Barbican
The Barbican has been a cornerstone of London’s cultural and conference landscape since opening in March 1982. Over the years, the Barbican has evolved to meet the ever-changing demands of the industry while preserving its architectural heritage.
Cementing its commitment to excellence, the City of London approved a £25 million investment in 2023 for the Barbican Renewal Programme. This project aims to reinvigorate the Centre by transforming underutilised spaces, enhancing its operational and environmental performance, whilst preserving its iconic architectural features. The Renewal Programme will ensure the Barbican remains a premier destination for international business events for decades.
The Barbican’s suitability for large-scale events is unrivalled. The Centre can cater to events of varying sizes, providing bespoke solutions to meet specific needs.
This year business events have:
*delivered 402 events — up 14%.
*boosted attendee numbers by 13%
*exceeded targets by £58k
*delivered £2.8million into the arts and education programmes
The Barbican’s commitment to innovation, exceptional customer service, and seamless integration of arts and commercial events makes it an industry leader. Its extensive range of versatile spaces, advanced technological capabilities, and unique cultural offerings ensure that every event held at the Barbican is a resounding success.
Copper Box Arena
Copper Box Arena, a key venue of the 2012 Games, has since attracted over 3 million visitors and hosts up to 7,500 spectators per event. Known as the ‘Box that Rocks’, it’s a versatile venue for over 100 high-profile events annually including sports, esports, entertainment and music festivals. The arena features extensive infrastructure including wide access roads, accessible parking, multiple rigging points and spacious concourse areas with catering outlets. Home to the London Lions basketball and London Pulse netball teams, the arena is also emerging as a major esports venue with events like the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational hosted in 2023 highlight its versatility.
Preferred suppliers and an in-house marketing team enhance event success ensuring flexibility, safety and security. The venue’s design prioritises accessibility, offering gradient-based access and varied seating options, making it ideal for events like the wheelchair rugby element of the Rugby League World Cup 2022.
Marketing strategies include cross-channel efforts and a new website to attract clients. Since winning the New Event Space Award in 2015, the arena has seen a 300% revenue increase. Operated by GLL under the Better brand, it’s part of the UK’s largest event space and leisure service provider.
Evolution London
Nestled within the serene surroundings of historic Battersea Park, Evolution London has established itself as an icon of excellence in the events industry since 2003. Offering 5,500 square metres of versatile event space with 8-metre-high ceilings, it accommodates up to 5,000 guests for exhibitions, 4,000 for receptions, 3,500 in theatre-style seating, and 2,000 for dinners and awards.
The venue features five distinct areas: the expansive Courtyard, the stylish Deck, the naturally lit Atrium, the strategically positioned Mezzanine, and the unimpeded Main Space. Each area is meticulously designed to cater to a variety of events, from AGMs and team-building activities to VIP lounges and private dining experiences.
In 2023, the venue welcomed over 86,023 attendees across 80+ events, maintaining a 71% customer retention rate. Evolution London’s catering partner, Moving Venue, and in-house production team, Encore, further enhance the event experience, ensuring bespoke and high-quality service.
Innovation is central to Evolution London’s operations, continuously adapting to meet industry demands and fostering professional connections through initiatives like Smart Friends. This commitment to versatility, client satisfaction, and excellence makes Evolution London a deserving candidate for best venue over 500 attendees.
Grand Sapphire Hotel and Banqueting
Grand Sapphire, established in 2015, is Croydon’s premier venue for gala dinners, awards ceremonies, charity events, and weddings. The 2024 renovation enhanced its luxury with redesigned ballrooms featuring crystal chandeliers, bespoke decor, and cutting-edge AV technology.
Grand Sapphire is ideal for large events, comfortably accommodating over 500 guests. It’s particularly popular with the South Asian community, often hosting large weddings with 500+ guests. The venue can host up to 2,000 standing or 1,000 seated guests in its pillarless ballroom, providing ample space for corporate conferences, galas, exhibitions, and large-scale social gatherings. The flexible design allows for multiple layout configurations, ensuring the venue adapts to specific event needs.
Customer service is paramount, with a team providing exceptional support from initial inquiry to final farewell. Grand Sapphire’s flexibility extends to allowing clients to choose their own caterers, promoting inclusivity.
