London Conference Venue Price Guide and Event Planner 2012
Written on 23rd October 2011 by Matthew
Is it more expensive to hold your conference in March or October? Is it cheaper to hold your meeting on a Monday or Tuesday? Put simply there are no hard and fast rules to answer these questions as it comes down to so many different factors that drive a venues availability. If a venue has had no other enquiries, no space is being held and there is nothing in the events diary for the date you are interested in then prices will be lower. If you choose to have your conference in one of London’s busy periods for events or during the peak days of the week then expect to pay more.
To help you plan your event in London conference venues I have summarised below the main factors impacting prices at venues and put together this handy 2012 London Conference Venue Price Guide and Event Planner which you can download here. The planner shows the cheaper and most expensive times or the year along with key London sporting and business events taking place in 2012.
Expensive Dates
Midweek - Wednesday, Thursday and Fridays are the busiest days of the week when most conferences and events take place so competition for space will be high.
Trade Shows, Exhibitions, Conferences – February and March along with September and October are the times when a lot of the business facing trade shows and exhibitions take place. Bedroom rates can be at a premium during these times. Meeting and small conference space can also be impacted as offshoot events and meetings linked to the trade shows take place.
The Olympics – The jury is out on this one as you will find it extremely difficult and expensive to find bedrooms during the Olympic period if your conference runs over multiple days. However with much of the capitals bedrooms already booked this has led to many conference spaces being free as businesses have moved their conference to another part of the UK or moved their dates. It will be interesting to see what happens but we may find there is plenty of availability of one day conference space during the Olympic period and some great bargains to be had. You will have to leave booking well into next year though for the best prices.
Wimbledon, Ascot and Chelsea – These are probably the three biggest ongoing London events in the calendar with visitors coming from afar and booking out bedroom space. Multiple day conferences requiring accommodation may end up paying a premium during these times.
Cheap Dates
Monday and Friday - Space at London conference and meeting venues can always be found on a Monday and Friday so pick these dates for some great bargains.
School Holidays – If you think you will be able to get a high turnout for your London conference or meeting during a school holiday then some fantastic savings can be made. August is one of the quietest times of the year for venues and although logistically it will be hard to get everyone to attend it will be well worthwhile.
Bank Holidays – I am not saying that you should book your event on a bank holiday but using the days either side of bank holidays can save you money.
Download the London Conference Venues Event Planner and Price Guide here:
Thanks to Michael Brodie from Grange Hotels for his input into this.