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Archive for the ‘London’ Category

In pictures: A secret garden

Posted on: May 29th, 2015 by chandco

An urban oasis was unveiled last week as 200 guests explored a secret garden at 20 Fenchurch Street – or as you may know it, the Walkie Talkie building.

The building is also home to the Sky Garden, which opened to critical acclaim earlier this year, and our client’s team decided to recreate their own secret garden on the floors just below. Our team were only too happy to assist with their first event in their new offices since moving in last December.

Guests arrived to our transformed secret garden to discover a hidden homebrew hooch shed, a potting shed with an edible garden of baby vegetables in black olive soil, complete with garden salads mixed to order.

A risotto bar encouraged guests to pick their own foraged herbs to add to their dishes, and staff dressed in tweed and wellies served mini sliders of pulled pork, lamb and feta burgers and chickpea falafel from the indoor BBQ on trays of ‘charcoal’.

The London Vegetable Orchestra provided entertainment for the evening – musicians using hollowed and carved vegetables such as butternut squash and parsnips as instruments embarked on a promenade concert around the garden.

A glorious pudding tree held hanging treats such as macarons, nougat and Turkish delight, and guests were invited to ‘pick their own’.

#IbizaDocks and the menu rocks

Posted on: May 20th, 2015 by chandco

Our teams braved the rain last week (14 May) to bring a brilliantly bespoke themed menu to more than 200 event industry revellers at The O2.

The #IbizaDocks event celebrated the re-launch of the 700 capacity outdoor terrace at Building Six; one of the latest event spaces to join our Harbour & Jones Events collection.

Guests were greeted on arrival with glow in the dark King Bloom jam jar cocktails and a selection of canapes and bites. Manchego cheese and Spanish onion croquettes, scallop, potato and chorizo brochette with tomato aioli, and black olive and crispy Serrano ham popcorn were just a few of the tempting treats circulating the terrace.

Our street food stalls brought the space to life with a vibrant Brick Lane Curry stall, our sought-after Korean Yum Buns and an authentic Mexican themed stall. And to finish, beach-themed puddings complete with marshmallows on deck chairs, digestive biscuit crumbled sand and Haribo fish.

Our themed stalls are an incredibly popular choice no matter what the weather, and if your event is outdoors then we have all sorts of creative ways of keeping guests covered should the weather take a turn for the worst.

Follow us on Instagram for photos of the night, and follow the story on Twitter using #IbizaDocks

To enquire about hiring Building Six for your event, and for more information, call Lucy on 020 3206 7763 or email: [email protected]

Revel & Reveal at Church House Conference Centre

Posted on: April 27th, 2015 by chandco

It seems like many moons ago that we were wrapped up in our winter coats and excitedly heading to Church House Conference Centre for our first meeting about their annual showcase event.

After months of planning, our collective designs came to life on Thursday 16 April as more than 200 event organisers gathered for a night of fabulous food and entertainment.

The aptly named Revel & Reveal event invited guests to sample highlights from our brand new menus at Church House Conference Centre. Breaking with tradition, the annual gala evening traded its usual sit down dinner for an interactive and experiential reception as guests were taken on a food-led journey through the venue.

Guests were immersed into the streets of London, with food stalls representing Brick Lane and its vibrant street food scene, Borough Market’s local suppliers and distinctively delicious produce, Fish Island with hundreds of freshly shucked oysters and Foreman’s cured salmon. We also paid tribute to best of Bermondsey with a traditional East End pie and mash stall; a nod to Manzes Pie & Mash, a family business that’s still going strong after 100 years in trading.

To top the night off, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) Cabaret brought in a cast of 12 performers to celebrate the history of the West End as our team served bite sized puddings to guests.

Robin Parker, General Manager of Church House Conference Centre, commented: “We decided to do something a little different for our gala evening in order to take guests, especially those who are new to Church House, on a tour of the venue both in terms of the event spaces and culinary experience. Doing this gave us an opportunity to add an experiential element by showing the many different concepts and ways in which the catering provided by Church House and Harbour & Jones Events can be tailored to any event. Entertaining both existing and potential clients is something the whole team can get involved with, and our aim was to celebrate the best of London within the unique surroundings of Church House, and from all the comments we have received it certainly seems we achieved that.”

As in previous years, instead of providing guests with goody bags Church House made a donation to Dreams Come True, a UK charity for children and young people with serious and life-limiting conditions.

We are delighted to have been a part of such a fantastic evening, and you’ll find all of the photos from the night on the Church House Flickr gallery.

We’re also thrilled to present the new menus that are available now to event bookers. The perfect setting for events of all sizes, contact us to find out more about holding your next event at Church House.

