Event Overview
With its rich and fascinating history as the first theatre to be built in the City of London since Shakespearean times, its versatile and adaptable events spaces, and its premium partnerships with industry-leading production experts, The Mermaid London is an effortless choice for event organisers looking to create large-scale, professional and imaginative events that give guests the wow factor. In Autumn 2023, award-winning B2B shared experience agency, OrangeDoor Events, was looking for just that and organised an event at The Mermaid London for its client, Personio, an all-in-one HR software solutions company designed to empower organisations to work better.
Welcoming 400 guests, ‘HUG in London’ was part of Personio’s HUG European Tour, bringing HR professionals across the continent together to connect with a vibrant community, gain valuable insights from industry leaders, expand professional networks, and shape the future of the human resources sector.
Rachelle Speed, Senior Producer at OrangeDoor Events, said: “We chose The Mermaid London primarily for its Central London location and excellent travel links to outer London. To encourage guests, location is key – especially as this event is still in its early years – so access and ease were paramount.”
Multi-purpose Spaces
Hiring the venue for exclusive use, Personio took advantage of The Mermaid London’s eclectic range of nine dynamic and flexible event spaces, as well as its chameleon-like ability to transform itself into whatever its clients need from their surroundings. This included utilising the breathtaking Auditorium, the only 600-seated Auditorium in the City of London, for the main plenary, where guests engaged with speakers including Sir Ranulph Fiennes, explorer and author, and Steven Bartlett, Founder of Social Chain. In a show-stopping twist, guests were awed with a mesmerising stage reveal to unveil a four-piece quartet band. This striking feature, unique amongst City of London event venues, came complete with enhanced lighting, a beat boxer and edible mist orbs.
Commenting on the reveal, Rachelle said: “The stage reveal was so unexpected and a complete surprise for our guests! The entertainment we put behind here lifted the event and took it from a conference to a remarkable occasion.”
With spectacular views over the River Thames and the capital’s captivating skyline, The Mermaid London’s enchanting River Rooms provided the perfect backdrop for dinner and refreshments, as well as a light-filled and elegant space for exhibitors to connect with visitors. Its jigsaw-like Newgate Suite, featuring multiple interconnected whiteboard walls, was chopped, changed and put back together again with ease to create a series of separate breakout rooms, arranged in a theatre style, where guests could dive deeper into topics of interest in spaces designed for collaboration, community and conversation.
Rachelle noted: “The spaces were bright and open, which supported an enjoyable guest experience, and the speakers were awed by the Auditorium stage set-up which further enhanced the professionalism of the event.”
On-hand Expertise…
The Mermaid London’s expert AV, branding and catering partners make the leading events venue a one-stop-shop for meeting client needs and providing a tailored service and unparallelled support. As well as surprising guests with an unforgettable stage reveal orchestrated by technical specialists, Rockit Event Production, Personio enjoyed a full AV set-up in the Auditorium and Newgate Suite. In the Auditorium this included Gobo projection and enhanced lighting to walls and curtains, comfort monitors, and repeater screens, while in the Newgate Suite it comprised of staging in each breakout space, uplighters, a lectern, and 55” LCD screens.
A blank canvas waiting to be painted, Personio transformed the look of The Mermaid London with the help of branding gurus, Jupiter Visual Communications. Using customised branding across pillars in the Newgate Suite, Mezzanine and Foyer to create a one-of-a-kind look for its event, Personio also chose to superimpose client stats and highlights throughout The Gallery, creating a journey of accomplishments from the past year across the walkway. This is as well as adding branding to all the soft furnishings.
Rachelle said: “The venue’s flexibility to brand was a massive pull factor for us; being able to truly make the venue fit to brand rather than brand fit to venue is unique in central London.”
As part of its Day Delegate Rate package, Personio’s guests were treated to a three-course menu catered for by award-winning culinary experts, Seasoned. Alongside refreshments of tea, coffee and cookies, guests indulged in a delicious range of bowl food lunch options including chicken katsu with basmati rice, vegan macaroni cheese, and gluten-free salmon antibois. In a standout moment during the event, delectable canapes, such as maple-coated pigs in blankets, pancetta and stilton pastry straws with aioli, and aubergine and chickpea croquettes with harissa yoghurt, were served on the Auditorium stage as part of an extraordinary drinks reception. Putting the cherry on the cake was a moreish sweets station and popcorn cart which added the final sweetener to a fun, informative and unforgettable event.
Final Thoughts
Summing up her experience with The Mermaid London, Rachelle commented: “‘I have placed a range of our clients into the venue over the last six months and each event has been a great success. We love the blank canvas areas we can dress and bring to fruition our clients’ vision.”
