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Big events, big bucks?

The top end of corporate hospitality is said to have been hardest hit by the recession, yet corporations are still spending to entertain valued clients. Vikki Carley found out where the big money is going.

Those who plan corporate events speak of a new practice called ‘stealth spending’. In some cases, a corporate gathering is so well disguised that the event planners may not even know whose event they are working on. The subdued approach stems from worries that anything too lavish will suggest the companies are out of touch with the painful financial circumstances of many. But it does not mean the parties have stopped.

Venturi’s Table, a London cookery centre for corporate team building, claims an uptake in its services since the economic downturn, a surge it attributes to “the new 'undercover' approach to corporate hospitality”.

A spokesperson from the Wandsworth Town-based business said: “It seems that corporate organisations are still splashing out on indulgent events for their clients, but they are being much more discreet about their spending so as not to appear out of touch in a post-recession climate.”

The company’s results showed that before December 2008, client hospitality only accounted for around 17 per cent of the cookery centre’s overall business. Now it commands almost 47 per cent, alongside its teambuilding offerings.

The cookery centre has also experienced a 54 per cent increase in enquiries from corporate hospitality agencies as they request ideas for more low-key events.

Tina Benson, managing director of event management company Team Tactics, says: “There has been a considerable drop in demand for big ‘show-off’ events. Also, branded boxes or hospitality enclosures at sporting events have never been so unpopular with companies.

“We have found that clients, however, still have money to spend, but they are interested in smaller, more bespoke ways to entertain clients. Hospitality expenditure is also being spread over a number of activities for clients, rather than being focussed on one big, expensive event.”

For Whittlebury Hall management training centre, hotel and spa in Northamptonshire, companies have moved away from external hospitality to internal gatherings.

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