Truth Time: Are Competitive Socialising Venues Really Suitable for Corporate Events?

Aug 13
3 min read

It’s highly unlikely competitive socialising venues have escaped your attention, unless you’ve been walking around with your head in the sand.

People can’t get enough of them. Perhaps you too love a bit of indoor curling, beer pong and bowling? But there’s still a nagging doubt in your mind about games venue hire for corporate events:

· Is it quite formal enough?

· Will the service standards be what you’re used to at traditional venues?

· What about the food?

· Will stakeholders want to get involved, or think you’ve lost the plot?

Well, picture the last few office Christmas parties, clutching a cheap Prosecco while shuffling near the buffet, stuck with the FD.

Now picture your team lined up at a dartboard or crowded around an indoor crazy golf course, heckling each other in friendly competition, and making BFFs with people in other departments they don’t usually interact with.

The second version is why competitive socialising venues have infiltrated the corporate events calendar nationwide, and I understand why.

A mixed group of casually dressed adults holding up different coloured bowling balls at a a bowling alley.

Why Corporate Teams Love Competitive Socialising Venues

Across the UK, and Ireland, companies are swapping formal seated dining for unique corporate party venues where the management and staff are completely tuned in to events. And the trend shows no sign of slowing down.

This is, in part, because competitive socialising venues do much of the heavy lifting for you, with games, good food, and a natural reason for people to engage with each other.

KAM’s Marketing Director Katie Jenkins summed up the benefits to organisations and their team members in her recent article The Rise of Competitive Socialising: Hospitality’s Winning Formula in 2025:

“Beyond entertainment, these venues offer real psychological benefits:

· improved mood

· reduced stress

· a greater sense of belonging

· more enjoyable social outings.

In a world full of uncertainty, this is no small feat.”

Three casually dressed young men with bottles of beer playing shuffleboard at Electric Shuffle, one of the most popular competitive socialising venues.

Competitive Socialising Brands Excelling at Corporate Events

Certain competitive socialising brands pair games with food, cocktails and private hire spaces for groups of every size. They offer leaving do venue ideas. And they don't hold back on positioning themselves as key corporate Christmas party venues in the UK and Ireland.

Here’s a quick look at some of the best and who does what.

· Electric Shuffle - Shuffleboard, bold cocktails and sharing plates, wrapped in a high energy, sophisticated bar setting. Tournaments hold up to 400 guests and let people join in at their own pace, which is useful for networking events and conference after parties when guest arrive across the evening rather than all at once. Venues in Leeds, London and Manchester.

· Flight Club - Social darts with digital scoring, event hosts running the show and food and drinks packages built for sharing between rounds. Action Replay technology captures the highlights too, so nobody has to argue over whose throw won or lost the game. Found in 16 UK locations.

· Lane7 - Bowling is at its too cool for school heart, alongside karaoke, ping pong and much more under one roof. Groups can book a private area or take over the whole venue, with surprisingly good food and drinks to match. A solid pick for a Christmas party in the UK or Dublin.

· Pitch - State-of-the-art golf bays are the piece de resistance, plus Mario Kart for guests who’d prefer wacky races to teeing off. Food, cocktails and good vibes come as standard, with a minimum spend model for tailoring gameplay, food and drink to suit. Venues across London, Dublin and Manchester.

· Roxy - Games meet bar, with a rock and indie soundtrack running through it. Bowling, shuffleboard, American pool, beer pong and private karaoke booths are washed down with on trend drinks packages and moreish buffet options. Spread across 21 UK sites.

A mixed group of adults playing beer pong at a competitive socialising venue.

Why Games Venue Hire for Corporate Events is a Big Winner

A formal seated multi-course meal in a hotel function room has its place and always will. But competitive socialising venues are bringing a different energy formality rarely manages:

· Stakeholders move around and mix instead of staying fixed to one table.

· Conversation flows naturally around the games instead of contrived seating plan small talk.

· People leave with memories of triumph, defeat or a ridiculous shot, rather than a vague, swiftly forgotten sense of occasion.

Additionally, the relaxed setting takes the pressure off client entertaining. Well, who cares about sparkling small talk and sales patter when a shuffleboard match needs slaying?