Write the programme before the shortlist
A venue search is easier when the brief describes what must happen rather than just how many people will attend. List the plenary, parallel sessions, catering, registration, exhibition and informal meetings. Mark which functions run at the same time.
That distinction is essential when reading headline venue capacities. The EICC publishes a total capacity across its spaces, while ICC Wales separately describes a fixed-seat auditorium and a divisible main hall. These are not interchangeable measurements of what one session can accommodate. A total building figure cannot tell you whether your largest session fits in the room you intend to book.
Compare the same layout
Ask each venue for the same room arrangement, including stage, production, cameras, accessible positions and circulation. A theatre-layout maximum should not be compared with another venue’s cabaret figure. If sponsors need exhibition space, specify the footprint and opening hours, not merely the number of stands.
Separate the capacity you need from the capacity that looks reassuring in a brochure. Too much room may create additional staging and wayfinding work; too little can force programme compromises. The right answer comes from a plan for your event, not a league table of the largest buildings.
Check the joins between sessions
Walk through the itinerary as a delegate. Where does a person arrive, register, leave a coat, get refreshments and find the next room? For a programme with parallel sessions, test a whole audience moving at once rather than one visitor finding an empty corridor.
Ask which areas are exclusively yours and which are shared with other events or the public. Confirm the practical route between rooms, the timing of refreshment service and access to quiet space. Floor plans are useful starting evidence, but they do not establish the lived experience of your event.
Price the complete requirement
Request an itemised proposal covering occupancy dates, setup and breakdown, furniture, connectivity, audiovisual services, staffing and catering commitments. Identify exclusive suppliers, minimum spends and changes that trigger extra charges. A low room-hire line does not establish a low delivered-event cost.
Make unresolved requirements visible before signing. If a service is described as available, ask whether it is included, chargeable or subject to a separate booking. Keep the answers with the brief so the buying decision can be reviewed without reconstructing a string of conversations.
Use the shortlist to test fit
Our venue directory is a starting point for discovery, not a substitute for a proposal or site visit. Choose a small set with plausible programme and location fit, then compare the same evidence from each.
The recommendations here are desk-based buying analysis grounded in the different ways venues publish their spaces. They are not a ranking of venues or a claim that we have visited them.
Sources and research basis
Sources checked 2026-10-17. Supplier capabilities and venue specifications are attributed to their published documentation. No first-hand test or visit is implied.