraging creativity
An unconventional venue often provides planners opportunity for equally unconventional approaches to staging events and ways to showcase a brand creatively. Clean and stripped down, the exposed brick architecture of industrial spaces such as Glasgow’s SWG3 and Argyle Street Arches provides a simple and uncluttered space for organisers to really make the space their own and incorporate bespoke branding. The blank canvas setting also gives AV suppliers more space to flex their technical skills, while delegates can be kept at ease and sociable thanks to oversized windows letting in an abundance of natural light.
Team players
The drastic changes of scenery and atmosphere that unique venues offer also enrich the experience during team building events, with the growing number of team building-led sites greatly expanding the range of group activity ideas to keep clients motivated.
Bringing delegates closer to the elements, outdoor venues such as Centre Parcs’ sites in Nottingham and Cumbria place modern conferencing rooms within acres of natural woodland for planners to expand their event offering. Numerous walking trails allow delegates to generate ideas together in a refreshing change of setting, while the adventurous water sports and treetop activities on offer introduces an extra dynamic to the standard team building session. Theme parks like Alton Towers and Drayton Manor can alternatively be hired as one exclusive venue for delegates to enjoy some adrenaline-fuelled leisure post- conference.
For planners in particular, the venue’s added flexibility and space ready for use at their disposal also grants more control to run bespoke team building sessions tailored to their own brand and enhancing the company’s reputation in the process.
What’s inside counts
While buildings brimming with quirky architecture often spring to mind when picturing a typical unique venue, the outside visuals are not the only factor.
Based centrally in some of the North’s busiest business hubs, the vibrant interiors across The Studio venues have elevated the space to become a key part of the event experience rather than just the backdrop. Combining silver birch pillars, retro sweet wall murals, and bold standout furniture, it’s one example of creating a unique environment for clients to be energised from a meeting of creativity, fun, and productivity.