It might only be October, but diaries are quickly filling up for the festive period. However you intend to plan a Christmas celebration with your team this year, making sure employees have an opportunity to come together and raise a glass is going to be more important than ever.
It’s been a challenging couple of years, with lockdowns, enforced home working, and more recently staff shortages across many sectors, which is putting further pressure on already busy teams. On top of that, many businesses have downsized their offices and moved to flexible or hybrid working models, enabling employees to work several days a week from home or remotely. Some employees may find they rarely share moments in the office, which can have a detrimental impact on team spirit and company culture.
This winter, while our many meetings and events continue, consider adding a sprinkling of festive cheer to the productivity mix as a small gesture of thanks to employees and clients. Not every celebration has to be an all singing, all dancing Christmas party, but a glass of mulled wine, mince pie and opportunity to network after an intense meeting or training session can go a long way.
Morale booster
Company events that bring the whole business together in person are becoming increasingly important to mitigate the effects of the loss of daily face-to-face interaction.
Giving your employees something to look forward to and a chance to unwind at the end of the year can be a great morale booster. A simple drinks reception tagged onto a conference or team building day can be a great bonding experience and one of the only times that you may get members of teams from different departments mingling with each other, especially in this new hybrid working environment.
Thanking and rewarding your staff helps create a strong company culture, which is more important than ever for attracting and retaining staff, with competition for the best talent fierce across the board.
Finding the right ‘bleisure’ space
Mixing business with pleasure has been termed ‘bleisure’ in recent times. This reflects the balance between productive work events and memorable sociable experiences.
Choosing an external venue that takes employees away from their day to day, encourages creativity, and makes them feel special and valued. It can often be easier to strike this balance of work and play away from your regular office, which is likely associated purely with work.
Find an event space that will captivate and energise your colleagues with space for plenary sessions, breakout workshops and more. With grand, wooden panelling and tall windows overlooking the Lawns, the Tuke Common Room at Regent’s is made up of three interconnecting areas, giving events a range of possible set-up options from board meeting and training events in the daytime, to intimate dinners or mulled wine and cider receptions for up to 100, complete with mince pies and festive-themed menus in the evening.
Our grand Herringham Hall, with its tall ceilings and huge arch windows overlooking the grounds, will be certain to leave a lasting impression, and is the perfect backdrop for an end of year company conference, to look back on the successes of the year and plan ahead for 2023, followed by a stylish festive dinner or reception.
For smaller groups of up to 40 guests, the Knapp Gallery is an ideal space for creative brainstorming sessions. All year round the space houses ever-changing exhibitions, giving your guests an inspiring talking point, while the structural architecture of the room creates a perfect break-out space that can be set-up during a meeting or event with minimal disruption.
High demand!
You might not feel ready to start thinking about Christmas yet, but demand for event venues is high, especially in London, with corporate events competing for space with the wide variety of social events that have been rescheduled over the past two years. Don’t leave it to the last minute – start planning now to ensure you get the right venue and the best rates to make Christmas 2022 one to remember!
