Business events up, but fewer corporate social functions, says Crown Group

The group reacted to venue finding service Venue Reservations report that claimed business networking events and conferences have more than doubled in the UK this year.

Venue Reservations said there has been a shift in corporate behaviour and a rise in more cost-conscious event planning,

In 2012, the business has taken more than 62% of its enquiries from companies looking to hold a networking event or business summit, compared to 29% during the same period last year.

Charles Beer, managing partner of the Crown Group, which is the parent company of Venue Reservations, said: "These figures may look encouraging on the face of it, however, it doesn’t paint the whole picture."

"It is true that there has been an increase in enquiries for business related functions, however, this has been at the expense of more social related corporate events. We are seeing more enquiries for combined events, where a company holds a regular business function and followed by a social element afterwards."

Beer adds: "This not only saves the cost of holding two separate events but also sends a very different message out to the wider world. Solely social corporate events in times of austerity aren’t deemed to be as acceptable as they once were, so holding a combined event is the approach many companies are now taking."

The analysis also found that demand for standing reception style events more than doubled over the last year, increasing from 25% in 2011 to 57% in 2012 (figures taken from first quarter results).