Things to consider when finding venues in Leicester

Choosing a venue of an important event and function can be a very stressful decision and due to the vast amount of venues in Leicester, UK, it is very important that you consider a few key factors before signing on the dotted line.



1. Your event
It is very important to consider your event when choosing your venues leicester. Not only do you need to think about the size of your event, whether or not you will be having entertainment. If you will be requiring food you need to ensure that they provide this service. If you will be taking pictures, either personal or professional, you must check possible locations. This could either be the rooms in your venue or different locations around Leicester.

2. Your guests
The number of guests attending your event is another vital element to think about. Your venue must be able to hold all your guests, but also provide enough space so that everyone is not crammed in.
Age is another factor that needs to be considered. If elderly or disabled individuals will be attending your event, you must ensure that the venue contains features, such as lifts or handrails, which will be needed.

The City Rooms, Leicester from nick pateman on Vimeo.

3. Your time frame
The duration of your event is another key factor as you need to guarantee that you can hire your venue for the entire time. Another issue is whether you would like the whole event in one venue. If you are going to relocate it is important to consider how and when you are going to move your guests.



4. Parking
Once you have collated your final number of guests, you need to consider how many will need to park in the city centre. Leicester does boost an array of car parks and thus you will be able to provide for as many as possible.
If parking is not an issue for your event, you gain much more freedom when choosing your Leicester venue.

5. Style
If your event is themed, either simply by colour, dress code or decoration, this may affect your choice of venue. For a Midlands city, Leicester is able to offer a vast array of modern, Georgian and gothic buildings.
Choosing a complimentary venue in Leicester will increase the ‘wow’ factor of your event, the pleasure your attendees take in coming to your event and enhance the photographs taken throughout your event.

5 Simple tips on how to organise a conference in Leicester on a budget

1. Join with another company
As conferences can be really expensive one major way of cutting costs is to combine your conference with at least one or two other firms in the same industry.
Leicester contains many business head offices and so is the perfect place for this idea to be successful.
By halving this part of the budget, you may be able to spend more on extra features, such as catering and refreshments.

2. Venue
The cheapest option would be to hold your conference within your own office building. However, if you do need to hire a venue ensure that you book it well in advance if your conference date, as this will allow you to obtain the cheapest rate possible.
Also choosing a venue that is easily accessible for all your delegates is another way of cutting costs. This will reduce the travel expenses of your delegates and therefore save on fuel charges and transport costs.

3. Recycle
In order to save money further, try and recycle as much material as from previous conferences, this can include gifts, speeches and information. Although this will probably need adjusting to become current and relevant it will be far cheaper that investing in brand new materials.
It is also better to not offer your attendees paper hand outs. Not only does this help towards saving the environment but also saves money and time in resources. Instead upload the criteria and agenda on to the conference website.

4. Volunteers
Paying for staff for your conference is one of the most expensive choices for an event.
If you are going to offer refreshments and photography at your conference it is a much cheaper option to try and involve a local volunteer company or charity. As an incentive you could offer a cut of conference ticket sales if you have charged for attendees, or offer to raise awareness of their cause.

5. Refreshments/Catering
Decide what will be the best option for providing food and drinks at your conference.
If your conference will only be a few hours long, provide jugs of iced water, containing lemon slices, rather than choosing the more expensive option of bottled water.
If you need to provide food during your conference choose a buffet option rather than a sit down meal. This is save money regarding the food but will also save you paying out for waiting staff.

Beautiful venue in Leicester

The other day a friend of mine hosted her wedding at a venue in Leicester's city centre. She was absolutely thrilled with the venue and said she couldn't of enjoyed her special day any more! 'The canopies were fantastic!'

She sent me this short video of some HD images from the venue. I have to say it does look rather impressive! Check out more of their images at services at their website - TheCityRooms.co.uk

What venue suits you?

Due to the small nature of the city of Leicester, many people assume that it would provide unsatisfactory venues for numerous types of event. However, these people are very wrong. Although Leicester is a somewhat compact city, it boasts a wide variety of architectural styles. Venues in Leicester range from contemporary modern buildings to old Georgian grade listed structures. Therefore, no matter what type of event you are looking to host, it is guaranteed that Leicester will be able to provide.



