Nicola MacdonaldVenue booking platform Hire Space has unveiled the top trends for this year’s Christmas party season, compiled from extensive research by its Venue Experts.
The top venues receiving enquiries for Christmas parties show a mix of trendy modern spaces and elegant historic venues. The most popular venue this Christmas is RSA House, located just off the Strand, it offers a wide range of spaces, with everything from modern reception rooms to grand dining halls.
Runners up include Shakespeare’s Globe at number two, Andaz London, Liverpool Street at number three, The Brewery on Chiswell Street at number four and Carousel in the West End at number five.
This year’s most popular date for Christmas celebrations is Thursday 14 December, closely
followed by Thursday 7 December, Friday 8 December, Wednesday 13 December, and Friday 15 December. So, if you’re out on any of those dates prepare yourself for tipsy tube travellers and sozzled Uber surges.
This year’s Christmas party bookings show an increased focus on informal dining options, which are now far more popular than more formal, seated dinners when it comes to Christmas entertaining. This is down to the surge in popularity of street food as well as buffets. This is a trend that shows no sign of stopping increasing from last year by 14.28 per cent.
Taking a look at party spending by sector, Hire Space found that it’s the property industry which throws the biggest Christmas parties. However, when you look at spending per head, it’s the media industry that lavishes guests with the highest spend at parties with an 12% increase in spend per head compared to 2016.
The best time to book a Christmas party is August. That’s because most Christmas enquiries are received at the beginning of September, and finalised by the end of the month. Larger events tend to book earlier and take longer to finalise bookings.
The South and Central London remain top choices for Christmas parties, however East London continues to grow in popularity as a Christmas destination, with companies starting to favour areas closer to Liverpool Street.
Edward Poland, Hire Space co-founder and COO said: “Our research into Christmas 2017 trends is a result of enquiries received by my team of Venue Experts for this Christmas season.
“We’ve seen a 39.5 per cent increase in the number of enquiries received and an increase of 104 per cent in the total value compared to last year, so it’s safe to say we’ve been busy. We have a unique Christmas party culture in this country with the majority taking place in London, the undisputed Christmas party capital of the world.”