The honest answer is that a London corporate event costs whatever the room, the food and the production add up to — but that is useless when you need a number for a budget line. Below are the bands we actually quote against, and what falls inside each.
Typical budget bands
Under £10,000. Up to around 80 guests, a single space, standard AV and a straightforward catering package. Achievable, but there is little room for staging or branded production.
£10,000 to £25,000. 100 to 200 guests with real production: a stage, screens, a sound system that works at the back of the room, and someone show-calling the agenda. Most launches and mid-size client events land here.
£25,000 to £60,000. Conference territory. Multiple sessions or breakouts, speaker management, branded environment and session recording. This is the most common band for a 250 to 500 delegate day.
£60,000 and above. Multi-day, multi-city, broadcast-quality capture, or a bespoke build. At this level the production schedule matters more than the venue.
Where the money actually goes
On a typical London conference, venue hire and catering take roughly half the budget, technical production a third, and the remainder covers content, branding, staffing and contingency. Agency fees sit on top and are usually 10 to 18 per cent of supplier spend, or a fixed fee on smaller projects.
The costs teams forget
- Venue-mandated suppliers. Some venues require in-house AV or rigging at their rates. Ask before you sign.
- Build and derig time. An event day is often three days of venue access.
- Connectivity. House Wi-Fi rarely carries a stream. A dedicated line is a real line item.
- Overtime. Crew hours are capped; overruns are charged.
- Contingency. Budget five to ten per cent, or the first problem eats the margin of the event.
How to get a number you can trust
Ask for an itemised quote that separates agency fees from supplier cost. If a proposal gives you one total with no breakdown, you cannot tell whether you are paying for delivery or for margin. We publish indicative bands on each service page for exactly this reason — see corporate event planning in London, conference production in London and corporate Christmas parties.
If you have a figure in mind and want to know what it realistically buys, book a call and we will tell you straight.