Wembley Stadium
Wembley has held a special place in this writer’s heart since she could spy the Twin Towers from her childhood bedroom window. These days, the view is somewhat different, the new stadium’s soaring arch lighting up north-west London on event nights. Open since 2007, the Foster and Partners-designed venue hosted the Olympic football final last month and has also welcomed large-scale musical events such as Live Earth, but more modest-sized affairs can be arranged in its meeting spaces.
The largest, the Bobby Moore room, holds 1,800 delegates for a banquet, with pitch views from its mezzanine level. Others include the Great Hall, hosting 1,090 for dinner; the Atrium, seating 700 people theatre-style; two 250-capacity Pitch View rooms; and 160 corporate boxes for between eight and 20 people. Groups can combine their meeting with a behind-the-scenes tour, during which they can peek in the changing rooms and take the players’ tunnel to the pitch.
Note that meetings cannot be booked on event days. While the pitch cannot be used for activities, the separately run Lucozade Powerleague football centre next to the stadium (powerleague.co.uk) has six five-a-side pitches and a seven-a-side one, which can be hired.
Over the road, the new Hilton Wembley opened in July and has 361 guestrooms, a 700-capacity ballroom, 11 meeting rooms and the ninth-floor Sky Bar 9, which is reserved for private events and offers stadium views. Wembley Park tube station is minutes away and links to the West End in 20 minutes.
If you are not worried about igniting partisan rivalries, other London football venues with meeting facilities include Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge (chelseafc.com), which can host between two and 1,500 people in its spaces, and Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium (arsenal.com), holding 50 to 500 delegates for conferences or 1,200 for a reception. For two weeks at the end of the season, you can also play on Arsenal’s pitch and host guests in a hospitality area. Stadium tours can be arranged.
- Wembley Stadium; tel +44 (0)20 8795 9660; wembleystadium.com
Lord’s
For any cricket fan, turf doesn’t get more hallowed than at Lord’s. Founded by Thomas Lord in 1787, it has been based at its St John’s Wood location since 1814 and is the home of Marylebone Cricket Club – guardian of the laws of the sport – and the Ashes urn. It also has a multitude of meeting venues that can be used for everything from dinners and parties to conferences and exhibitions.
The most impressive are in the Pavilion, the Grade II Listed Victorian clubhouse. The Long Room, a bright, high-ceilinged space lined with cricket portraiture, makes an elegant setting for a 200-person banquet and has an adjoining bar. For smaller dinners of 60, there’s the Writing and Committee Dining rooms. All three overlook the pitch. A strict jacket and tie rule applies in the Pavilion.
Altogether more contemporary is the JP Morgan Media Centre, a space age-style aluminium pod opened in 1999 to mark the millennium. With 70 tiered seats looking on to the green, it’s a good choice for seminars. Other spaces include the Thomas Lord suite, a purpose-built flexible space that holds 500 for a reception; the 1,000 sqm Nursery Pavilion, with a maximum capacity of 1,000; and ten Tavern meeting rooms – private boxes on match days – which hold 20 delegates boardroom-style. For outdoor receptions there’s the Pavilion Roof Terrace and the pretty Harris Garden, both for 250 people, and the 300-capacity Mount Stand Terrace.
The pitch cannot be used for events but guests can take a guided tour of the grounds or visit the museum, filled with all manner of memorabilia as well as the diminutive Ashes urn, presented by the victorious Aussies in 1882 to mark the “death” of British cricket – they’ve been fighting it out ever since. The museum can be hired in the evening for a 250-person stand-up canapé reception. Not many venues can be used on match days (the season runs from mid-April to mid-September, with Lord’s also being the base for Middlesex County), although hospitality packages are available – for major international fixtures such as the Ashes, these sell out quickly. Lord’s is about 3km from the West End.
