The complete corporate event kit list
Corporate events carry a different bar: brand-clean presentation, AV that cannot fail, and welfare your CFO would use. The list for a 300-person summer party or launch.
A 300-guest corporate event typically needs: a 40m-class structure or venue, stage with lectern, engineered PA and AV with redundancy, 6 luxury toilets or a 3+1 trailer plus standards, a 60 to 100kVA silenced generator with backup thinking, catering back-of-house (tent, hot cupboards, fridge trailer), heating or cooling by season, linens and full tableware, and a staffed bar. Budget £15,000 to £40,000 for full production.
The kit list, line by line
Worked at 300 guests. Every line links to the full category guide with prices.
| Item | Quantity logic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Structure | 1.4 sqm per seated guest; clearspan for exhibitions and hard floors | Or the venue: then this list shrinks to gaps |
| Stage & lectern | Speeches: 6×4m deck; entertainment: sized to the act | Wheelchair ramp as standard |
| PA & AV | Engineered system + screens + redundancy for the CEO moment | Rehearse with the actual kit |
| Luxury toilets | 1 per 50 with bar → 3+1 trailer + standards at 300 | Level pitch + 13A feed |
| Generator | Load list with headroom: typically 60–100kVA at 300 guests | Twin-set thinking for critical AV |
| Catering back-of-house | Caterer specifies; you provide space, power, water, light | Fridge trailer runs overnight |
| Heating / cooling | 25kW per 100 sqm Oct–Apr; air movement for glasshouse structures in July | Thermostats, not guesswork |
| Linens & tableware | Cloth per table, napkin per guest +10%, setting per course +20% | Floor-length cloths for corporate finish |
| Bar | 1m frontage per 35 guests → 9m of bar at 300 | Account bar with agreed limit is the corporate norm |
| Furniture | Ceremony + dining + lounge zones; 30% seating for standing formats | Style consistency across zones |
Redundancy is the brief
The difference between corporate and private hire is not the kit, it is the consequence of failure. A best man without a mic is a story; a CEO without a mic is a career moment for whoever booked the AV. Corporate lists therefore buy redundancy: a second radio mic, a backup playback laptop, a generator running at 50 percent load with the caterer on a separate feed, and suppliers who bring an engineer rather than a delivery driver.
This is also why corporate events reward the fewest-suppliers approach differently: fewer suppliers means fewer handover seams during the show, and one production contact when something needs solving at 16:52.
Venue or field?
Half of corporate events happen at venues that already carry power, toilets and a roof: the hire list then shrinks to staging, AV, branding, furniture upgrades and bar. The other half take the blank-canvas route for control and wow, and inherit the full field list: structure, power, welfare, ground protection, climate.
The blank-canvas premium is roughly 40 percent of budget, and it buys total control of brand environment, timings and layout. The decision deserves to be made consciously: EventSpeed's kit list shows both versions of the list side by side.
Budget bands
For 300 guests, full blank-canvas production (structure, staging, AV, welfare, power, climate, furniture, bar, back-of-house) typically lands between £15,000 and £40,000 depending on finish level: the spread is mostly structure lining, AV ambition and furniture grade. At a serviced venue, £8,000 to £18,000 covers the same event's hire gaps.
Corporate event: the questions that follow
What does a 300-person corporate marquee event cost in hire?
Full blank-canvas production typically runs £15,000 to £40,000: structure with lining and hard floor, staging, engineered AV, luxury welfare, power with redundancy, climate control, furniture, linens and bar. At an existing venue, hire gaps usually total £8,000 to £18,000.
How far ahead should corporate events book suppliers?
Three to six months for summer dates, longer if the date is fixed and public (a launch). AV and structure book first; furniture and styling can confirm at 6 to 8 weeks. December party season books from September.
What AV redundancy is reasonable?
For anything with a keynote moment: duplicate radio mics, a backup playback source, PA amplification with spare capacity, and power arranged so a catering surge cannot brown-out the stage. It costs a fraction of the event and insures all of it.
Not sure what you need yet?
Start with a free calculator: the same formulas the optimiser uses. Get your answer, then turn it into a full kit list in one tap.