The Hot List: Eight Venues to Meet Before Everyone Else Books Them
Over 500 of the busiest event planners in the country. One room. One day. On Thursday 29 October The BNC Show takes over De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in Holborn, and we'll be right in the middle of it.
We're not turning up with a pop-up banner and a bowl of sweets. We're bringing The Hot List, a zone packed with the venues our clients can't stop asking about, plus two sessions you'll want in your diary. If you've got anything to plan for 2027, this is the day to be there.
Why we're at The BNC Show
We've exhibited at The BNC Show three years running, and every year it's the best room of corporate bookers we get in front of. BNC hand-picks the guest list, so there are no time-wasters: everyone you meet books events for a living, with around 100 hand-picked suppliers alongside them.
This year we've gone all in. We've partnered with BNC on the show itself, we're running a hands-on AI workshop and a panel on London's newest openings (more on both below) and we've brought some of our favourite venues along for the ride.
What is The Hot List?
The Hot List is our zone on the show floor, and we picked every venue in it. They're the places our clients ask us about week in, week out, plus a brand new Mayfair opening that's already turning heads. All in one place, so you're not hunting across a hundred stands to find them.
Our account executives book corporate events every single day, and they'll be walking clients straight over. Got a 2027 brief on your desk? Meet eight venues in an hour, get straight answers on dates and spaces and walk away with a shortlist. Try doing that by email.
1. Searcys
Searcys is bringing its whole London portfolio to the zone. One conversation gets you a reception 254 metres above the City, the longest Champagne bar in Europe and one of the four Inns of Court, with plenty more where those came from.
Horizon 22
Horizon 22 Events
Want your guests to gasp when the lift doors open? Horizon 22 is the City of London's highest event space, on level 58 of 22 Bishopsgate, with 300-degree views across the capital. It takes 280 seated and 500 standing, and runs from 6am breakfasts to evening events until 3am, so it works for a sunrise briefing or a party that refuses to end.
Location: City of London, EC2N
Capacity: 500
St Pancras Bar and Brasserie by Searcys
St Pancras Brasserie and Champagne Bar by Searcys
Inside St Pancras International, Searcys runs the longest Champagne bar in Europe, right beside the Eurostar platform under that famous station roof. The bar takes 400 standing and the brasserie seats around 200 for dinner, while The Tasting Room and The Glass Room look after groups of 12 to 30. Teams arriving by train can have a glass in hand minutes after stepping off it.
Location: King's Cross St Pancras, N1C
Capacity: 400
Searcys at The Inner Temple
The Inner Temple
When you want the setting to do the talking, The Inner Temple is hard to beat. It's one of the four Inns of Court, with eight event spaces and three acres of gardens overlooking the Thames. The neo-Georgian Hall seats 276 for dinner or 272 theatre-style and the Lecture Theatre takes 120 with built-in AV. In summer, a marquee on the lawn takes 600 standing.
Location: Temple, EC4Y
Capacity: 600
2. The Line
The Line
Three floors of event space on the Thames, with a view that runs from the Shard to the London Eye. The Line sits on Victoria Embankment between Blackfriars and Temple. Waterline on the ground floor seats 160 theatre-style and splits into two rooms, and Highline on the sixth floor opens onto a roof terrace your guests won't want to leave.
Up on the seventh floor, Skyline is wrapped in glass with two balconies and holds 200 for a reception. Better still for anyone with a social value report to write: all of the venue's profits go to Nesta, the innovation foundation.
Location: Blackfriars, EC4Y
Capacity: 200
3. Ashridge House
Ashridge House, Hertfordshire
Thirty-five minutes from Euston, and a world away from your inbox. Ashridge House is a Grade I listed neo-Gothic house in 190 acres of gardens, with 700 years of history behind it. It has been a monastery, a royal residence and a wartime hospital.
Today it's the home of Hult Ashridge Executive Education, so it's built for the days your team needs to think big. The Fairhaven room takes 250, there are dozens of breakout rooms and around 190 bedrooms, so a leadership off-site can run from first coffee to last drinks without anyone opening a taxi app.
Location: Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire
Capacity: 250
4. London Conference Centre
London Conference Centre
Want your next conference to feel like a masterclass? The London Conference Centre is the London home of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, at One Bartholomew Close in Barts Square, a short walk from Farringdon and the Elizabeth line.