- Marylebone Cricket Club, Lord’s Ground; tel +44 (0)20 7616 8501; lords.org
The Queen’s Club
While not as famous as its neighbour over the river in Wimbledon, where Queen’s wins out as a meeting venue is in its capacity to stage teambuilding events and away days. The home of June’s AEGON tennis championship – used by the major players as a warm-up for Wimbledon – as well as the UK headquarters for real tennis and rackets (a precursor of squash), the West Kensington club was established in 1886 and provides an attractive setting for events.
Bespoke “sporting days” can be arranged for up to 70 people, though groups of 24-32 are most common. A popular option is an afternoon starting with a buffet lunch, then an hour’s coaching with a pro, a knock-out tournament, prize giving, drinks and dinner. Real tennis, racquets and squash can be played throughout the year, but lawn tennis days are only possible from the end of Wimbledon to the first week of September – and, within that, note that grass courts cannot be hired as they are reserved for members (indoor, shale, plexi and artificial grass courts are used instead). Remember your tennis whites.
The Club restaurant seats 50 people for dinner, while for more formal occasions, the President’s room is a lovely traditional space holding 120 for dinner or 180 for a reception, with a balcony overlooking the courts. There is also the Real Tennis Museum, seating 12, and the modern Centenary boardroom, for up to 30 delegates. Note that all rooms and sporting days are subject to availability. Hospitality for the AEGON championships can be booked at lta.org.uk.
- Palliser Road; tel +44 (0)20 7386 3400; queensclub.co.uk
Epsom Downs Racecourse
One of the closest courses to London, Epsom also gets the nod for its royal pedigree – its annual Derby usually gets some blue-blooded visitors, and this year the Queen kicked off her Diamond Jubilee celebrations there. Its meeting spaces overlook the North Downs on one side and the London skyline on the other (poor weather when I visited meant I couldn’t see much, but I was told the views stretched from Heathrow Terminal 4 to Canary Wharf, taking in the London Eye and the Shard).
Facilities are split across the original Queen’s stand and the newer Duchess’s stand, added in 2009 as a conference and exhibition centre. The largest venue, Oaks Hall, has room for 800 delegates theatre-style or 1,000 for a reception, while three adjoining suites – the Diomed, Lammtarra and Gallops rooms – seat 600 for dinner combined. Other notable venues include the 80-capacity Royal Box, featuring portraits of Derby winners in ornate gold frames and a balcony overlooking the winning post. There are also a number of private boxes for small meetings.
Selected teambuilding activities can be arranged in the grounds (as long as you don’t disturb the horses stabled there), and there is a golf course opposite. There are 13 fixtures a year between April and September and all suites can be booked on these days; hospitality packages are also available. A 120-room Holiday Inn Express property is located on-site. Epsom station is just over a half-hour journey from London Waterloo or Victoria, from where it’s ten minutes in a taxi (Tattenham Corner station is a short walk from the course, though the train journey takes a bit longer).
- Epsom Downs; tel +44 (0)1372 726 311; epsomdowns.co.uk
West London Shooting School
If you trust your clients or staff enough to put a gun in their hand, take them to the country’s oldest shooting school, located just off the A40 in Northolt, close to the RAF airfield. Established in 1901, it offers a wide range of clay pigeon shooting packages for groups. These range from the Brunch shoot, an early morning session that allows delegates to be back at their desk by midday, to the full-day Woodward, comprising a traditional shoot breakfast, morning and afternoon competitive sessions, lunch and afternoon tea. Evening shoots are possible between April and September. Expert tuition is provided and prizes can be supplied.
Rifle shooting, 4x4 driving (blindfolded if you dare), quad biking, archery and fly fishing can also be arranged in the school’s 80 hectares of grounds. While the average group size is about 20, as few as four people or as many as 200 could be accommodated. The lodge’s restaurant seats 52 or can be used as a meeting room for 25 delegates; marquees can also be set up. The school is a short taxi ride from South Ruislip tube station, or there are two helipads if you want to arrive in style.
