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Dinner with dinosaurs, sailing the Thames and exploring the great outdoors are just some of the great ways in which businesses can engage their teams this summer.
And the aim of the new Summer Time with PV&E initiative is to mix business with pleasure and encourage engagement and networking by bringing people together for interactive events such as garden parties, team building sports days and post meeting drinks receptions in some of the UK’s most beautiful and interesting settings.
Setting the tone for summer is Hertfordshire’s historic Knebworth House and Barns, which is throwing open its extensive grounds for everything from corporate garden parties to fairground fun days – with a vast array of catering ideas, including hog roasts, barbecues and street food stalls.
The capital, too, will be displayed in all its glory as venues with the best views in London – quite literally – push the boat out for corporate clients.
River Room is one of London’s most stylish floating event spaces – with an ever-changing backdrop of London’s most famous sights – and its outdoor upper deck can be exclusively hired for an alfresco summer party with food stations, live entertainment and giant games.
Further downriver is London’s The Crystal, one of the world’s most sustainable buildings where an outdoor terrace overlooking the waterfront at Royal Victoria Dock is the perfect spot from which to enjoy Champagne and canapés at the close of a meeting as the sun goes down.
Outdoor oases can be found at the heart of the city, too, at venues such as IWM London, where an outdoor terrace overlooks parkland, while greenery of a different kind is under the spotlight – and floodlights - at Brighton’s Amex Stadium and Aberdeen’s Pittodrie Stadium.
Both grounds are offering corporate fans a menu of seasonal summer produce in light and airy rooms overlooking the hallowed turf, while, at Bury St Edmunds, the Grade II-listed Athenaeum is packing a punch with a picnic lunch in the nearby Abbey Gardens for corporate clients.
Further north, Newcastle’s Great North Museum:Hancock is hosting The Natural History Museum’s famous diplodocus, Dippy, as part of a national tour and businesses can join the dinosaur for drinks or dinner during the summer months.
While, north of the border, The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, which boasts 70 acres of landscaped gardens, is offering the perfect outdoor dining experience.
On the John Hope Gateway’s decked terrace, an all-weather kitchen has been installed, where a team of chefs can create a wide range of dishes using home-grown salad, herbs and vegetables cultivated by the Botanic’s own, in-house gardener.
Sodexo is also the hospitality partner for some of the biggest occasions in the summer social calendar, from Royal Ascot to Henley Royal Regatta.
For full details of the summer offers at any of our venues, email the central enquiry hub or call on 0845 6055 699.