The advantages of a modern venue

Because Leicester is an ever developing city, always aiming to improve, there are several modern builds. Due to the nature of contemporary buildings, it eliminates any concern about facilities, for example the toilets, sound systems or lighting. This is a huge advantage as it allows for relatively stress-free decisions about your event such as how to create a specific mood. A modern venue also allows you to ensure that there will be no problems with disabled or elderly guests as this will have been considered during the design stage of the build.
Therefore, by opting for one of Leicester’s contemporary venues you eliminate many of the stresses that come with an older building.

The advantages of an old venue

Leicester contains several stunning historical venues, whereby simply the architecture will impress your guests before they even walk through the door. Whereas, a modern venue allows for easier planning, the older venue will naturally create the perfect ambiance for any event, whether it is a conference, wedding or anniversary party. Also, many of Leicester’s older venues have been enhanced so to be able to deal with large parties, ensuring that they are able to provide for elderly or disabled guests.
Photographs are always far more beautiful when taken inside an old building. Their structures leave no detail forgotten and so whether you are in a ballroom or the corridor there will always be a nice backdrop for you to take a photo.

The advantages of a large venue

Obviously you need to take into consideration how many people shall be attending your event, but when booking a large venue it does allow for you to choose several options to enhance your event. Even if you do not need all the room for guests, you could set up a guests book if it is a wedding or party, a child’s section if small children will need to be entertained, a buffet table if you are providing nibbles, or a dance floor section.

The advantages of a small venue

You do not need to feel pressured to book a large venue for your event in Leicester. If you are having more of a small gathering there are numerous small venues for you to choose from. The main benefit of a smaller venue is that you can easily create a more personal and cosy atmosphere.

Different types of conferences in Leicester

1. Traditional

There are many venues which allow for a traditional conference in Leicester. This is a conference where there is a sole speaker and everyone else sits and listens quietly. There is often no interaction between speaker and audience and the agenda is adhered to with the utmost precision.

2. Contemporary

On the other hand there are also numerous venues that allow for a more contemporary conference in Leicester. This style of conference is much more animated and allows for audience participation. It is often the case that these conferences are broken up into presentations, activities and networking.

3. Full day conferences

When planning a full day conference in Leicester it is important to consider how you will keep your audience engaged for the full duration. Full day conferences are often carried out in a much more contemporary style. Food and refreshments will need to be provided and toilet facilities are also a must.

4. Half day conference

Half day conferences are often in a much more traditional style as there is not much chance for the audience to switch off. In Leicester, half day conferences tend to be conducted in far more corporate venues.

How to make your conference different in Leicester

1. Venue

Go crazy and book a venue totally different to those typical of a conference. Leicester is home to numerous interesting and unconventional buildings for your conference. Leicester’s buildings range from hotels, restaurants, retail outlets, music stores, craft shops, leisure facilities and outdoor parks all of which could be suitable for a conference.

2. Activity

Why not incorporate an activity into your conference Leicester. This could be a game of some sort or a craft task; this will encourage your attendees to become involved in the conference topic. These could be carried out on an individual or a team level encouraging competitiveness or individuality.

3. Style

Many conferences are boring and attendees spend more energy trying to keep their eyes open than paying attention to what is being presented. To avoid this base your conference around a style or theme. Due to Leicester’s variety of buildings, costume shops and decoration stores, it would be very easy to incorporate this idea into your conference. Not only will this intrigue your attendees but also entice them into listening what you have to say

Choosing a venue in Leicester

1. Visit
Before you make any decision about your venue in Leicester make sure that you go and visit it several times. This will ensure that you are completely happy with it. It will also allow you to take measurements of the different rooms, imagine how different elements of your event will pan out and how you shall arrive at the venue in Leicester.



2. Ask questions
Always ask the venue manager any questions you may have regardless of how silly you may think they are. As all the venues in Leicester are different and offer different advantages it is always best to put your mind at complete ease by knowing everything you need to know.
It may also be that you have some requests you may wish the venue to fulfil and so these will need to be asked well ahead of the event.

3. Book
Because most of the venues in Leicester are stunning they get booked up very quickly, especially around peak seasons such as summer, Christmas and Easter. To ensure that you get your first choice of venue Leicester it is advisable to book 8-12 months in advance of the event date.