Nearly half of all UK businesses will have held at least one meeting in an offsite location by the end of this year.

The company’s Business Opinion Omnibus reported that the appetite for face-to-face meetings may wane next year under growing financial pressures.

The study of 1200 respondents found that 47% of all business leaders said their company would be using external facilities by the end of the year, with a further 15% undecided.

Hotels and similar meeting venues remained the category with the broadest market penetration, with nearly two thirds (64%) saying they had used, or would use, these types of venue.

Nearly half (49%) would have used meeting rooms in shared or serviced offices, and just under one in 10 (9%) have or would use “other” types of venues (such as museums, galleries, stadia or cinemas).

Underpinning this usage of external venues was the belief, held by 48% of those holding events, that getting people together was good for business.

One in four businesses also said that external venues made a better impression, and that although they may have had physical space on their own premises, other facilities or services such as in-house catering, found only offsite were required.

The outlook for next year was less positive, with 27% of businesses saying they were likely to hold fewer offsite events next year, compared with just 16% saying they’d be likely to hold more and the balance (48%) expecting roughly the same amount.

Over half (54%) of the businesses with a negative outlook said the reason for reducing the number of events was weaker anticipated financial performance next year, hardly surprising given the general economic ‘mood music’ over recent months.

In contrast, 28% were expecting to spend more on external facilities versus 22% expecting to spend less, partially fuelled by an expectation of increased prices, rather than increased volume of events, creating the potential for stronger profits at venues.

Louise Tawadrous, Client Services Director and head of BVA BDRC’s VenueVerdict programme, drew attention to the value debate around external venues. She said: “Nearly a quarter (24%) of the businesses who said they were likely to reduce spend next year told us it is because they don’t consider spending on external venues to deliver good return on investment, representing nearly 12% of the businesses who have used (or will use) external venues in 2023.

“Our VenueVerdict Event Planner Feedback data has seen terrific recovery in the average level of performance this year compared with 2022, but it still remains slightly below pre-pandemic levels and that is something that we feel needs addressing as it is likely to be playing some part in this.”

“Understandably focus has been elsewhere while teams have been rebuilding and getting back up to strength,” Tawadrous continued, “but if these figures hold true next year it strongly suggests that the value of offsite meetings needs better reinforcing, and the best way to do that is to deliver epic events that leave people wanting more, not less.”

For more information, please contact the VenueVerdict team on meetings@bva-bdrc.com