The Merchants House of Glasgow

You can run a conference of up to 200 people theatre style in Glasgow city centre, with breakout, green room and registration space on the same floor and catering and AV booked through one events team. The Merchants House of Glasgow is a Scottish registered charity (SC008900) whose Grade A listed building at 7 West George Street has five rooms for hire. The venue says hire fees go to charity, and that it donated over £220,000 to people in Glasgow and the West of Scotland last year.

Event spaces and capacities

You have five spaces to choose from, and the three first floor rooms connect, so a plenary, a breakout and a speakers’ room can sit side by side. The Grand Hall is the largest at 14m by 9m with a 9m ceiling, taking 200 theatre style, 120 cabaret or 120 for dinner. The Directors Room has interlinking doors to the Grand Hall and the venue suggests it as a breakout, refreshment or exhibition area. The James McCune Smith Room is on the ground floor, overlooks George Square and is the room the venue lists as wheelchair accessible. The Lord Dean’s Room has a floor to ceiling stained glass window showing the 1605 Letter of Guildry, and the Powder Room on the second floor overlooks Queen Street Station. Areas below are worked out from the length and width the venue publishes for each room.

Boardroom capacities are published as Grand Hall 50, Directors Room 30, James McCune Smith Room 20, Lord Dean’s Room 10 and Powder Room 4. Capacities as published by the venue on its meeting rooms page and each room’s own page, checked 5 November 2026.

Getting there and parking

Your delegates can come by train: the venue says it is close to Glasgow Queen Street and Glasgow Central stations, along with bus and cycle routes, and its Powder Room looks out over Queen Street Station. The venue does not publish parking, walking times or loading details, so ask if you need any of these.

Access

Plan step free access with the venue early, because the listed building limits what its lift can take. The venue gives the lift’s internal length as 1.21m (4ft) and its width as 58.42cm (23 inches), says it cannot take most modern electric mobility chairs, and offers manual wheelchairs that fit the lift for guests able to transfer, with advance notice welcomed. The electric chair stays on the ground floor. When we checked, the home page said the platform lift was out of action while a part was replaced, and that guests who can manage six steps could reach the main lift to Level One.

Catering, AV and accommodation

You book food, drink and equipment through one in-house team rather than outside suppliers. Every room has free Wi-Fi; the Grand Hall and Directors Room add a projector and screen, flip chart, lectern, static microphone and PA, with an AV technician if you pre-book. Day delegate packages (Platinum, Gold and Silver) run from 08:00 to 17:00, and a half day package covers up to four hours with a sandwich lunch at £5.50 a head extra including VAT. The delegate menu sets a minimum of 20, and the drinks menu offers wine packages and a cash bar on request. The venue does not list bedrooms.

What to ask before you book

• Is the platform lift working again for your date, and which rooms can a delegate using an electric wheelchair reach?
• What are the day delegate rates for Platinum, Gold and Silver, since the conferences page lists contents but not prices?
• How do cancellation charges apply between two and four months out, as the published terms set 60% from four months and 75% from two months but leave that window unclear?
• Can you hold the Grand Hall, Directors Room and Lord Dean’s Room together, so plenary, breakout and green room stay on one floor?
• How much notice does the AV technician need, and what does extra equipment cost?
• Where can delegates park, and where do exhibitors unload for a display in the Grand Hall?

Related on Events Review

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• Trades Hall of Glasgow
• University of Glasgow Conferences and Events
• Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
• Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum
• Technology and Innovation Centre, University of Strathclyde
• In Conference
• Turn venue accessibility claims into a usable event plan
• Choose the venue around the event, not the headline capacity
• Glasgow’s new air routes still need checking against your event dates

Sources: meeting rooms, Grand Hall, Directors Room, James McCune Smith Room, Lord Dean’s Room, Powder Room, conferences, delegate menu, terms and home page, checked 5 November 2026.