Conferences

Financial Services Client Conference

Number of attendees

1,000

Spaces used

A spread of spaces across both floors

Number of sponsors/exhibitors

25

Event Duration

2 days

making connections

a breakdown of the event

This was an internal event for a large-scale accountancy company, giving them a chance to deliver content and cheer with conference and party elements sitting side by side!

Main plenaries taking place in the Great Gallery were attended by all, while a range of workshop sessions in the East Mall spaces were assigned to different areas and levels of the team. Taking place in a different area of the building gave a sense of distinction between content strands and helped to keep attendees engaged. Some of these breakouts were obligatory, others could be chosen by attendees, giving delegates a personalised experience.

Facilities and facts

Levelling up

The clients loved the fact that the open spaces between the levels helped create buzz and atmosphere, particularly in the evening

Made it their own

The stripped back but characterful interiors of the venue provided the perfect backdrop for the client's creative branding

What they loved

They loved the quirkiness of Tobacco Dock. Delegates could experience content in different parts of the venue and keep active and interested.

Why Tobacco Dock?

This was the first time Uptown Events had run an event at Tobacco Dock, as well as the first time the client had used our spaces. Used to running their events at hotels, and hoping to step up the experience, the client brief was to find somewhere with close access to hotels for 700 that could provide an unusual backdrop to their event as well as plenty of space for both plenary sessions and breakouts.

They loved the quirkiness of Tobacco Dock as well as the opportunities the unique layout presented them with to create an engaging attendee journey, where delegates could experience content in different parts of the venue and keep active and interested.

Ground Level
Vaults level
Ground Level

Ground Level

Plenary sessions took place in the Great Gallery, while workshops and smaller, targeted talks took place in Breakout Spaces across East Mall, Quayside and Little Gallery. The Breakouts were used for buddy sessions to share peer to peer learning and expertise. The evening party was held in the atmospheric North Dock, as well as the main catering, with some overspill catering in North Vaults 6, providing attendees with a change of scenery between sessions. 
Vaults level

The end results

As it was both the end client and production agency’s first time at the venue, our team helped them at every step of the planning and delivery to ensure that they had everything they needed to create the event they wanted. Our extensive list of service partners, all experienced at working in the Grade 1 listed spaces here at Tobacco Dock, meant that our clients could be assured of a smooth and high-quality experience.

The client’s brief developed throughout the project and thanks to our versatile layouts, we were able to help them create the ideal footprint and make suggestions as to how the event would work best in the venue.

Delegates could relax and socialise with a golf simulator and ping pong tables arranged on Great Gallery Courtyard, which proved very popular. Later on, attendees were treated to fairground games in North Dock and traditional fairground treats were dispensed from bikes situated around the Vaults. Special mention was made about the catering. In the organisers’ experience they had found that quality tended to dip from the tasting session prior to the event when the final large-scale event took place. However, in this case they said that the food was even better!

Due to rainy weather on the second day, the team were able to reconfigure the downstairs spaces for the celebration dinner with guests heading upstairs for their pudding. This actually added to the buzz and movement of the evening.

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