 

 

 

 

 

A taste of Harbour & Jones Events at RSA House

Posted on: April 24th, 2015 by chandco

We were delighted to welcome more than 60 event organisers to RSA House last night (23 April) for a one-stop experiential venue tour of some of London’s most iconic event spaces.

A taste of Harbour & Jones Events gave guests a chance to explore eight venues including Prince Philip HouseCutty Sark, Borough Market and 41 Portland Place all under one roof, and to discover what’s new in event catering, food trends and concepts.

Guests from Brand Rapport, PWC, EMAP and UBS arrived to a drinks reception and canapés including marinated tiger prawns with a sherry vinegar & chorizo pipette, and heritage tomato ceviche, before taking their seats with gourmet popcorn in the Durham Street Auditorium for a series of virtual video tours through each of the venues.

Following the presentations, the RSA House team opened the atmospheric Vaults event spaces to reveal interactive global food stalls. A Northern European stall showcased the finest cured meats, British cheeses and picnic-style bites, while a taste of the Far East highlighted the hot trend of Korean BBQ and Ho-Bang steamed buns. The Southern States themed stall proved a huge hit, confirming that pulled pork buns and buttermilk fried chicken are trends that show no sign of disappearing any time soon.

To top the night off, RSA House head chef, Darren Archer revealed a huge pudding wall filled with bite sized puddings including mini brownies, Turkish delight and coconut ice. And guests gathered for a prize draw that included tickets for The O2 and the Science Museum, and afternoon tea at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Guests took to the interactive Twitter wall, posting photos and comments throughout the night, and drinks flowed from the bespoke mirrored bar created by Light Motif.

Susan Morrissey, Venue Sales Director of Harbour & Jones Events, commented: “Event bookers are busy people, and site visits can knock a whole day out of the diary. We wanted to bring our venues together under one roof, along with our latest menu concepts to give our guests the full venue visit experience in a snapshot of time”.

We recently announced listings at seven new venues including the Science Museum, The O2, Madame Tussauds and Trinity House, and we now have 23 venues in our ever-growing collection.

Head over to our Facebook page for photos from the evening.

Get in touch to find out more about our venues and see how we can make your next event one to remember.

We’re in our element as Science Museum preferred supplier

Posted on: April 20th, 2015 by chandco

We’re delighted to be joining forces with the Science Museum as we take a proud place on their preferred supplier list.

Announcing the revised catering list Ben Lheureux, event operations manager at the Science Museum, said “We have every confidence that our new caterers list can satisfy the needs of our clients while upholding the sustainability policies that the Science Museum is aligned with.”

Energy Hall website

It’s been an exciting couple of months for us here at Harbour & Jones Events as we recently revealed partnerships with Merlin Events, Building Six at The O2 and Trinity House. Gaining accreditation at the Science Museum is the icing on the cake, and we’re looking forward to welcoming our clients to the iconic event space at the museum.

Find out more about our venue collection and how we can help with your next event by contacting Lucy Mears: [email protected]

 

COMPETITION: Tweet us for afternoon tea

Posted on: March 19th, 2015 by chandco

Tweet us to win champagne afternoon tea at your desk!

 

Win champagne afternoon tea for you and up to 10 colleagues – simply tweet us your most creative sandwich or cake idea to @handjevents using the hashtag #tweetfortea

We’ll choose the winner at random on 2 April, and we’ll deliver afternoon tea to your office on a day that suits you*

Good luck!

 

*The boring bit

Your office has to be in London and within the M25. Afternoon tea must be claimed before the end of May. Excludes bank holidays, available Monday-Friday until 5pm.

Mods and Rockers get a taste of Middle Temple Hall

Posted on: March 12th, 2015 by chandco

We had the pleasure of hosting a ‘Mods and Rockers’ themed dinner last week (7 March) at Middle Temple Hall.

The dinner formed part of the London City Selection experiential weekend, with the annual gathering being a chance for event-booking agents to sample hospitality at a number of London venues. After a drinks reception at The London Stock Exchange, guests came together at Middle Temple Hall for a gala dinner inspired by days by the British seaside – a fitting tribute to the Mod classic film Quadrophenia, and the album of the same name by The Who.

On arrival at Middle Temple Hall, part of the Harbour & Jones Events Collection, guests were greeted with a drinks reception and tempting canapés including popcorn crayfish cones, quail Scotch egg lollipops and Cropwell Bishop cheese doughnuts.

Taking their seats at the imposing, Hogwarts-style banqueting tables, guests sampled sharing platter starters, aptly named ‘a taste of the Great British seaside’ with potted shrimps, Dorset crab and Foreman’s smoked beetroot cured salmon all vying for attention.