Spice Village, the in-house award-winning catering company, specializes in authentic Pakistani cuisine, adding to the venue’s attraction for large events
KOKO
KOKO has been the beating heart of London’s cultural community for more than a century, the Grade II-listed Victorian theatre renowned for hosting iconic artists such as Madonna and Prince.
Relaunched in 2022 following a visionary six-year restoration and redesign led by CEO Olly Bengough, KOKO combines the beauty of its design with its storied history as a hotbed of live music, together with state-of-the art sound and lighting. It has become the go-to venue for brands including Frieze, Louis Vuitton and YouTube, as well as a favourite of current stars Stormzy, Dua Lipa and Skepta.
One of KOKO’s key strengths is the versatility provided by its myriad array of lounges, balconies and galleries. Max out the standing capacity of 1500, choose a luxury dinner experience for 160, or consider a theatre style conference for 250 – the formats options are extensive, and the aesthetics are simply stunning.
KOKO’s team excels at providing any bespoke elements required, from booking internationally renowned DJs to creating cocktail menus and sourcing vintage wines. Factor in five bars with a luxury offering, plus a licence that runs until 5am and you have everything in place for an unforgettable occasion, from conferences to fashion shows
Old Billingsgate
With a total floor space of 80,000 square feet, size is our forte. There are endless opportunities for our clients. While it may be assumed with size you lose atmosphere, at Old Billingsgate we are lucky enough to have both. The history of the building, with its Grade II listed architecture, makes us truly stand out from the rest.
With three independent and adaptable spaces, which can be hired separately or in conjunction with each other for up to a whopping 2500 guests, Old Billingsgate is a ‘one-stop-shop’ capable of holding a full programme of events all under one roof! The Grand Hall, with its high ceilings and open layout, can accommodate thousands of guests, while The Gallery and The Vault can offer additional breakout/ catering areas and after party spaces respectively.
Thankfully we haven’t had to think too far outside the box to maintain our status as being one of London’s largest, leading venues – we have a beautiful, vast, historic building in a stunning position in the City of London. This, mixed with a team who are passionate, not just about events, but events at Old Billingsgate, we think is the perfect combination.
Roundhouse
Events at Roundhouse are much more than just an event. Yes, it’s an incredible space. But when an event is staged at Roundhouse, it taps into the excitement of its cultural legacy and is infused with the reward of contributing to its mission to bring on the next generation of talent. So, it’s not just an event, it’s a Roundhouse event…and everything that it delivers.
From 1966 millions of guests have enjoyed a cornucopia of events at Roundhouse. Whether it’s a music, dance, theatrical or comedy event, conference, gala, awards ceremony or fashion show, people are drawn to this Camden venue. A mere 400,000 people each year come to learn, be entertained and contribute to the difference it makes in today’s culture.
With an artistic legacy that includes Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and more recently Burna Boy, Taylor Swift and the Chemical Brothers, it’s no surprise that artists at the top of their game still want to play at Roundhouse to be part of its history.
With successful alumni including Little Simz, Jack Rook and Daniel Kaluuya, Roundhouse’s success is plain to see. Since 2006 over 100,000 young creatives have benefited from Roundhouse’s programmes, facilities and mentorship.
Tobacco Dock
Tobacco Dock opened in 2012 and over the past decade has firmly cemented its place as one of the most in-demand event venues in the UK. Combining a historically and architecturally significant building with an exceptional team, industry-leading service partners, best-in-class data infrastructure, Tobacco Dock is a thoroughly modern venue, perfectly positioned to help clients create extraordinary events and brand experiences for up to 7,000 guests.
The Grade 1 listed building covers 16,000qm and comprises 57 different spaces which can be used in a multitude of combinations to create bespoke event layouts for events of all sizes. Featuring indoor and outdoor spaces (benefitting from plenty of covered areas to counteract the unpredictability of the British weather) with plenty of original details such as exposed brickwork, timber beams and ironwork, the interiors are characterful but stripped back, allowing for plenty of creative branding while still lending a strong sense of place.
An impressive list of service partners used to working in the building and delivering excellence as standard as well as in-house partners for catering and AV streamline the organisation process for clients, while accomplished Operations and Sales teams revel in creating outstanding events.

