Best New or Refurbished Venue
8½ London
8½ London, housed within the historic Grade I listed Skinners’ Hall, has emerged from a landmark 2024 refurbishment as one of the City’s most distinctive event destinations. Combining over 700 years of history with contemporary hospitality, the venue offers a unique blend of heritage architecture, modern design and flexible event functionality in the heart of London.
Led by 6a Architects, the refurbishment transformed previously underused spaces into elegant and versatile environments suited to corporate events, private dining, weddings, receptions and cultural experiences. State-of-the-art AV, lighting and acoustic systems were seamlessly integrated throughout the building, alongside major accessibility and sustainability improvements including fully electric systems and thermal upgrades.
Destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt in the years that followed, Skinners’ Hall continues its legacy of reinvention today. Original blackened marks from the fire can still be seen within the historic vaulted spaces, offering guests a rare connection to London’s past while experiencing a future-focused venue designed for modern events.
Through the fusion of heritage, innovation and exceptional hospitality, 8½ London has redefined the historic event venue experience.
Barts North Wing
Barts North Wing is one of London’s most extraordinary new event venues, born from a £9.5 million restoration of the Grade I-listed North Wing of St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Britain’s oldest hospital, founded in 1123.
Completed in August 2025 following a meticulous two-year project by the charity Barts Heritage, the building has been returned to its full splendour for the first time in half a century. Guests arrive into the Hogarth Stair, where two vast Hogarth canvases, now expertly cleaned and conserved, set the tone for what follows. The centrepiece Great Hall, with its restored ornate plasterwork ceiling and the 1743 Charter Window depicting Henry VIII, accommodates up to 300 guests for conferences, gala dinners and receptions. For smaller meetings and private dining, the Henry VIII Room and Treasurer’s Room offer an equally characterful setting.
The restoration provided the opportunity to fully modernise the building’s infrastructure, with new lighting, heating and audio systems ensuring it meets every demand of contemporary event production.
Every booking directly funds Barts Heritage’s health and wellbeing programme for hospital staff and patients, giving clients an authentic story to share. As one guest put it, Barts North Wing is simply “beautifully unique.”
Guinness Vaults
The Guinness Vaults is a purpose-built events space within Guinness Open Gate Brewery London, managed by Company of Cooks and conceived by Diageo. Opened in December 2025 as part of a £73 million destination at Old Brewer’s Yard, it combines historic brewing heritage with a modern event offer. The venue includes two connected spaces, the Barrel Room and Bottle Room, accommodating up to 300 guests for receptions, 100 for dinner and 120 theatre style.
Rooted in the former Combe & Co. brewery site, the venue celebrates Guinness’s heritage through design details such as Archie Proudfoot’s The Guinness Tree of Life and artwork made from Guinness glassware fragments. Its appeal extends beyond Guinness and Diageo teams, with clients including Warner Bros., Panasonic, Women’s Six Nations Rugby and Allied Irish Bank.
Events can be enhanced through Brewery Tours, masterclasses, personalised gifts, tailored welcome screens and STOUTie machines. The drinks offer includes Guinness 0.0 on tap, on-site brewed beers, seasonal serves and tasting flights, while the food menu features Irish-inspired dishes and pies created with Callum Franklin. Community use, bespoke packages, trusted suppliers and targeted agent showcases support the venue’s wider positioning as a distinctive, flexible and experience-led London event space.
The Forum powered by Huckletree
The Forum powered by Huckletree occupies its own dedicated floor within 40 Leadenhall, the 900,000 sq ft City of London tower designed by Make Architects and completed in 2024. Newly built rather than refurbished as part of the tower’s 2024/25 fit-out, every element of the venue’s production and hospitality infrastructure is current-generation from day one.
Designed exclusively for business events, the space runs as a single self-contained floor – guests move from a dedicated reception, via a feature spiral staircase, into a light-filled lounge that doubles as networking space, sponsor exhibition area or evening reception, then into a 200-seat tiered auditorium. A private green room gives speakers and VIPs a discreet space to prepare.
The auditorium is built for hybrid delivery: a 205-inch 4K LED video wall, beam-steering audio, AI-powered PTZ cameras with automatic speaker tracking, live streaming, and a dedicated control room, all supported by an on-site AV technician for every hire. Catering runs from plated dining to interactive chef stations, tailored to each event.
Positioned for conferences, leadership summits, product launches, AGMs and awards ceremonies, The Forum combines purpose-built production with the building’s BREEAM Excellent, NABERS and WELL Platinum sustainability credentials.
The Line
The Line, located on Victoria Embankment, offers an unparalleled event experience where iconic London views meet social purpose. Situated just five minutes from Blackfriars, the venue’s architectural highlights include the 7th floor Skyline, a glass wrapped-space with panoramic views of the Thames, OXO Tower, and The Shard – and the 6th floor Highline, a premier year-round roof terrace.
Operating on a unique Profit for Purpose model, 100% of The Line’s profits are gifted to Nesta to solve critical social challenges like climate change and national health. This makes every event an investment in a better future.
Beyond the view, The Line leads in innovation with integrated hybrid technology in every room and a bespoke 4K podcast studio. Supported by B Corp caterer FIKA, the venue combines first class facilities with a commitment to ethical excellence. Whether for a 200- person reception or a global broadcast, The Line provides a unique, mission driven backdrop that ensures every event is both memorable and meaningful.
The Tower Hotel London
The Tower Suite at The Tower Hotel represents a new era for London events. Following a two-year full refurbishment, the iconic space reopened in May 2026 with a completely redesigned look and feel, combining contemporary design, advanced technology and the hotel’s unrivalled views of Tower Bridge.
Created with the modern event organiser in mind, the transformed Tower Suite offers a flexible, premium environment for conferences, gala dinners, meetings and celebrations, accommodating up to 550 delegates theatre style. Alongside the adjoining Bridge Suite and the hotel’s wider portfolio of 16 event spaces, it provides a complete destination for residential and non-residential events.
The refurbishment was guided by a clear vision: to deliver an exceptional venue experience where design, service and functionality work seamlessly together. By listening to clients, agencies and industry partners, The Tower Hotel has created a space that meets evolving event requirements while maintaining the unique sense of place that comes from hosting an event beside one of London’s most iconic landmarks.
The Tower Suite showcases the perfect blend of heritage, innovation and hospitality, setting a new standard for events in the capital.
TOGETHER at 88 Wood Street
TOGETHER opened at 88 Wood Street in April 2026. Not just a new venue, but a new events company, built from the ground up in one of the most competitive events markets in the world. The people behind it bring decades of hands-on experience across meetings, conferences and live events. Co-founders Elliott Sparsis and Declan Cassidy set out to build something with the ambition of a startup and the judgement of a team that has done this for years.
