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.

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

Join us for the chance to win dinner for 8

Posted on: January 23rd, 2015 by chandco

Join us at the London Summer Event Show on 27 & 28 January, at One Marylebone for the chance to win a Harbour & Jones Events Private chef dinner for eight guests.

As well as unveiling our exclusive summer event packages at the show, on Wednesday 28 January we will also be offering one lucky visitor the chance to win a private chef dinner for up to 8 people* in their own home. If you’ve ever wondered how the rich and famous do dinner parties – here’s your chance.

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.

You can register to attend the show here – we look forward to seeing you!

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

Join us for a showcase breakfast at Cutty Sark

Posted on: January 21st, 2015 by chandco

Are you looking for venue inspiration, but short on time?

Join us for a showcase breakfast at Cutty Sark on Friday 6 February at 8am

In just over an hour, you will…

Enjoy a sumptuous breakfast created by our award-winning chef team that will awaken your senses and provide plenty of food for thought for your next event
Experience this stunning venue as an event guest and see first-hand how it could work for your awards, reception, dinner & summer events
Get more venue inspiration and discuss 2015 event food trend predictions from Harbour & Jones Events
Receive a goodie bag
Have access to event planning help and advice from Harbour & Jones Events team

…and you’ll be back to work in no time!

Places are limited and on a first-come, first-served basis.

To reserve your place please contact Lucy Mears, Sales & Marketing Manager.

#Venueinspo #HandJEvents

Harbour & Jones Events boosts Sales & Marketing team with three new recruits

Posted on: January 12th, 2015 by chandco

Lucy Mears, Alex Campbell and Rebecca Hawkes have joined Harbour & Jones Events as Sales & Marketing Managers.

Lucy Mears joins the central sales team from Payne + Gunter, bringing a wealth of experience spanning supplier, buyer and agency roles. Lucy will work across the entire Harbour & Jones Events collection including St Paul’s Cathedral and Cutty Sark, as well as the three new venues gained at the end of 2014: Borough Market, RIBA and Church House Conference Centre.

Alex Campbell joins RSA House following a three-year stint at food by dish. With an impressive track record of driving sales and exceeding targets across extensive venue portfolios, Alex will focus on growing sales and nurturing the sales and marketing team.

Prince Philip House welcomes Rebecca Hawkes following the departure of Becci Thomson to the O2. Joining from Gibson Hall, Rebecca’s background in special events and business development will enable her to strengthen existing relationships while attracting new clients.

Susan Morrissey, Venue Sales Director said: “This is an exciting time for Harbour & Jones Events and I’m delighted to have such experienced and dynamic people joining us. We’ve enjoyed a fantastic year of growth and expansion, and now we’re strengthening our sales team with best-in-class events professionals to take us forward in to 2015.”

We’re busy working on our new summer event packages, which we’ll be launching at The London Summer Event Show on 27 & 28 January. Register here to attend, and if you visit our stand on 28 January you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win an exclusive Harbour & Jones Events dinner for up to 8 people at your own home!

We’ll be sending out more information about our new team and this fantastic prize in our newsletter, so don’t miss out and sign up!

Festive fun as white Christmas takes gold at RSA House

Posted on: December 19th, 2014 by chandco

What do you get if you cross an £8 budget with 180 metres of tin foil, years worth of repurposed event decorations and a brand new events team? It’s ok, it’s not a bad cracker joke; it’s the winners of the annual Royal Society of Art Christmas decorating competition.

Our Harbour & Jones Events team at RSA House were looking for ways to raise their profile and get to know colleagues around the venue. What better way to get involved than by transforming the events office at RSA House, home to enlightened thinking, into a winter wonderland?

Every day, the team came together for ‘power half-hour’, adding decorations and displays to the space. It started with a computer screen being given the gift of wrapping and snowballed from there.

RSA House has seen it’s busiest Christmas to date this year, with award-winning restaurant The Vaults hosting 50 covers at lunch throughout December and back-to-back events across the venue.

Alex Campbell, Sales & Marketing Manager was really pleased with the teams efforts ‘It’s been really great to meet everyone and join in the festive spirit of the RSA. Business is booming and we’re all rushed off our feet, so it’s nice to be able to give something back to the team – a bit of fun goes a long way.’

Other efforts from around the offices included a handmade nativity scene, festive origami and a Christmas tree made entirely from books. But our team literally whitewashed the competition to take first place. The prize? Fame and glory, of course.

Double delight at the Event 100 Club big reveal!

Posted on: December 12th, 2014 by chandco

This week we joined Event Magazine’s elite Event 100 Club 2015, not once, but twice, as two members of our fabulous team were named amongst the most influential people in the events industry.

Our Creative Director, Jules Heckman Hughes, and General Manager at RSA House, Katy Hadcroft joined over 250 industry friends and colleagues for the Event 100 Club big reveal party, to find out who secured a much-coveted place on the prestigious list of just 100 names.

Jules is no stranger to the club, having also been recognised last year for her continued outstanding contribution to the events industry, but this is Katy’s first year on the list, acknowledged for her exceptional leadership and direction of RSA House, our magnificent venue located just off the Strand.

This is the icing on the cake for Harbour & Jones Events after being named Event Magazine’s Caterer of the Year, and to have our people recognised like this is a truly tremendous honour.

Congratulations Jules & Katy – we couldn’t be more thrilled!

Read more about the Event 100 Club, and the names to look out for in 2015.