- Sharvel Lane, West End Road, Northolt; tel +44 (0)20 8845 1377; shootingschool.co.uk
Teamsport Tower Bridge
Do you have a need for speed? Get yourself down to Teamsport Tower Bridge, opened by the indoor go-karting operator in January last year. The venue comprises two tracks across two tiers that can be combined to create one 800-metre circuit, designed with hairpin bends and drops to challenge any F1 wannabe. It’s also carbon-neutral, using lithium battery-powered electric karts that can reach speeds of up to 40mph, with any other emissions being offset.
Groups of up to 100 can be accommodated, with 20 drivers allowed on the track at a time. Options include individual Grand Prix events – where drivers go through qualifying heats, with the fastest competing in a final race – or team racing, in which participants work together to complete the most laps. Full- or half-day events can be arranged. A podium presentation with trophies rewards the winners, and Teamsport’s very own “Stig” – or “Bruce” – might make an appearance.
There are two meeting rooms holding 80 and 30 people theatre-style respectively, and a track-side bar-café. A range of catering options is available. It’s a few minutes’ walk from Bermondsey tube station, which is one stop from London Bridge and two from Canary Wharf. Teamsport has nine other tracks in England and Wales.
- Tower Bridge Business Park, 100 Clements Road; tel +44 (0)844 410 9109; team-sport.co.uk
City Golf
You’ll be hard pressed finding a centrally located golf course but City Golf provides a credible alternative. What’s more, you could find yourself teeing off at Pebble Beach one minute then careering around the F1 Monaco track the next.
Founded in 2005, the venue is minutes from Bank station and can be booked for teambuilding, client entertainment, presentations or receptions. Its six 3.5-metre-high golf simulators allow players to take aim on more than 50 courses around the world, including St Andrews and Valderrama. Smaller groups of up to four people per simulator could play a full game – the average time taken per player being 30 minutes – while larger gatherings could try “Nearest the pin”, suitable for all abilities, “Longest drive”, ideal for more experienced players, or “Texas scramble”, good for teambuilding. Tuition from PGA professionals can be arranged.
The simulators can be linked up to gaming consoles to offer Formula One and Gran Turismo racing (using driving simulation bucket seats), Lasersniper clay pigeon shooting, flight simulation, downhill skiing, Singstar karaoke, Guitar Hero and other Wii and Playstation games. They can also be used for film screenings, and discos, dinners and poker games are other options. Up to 250 people can be accommodated across the whole venue, while the bar can be set up to hold 60 people theatre-style, with a Bang and Olufsen sound system, pull-down screen and projector.
- 40 Coleman Street; tel +44 (0)20 7796 5960; citygolfclubs.com
All Star Lanes Brick Lane
Fancy a bit of Big Lebowski action with your meeting? All Star Lanes has four venues in the capital – including Holborn, Bayswater and Westfield Stratford City – but the biggest is in the old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane. Open since 2008, it has nine bowling lanes – three of which are in a private room upstairs – and can be hired exclusively for up to 500 people.
The main hall has a retro Americana vibe, while the private room upstairs, which holds 130 guests, has a sleeker feel, decked out in white, black and cream with its own bar. There are two pool tables and a pair of karaoke booths in the main hall, with singing and Wii games also possible via a flatscreen upstairs. DJs can be accommodated on both floors. Prizes for the top-scoring Dudes can be arranged, such as medals and engraved bowling pins, and shirts can be personalised.
If you must ruin all the fun with a more formal meeting, 120 seats can be set up theatre-style in the main hall, with a projector screen, or 40 in the private room. There is also a diner that can host 70 people for a sit-down dinner or 120 for a buffet.
The Holborn, Bayswater and Westfield branches can be hired exclusively for 300, 350 and 400 people respectively, with the first two both featuring two-lane private rooms.
- 95 Brick Lane; tel +44 (0)20 7426 9204; allstarlanes.co.uk