To a sound track of classic rock music, the platters were cleared to make way for perfectly pink honey glazed Gressingham duck, and truffled potato gnocchi all served up with giant sharing dishes of hotpot style potatoes and spring greens.

As drinks flowed, the mood became playful as a flash mob took to the floor, delighting diners with an impressive dance routine set to well known anthems.

Harbour & Jones Events Director of Food, Gary Mckechnie finished the evening with an incredible pudding of chocolate delice, caramelised banana, honeycomb rocks, served on mod targets

We invited up-and-coming food blogger, Joe Teng from Food Punk Joe to join us at the table. Get the inside scoop from the event on his blog.

Theming is a great way to add a touch of informality to your events. We have some great ideas, and the creativity and flair to make them happen. Enquire now and let our Creative Director, Jules Heckman-Hughes and her team make your next event one to remember.

RIBA Venues to host ‘Hearst Empowering Women’ event series

Posted on: March 2nd, 2015 by chandco

Jarvis v2

RIBA Venues, part of the Harbour & Jones Events Collection, last week announced that it will host a series of events for Hearst Magazines UK as part of its ‘Hearst Empowering Women’ initiative, with the first event taking place on 5th March 2015.

The events, organised by the publisher whose portfolio includes Cosmopolitan, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar and Good Housekeeping aim to inspire women with a series of talks and stories from powerful women and will attract around 300 guests to RIBA Venues’ Jarvis Suite. The first event on the 5th March will feature international lawyer, campaigner and wife of the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister, Miriam González Durántez.

Eight Hearst events will take place at RIBA Venues throughout this year. Victoria Archbold, Head of Events at Hearst, says: “RIBA Venues offers such character which is a real challenge to find. The unique architecture and culture of the building bring a historical and interesting element to our events. The team have been extremely accommodating to our needs.”

RIBA Venues’ Head of Venues, Stephanie Ellrott, adds: “The Hearst Empowering Women event series is a great chance for women to come along and hear from some truly inspiring speakers. I’m extremely proud to be hosting these events at RIBA Venues and look forward to welcoming delegates to what looks set to be some great evening talks.”

Tickets for the first event are available here.

RSA House hosts A Night With Nu Bride

Posted on: February 18th, 2015 by chandco

It was a celebration of love at RSA House as Valentine’s Day approached last week. On Tuesday 10 February, the team welcomed wedding planners, journalists and stylish brides-and-grooms-to-be to an inspiring event to celebrate the award-winning wedding blog Nu Bride.

As guests arrived and the band started to play, the Benjamin Franklin room took centre stage following a styling transformation by Jemma-Jade Events. Softly lit with bespoke Nu Bride projections and storm lanterns casting delicate shadows in the corners of the room, the striking floral displays provided a stunning focus point, reaching right up towards the ceiling. An original illustration by Crisi Miki Wiki, showcasing diverse stylish brides was a talking point for designers, stylists and brides alike.

The RSA House weddings team created a tailored , for the evening, featuring Gruyere & truffle tartlets, black pepper macaroons filled with Severn Wye smoked salmon & soft herb cream, and show stopping lime meringue topped mango & passion fruit indulgences. Elizabeth’s Cake Emporium was on hand with an impressive display of tiered wedding cakes, cake pops and delicious cupcakes too.

Nova Reid, founder of Nu Bride, gave a heartfelt speech about her experience as a bride-to-be. She spoke passionately about the wedding industry and her recent Wedding Blog Award, and guests shared their photos and comments using the RSA House interactive Twitter wall. You can see how the night unfolded via #ANightWithNuBride and the atmospheric video created by Urban Cinematography.

The RSA House team is hosting a wedding open day on Saturday 28 February. To book your place, contact Elise on 0207 451 6809, or [email protected]

 

 

With huge thanks to plenty to declare wedding photography 

Win dinner for 8: Join us at The BNC Global Event Show

Posted on: February 16th, 2015 by chandco

HJ156

Visit our Harbour & Jones Events stand 137 at the BNC Global Event Show on 18th February at The Brewery to hear about our exclusive summer event packages, and you could be in with another chance to win dinner for 8 cooked by a private chef in your home*

Our competition to win dinner for 8 received so much attention at the London Summer Event Show that we’ve decided to run it again, this time for one lucky visitor at The BNC show.

Showcasing as part of the Harbour & Jones Events venue collection is 41 Portland Place, Borough Market and RSA House alongside Prince Philip House, Cutty Sark and St Paul’s Cathedral.

We hope you can join us!

*address must be within the M25, includes 3-courses with half a bottle of wine per person and excludes bank holidays


Work with us

We are always looking for talented people from chief cooks to expert bottle washers to work with us.

If that’s you, email your CV to: [email protected]