Borough Market is a delight by night

Posted on: November 24th, 2014 by chandco

On 12 November, as the afternoon light faded and Borough Market’s traders closed down for the evening, our team burst into action, bringing the historic market hall back to life for an evening of vibrant street food and vivacious entertainment.

Over 250 guests caroused in a feast of flavours from our Street Eats food stall concept, launched to critical acclaim earlier this year at St Paul’s Cathedral.

Greeted by barrels of New Forest mulled cider, guests soon warmed up as they gathered around upturned oil cans that were transformed into table top fondue stations.

As the band warmed up and the drinks flowed, it was cheese galore at the bespoke branded raclette stall, with French bread, baby potatoes and pickles, loaded mac ‘n’ cheese and deliciously oozy Montgomery cheddar & sour dough toasties.

Korean yum buns tempted guests over to a tucked away corner. Steamed pillow-soft buns filled were heaped with slow cooked pork belly, miso glazed Portobello mushrooms or sticky chilli ginger salmon and served with kimchi, gyozas & Korean red dragon sauce.

There were winter warmers aplenty at the traditional pie & mash stall, complete with jellied eels, and we bought the Basque to Borough with baby chorizo butter bean stew, squid ink rice with calamari and carved Brindisa Iberico ham, all with a feast of breads, cheese, vinegars and oils.

Under the roof of one of London’s most famous landmarks, passers-by on Borough High Street stopped catch a glimpse of the goings-on inside. The bustling market place was alive with music, laughter and the enticing aromas of the stalls.

Needless to say, the event was a roaring success and feedback was outstanding. One guest commented ‘what a superb evening it was, probably one of the best I’ve been to in recent memory. The food, drink, entertainment and attention to detail were all outstanding, especially the branding’ another said ‘Literally the best corporate event I’ve been to in 20 years’. We couldn’t agree more!

Borough Market is one of the newest additions to our venues collection. Find out more and enquire today.

In pictures: Queen Elizabeth Prize launch event wows the crowds

Posted on: November 18th, 2014 by chandco

Prince Philip House, home to the Royal Academy of Engineering, recently opened its doors to over 250 guests from Sony, BP, Jaguar Land Rover, National Grid and many more for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering (QEPrize) Ambassadors Network Launch Party.

The theme of the evening was The Future of Engineering – an interactive journey through engineering projects and technologies. The full venue production is a first for Prince Philip House, with an interesting engineering or design installation on display at every turn. The events spaces lend themselves perfectly to this kind of experiential event, with state of the art inbuilt technology and the venue is a blank canvas waiting to be transformed.

Highlights from the night include Robothespian – a life sized, fully interactive, party-going humanoid robot, and the opportunity to see planets like never before with big-screen footage courtesy of NASA. Cutecircuit showcased a fully interactive digital fashion show complete with staged catwalk, and guest got to try their hands at Gravity Sketch – a technology start-up tool that lets you create intuitive 3D design in real time, with no programming experience needed.

Our team served a bespoke futuristic menu of canapés,and interactive food stalls greeted guests on arrival. Bocconcini with tomato gel & purple basil delighted the senses and an impressive seafood stall; showcasing sustainably sourced food with whole sides of cured salmon and king prawns didn’t fail to impress.

To have such vast and technical production across all of the event spaces was great testament to the capabilities of Prince Philip House as a cutting edge venue.

Exclusive historic sundown tour of RSA House reveals some of London’s best-kept secrets

Posted on: October 31st, 2014 by chandco

On Wednesday 29 October at 5pm prompt, a select group of industry invitees including guests from PWC and Marie Curie Cancer Care eagerly gathered at RSA House for an exclusive guided tour through some of the most unique event spaces in the city.

This is the first time that The House, designed by Robert Adam in the early 1770s, has opened its doors for a tour of this kind, with some of the more concealed spaces being London event bookers’ best-kept secrets to date.

The evening opened in the impressive Benjamin Franklin Room with nibbles and drinks from Event Magazine’s Caterer of the Year Harbour & Jones Events, and was followed by a theatrical overview of the history of RSA House starting in The Great Room. This spectacular space is dominated by the famous and imposing series of paintings ‘Progress of Human Knowledge and Culture’ by James Barry.

Moving through to the Durham Street Auditorium, which is built over one of London’s old Roman roads that used to link the Strand to the Thames, guests enjoyed gourmet popcorn whilst hearing about how the road has been preserved as a key feature running strikingly through the 60-seat auditorium.

Glasses refreshed, and nibbles nibbled, guests moved through to the Vaults. Originally designed as riverfront warehouses, these fully restored brick built spaces are now home to award-winning restaurant The Vaults. Brickwork has been sandblasted and sealed to create a powerful yet intimate space, which is also used today for conferences, press launches and weddings.

To round off the evening, guests came together to sample fine dining canapés and a spectacular pudding wall in the Tavern Room, which used to be a public house frequented by Charles Dickens and is in fact mentioned in the Pickwick Papers.

Katy Hadcroft, General Manager at RSA House said ‘’it was wonderful to be able to share the rich history of RSA House with such a captivated audience. The event spaces here are so unique and we’re proud to be able to offer event bookers such an extraordinary venue in a prime location.’

Situated just off the Strand in central London, the House team provides a bespoke service to clients. Whether it’s a conference for 200, location filming, product launches, press events, boardroom meetings, wedding ceremonies, receptions or parties, they deliver the very best in hospitality.

Exclusive historic tours are being offered to event bookers throughout November at RSA House. Contact the House team on 020 7930 5115 to plan your visit.

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