It's a brand new building over three floors, with nine rooms running from a 22-seat boardroom to the Grand Hall, plus a first-floor lounge for 350 at a reception. Seminars, training days, results presentations: this is where they get taken seriously.
Location: Barts Square, EC1A
Capacity: 350
5. The Forum powered by Huckletree
The Forum powered by Huckletree
The Forum is Huckletree's newest event space, right in the middle of the City at Leadenhall. Its tiered auditorium seats 200, close enough to the stage that a panel feels like a conversation, with open-plan rooms around it to keep the networking going over food.
It's made for talks, panels and launches, with catering from Genuine Dining. Need something smaller? Huckletree also has an open-air terrace over the Thames in Westminster for 70 standing.
Location: City of London, EC3A
Capacity: 200
6. Nammos London
Nammos London
The newest name on The Hot List, and already turning heads. The Mykonos group opened its first UK restaurant on Berkeley Street in Mayfair in May 2026, with Mediterranean food, Japanese touches, a raw bar and a wood-fired grill.
Head upstairs and the whole first floor can be yours, with its own bar and views across Mayfair: 110 seated or 200 standing, plus private dining rooms for eight and 15. LOEWE and BVLGARI have already hosted events here. Your client dinner could be next.
Location: Mayfair, W1J
Capacity: 200
Also at the show: London Stadium
London Stadium
Not in our zone, but too good to skip. London Stadium is exhibiting with the other Stratford venues. Built for London 2012 and now home to West Ham United, it has eight event spaces with pitch or skyline views.
The Boleyn takes up to 1,000 for a reception, and with 58 trains an hour through Stratford station a short walk away, nobody has an excuse for being late.
Location: Stratford, E20
Capacity: 1,000
On the day: our panel and AI workshop
Panel: The Lowdown: London’s Most Exciting New Venue Openings (And How to Book them before the Competition)
Thursday 29 October, 9.15am to 10am
London has had a run of big openings this year, and the best dates go fast. Our venue team and a few special guests take you through the most exciting new venues in town, from the long-awaited Waldorf Astoria to the new Blue Note jazz club, with practical tips on getting your enquiry in before every other planner has the same idea.
Best of all, we're running fam trips to every venue we cover. Scan the QR code at the end of the session, pick the ones you want to see and we'll get you through the door early.
Stop Chatting to AI, Start Delegating: A Hands-On AI Workshop Built Around You
Thursday 29 October, 1.45pm to 2.45pm
Still using AI as a fancy chat window? You're not alone, and you're missing most of what it can do. In this one-hour, hands-on workshop you connect it to the tools you already use, like your email, calendar and files, and pick up ready-made skills for the tasks that eat your week.
Beginner, intermediate and advanced tracks run side by side, so you work at your own level, and the middle 20 minutes are yours to try it with help on hand. You walk out with a personal plan, a pack of skills for common event tasks and one real task already under way. No technical knowledge needed: a laptop or phone is all you need to bring.
Places are limited and Hire Space clients get preferred access, so register early.
Register your interest in the workshop
Our team will be on the Hire Space stand all day, so come and say hello between sessions, ideally with a brief in hand so we can showcase some new and exciting tech. Can't make it? Search venues on Hire Space or ask one of our experts to put a shortlist together for your next brief.
See you on 29 October
Register for The BNC Show, then come and find us in the Hire Space zone from 9am to 4pm at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms. Bring your 2027 brief.
Register for the showOther platforms search their database. We search everything.
Tell us what you need. Our deep research finds any venue, whether it's in our marketplace or not. No one else does this.
One supplier. Every venue. Full visibility on what you spend.
Multiple venues and events. One agreement.
Senior Event Sales Account Executive at Hire Space with two decades in B2B events, hospitality and retail. She turns a brief into a standout conference, party or bespoke occasion, and favours venues that take sustainability seriously.
Related articles
Left Your Christmas Party To The Last Minute? These Amazing Venues Have You Covered
Late booking your London Christmas party? These stunning venues still have availability for festive celebrations. From cosy pubs to glamorous spaces, find the perfect last-minute venue for your team's seasonal event.
Top Conference Venues for Autumn/Winter
Find London's best conference venues for autumn and winter events. From tech-ready spaces to inspiring locations with natural light, discover venues that deliver for your corporate conference.