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Sunday 9 August 2020

We are frequently asked about what events are currently permitted and what may change in the future. The latest "Rule of Six" law excludes business meetings of up to 30 people which are still permitted. Permissions for larger events have been out back but no date is set for this...

The current regulations and guidelines for events and venues in London are summarised below:

- All venues in London may now host business meetings and events for up to 30 delegates. This number must include all those in the room including catering staff, event and venue managers etc.

- Basic catering may also now be provided at these events, pre-packaged food is advised.

- Receptions, award ceremonies, dinners, product launches, and team building exercises are not permitted to take place in London venues until 1 October.

- Events capacity should allow for social distancing of 2m, or 1m with mitigations. The guidance here is that any indoor events where delegates are seated together for any period of time, that the 2m distancing should be observed.

- Venues should consider the social distancing equivalent to a minimum density of 4sqm per person. 

- Face masks need to be worn during business events and meetings outside of rooms where food service is being provided. 

Our recommended approach to booking events in venues in London and England after October 1st:

We have been working closely with many clients who are looking to book (or hold postponed) events in the October - December period. Our guidelines are as follows:

- We only recommend venues that have agreed to comply with our Safer Event Assurance policy or the MIA guidelines.

- Event organisers should not book events into venues that cannot deliver a capacity based on 1m social distancing (c.4 sqm per person).

- Any events that require live music performances should not be booked until the Government gives us greater clarity on this area.

- Contracts should only be signed with the protection of no-fee cancellation or 12 month no-cost postponement clauses.

- Any venue booked must offer high speed internet connections allowing for Hybrid formats, if requested by updated regulations.

- Event organisers should seek reassurances from smaller independent venues about their future trading security before paying deposits.

We appreciate that navigating these regulations may be challenging for our clients and all those seeking to book smaller meetings over the next few months, so please give our team of free venue finding experts a call on 0207 870 9305 or start your free venue search using the search panel at the top right of this page.