Why All Event Organisers Should Book Corporate Afternoon Tea

JudithRafferty
Aug 8, 2025
3 min read

Corporate afternoon tea is officially a thing, with event planners and venues finally realising there’s more to meetings than dry agendas and even drier buffets. Now, cream-filled éclairs are taking the edge off even the most poker-faced gatherings.

With National Afternoon Tea Week celebrated on 11th – 17th August, it’s worth asking how this 180-year-old tradition is stealing the show at conferences and events.

Here’s why corporate events planners UK-wide shoulgive serious consideration to serving up scones at seminars.

A corporate afternoon tea on a three tier tand, with sandwiches, cakes, scones and a dessert in a teacup, on a table in a hotel, with people sat other tables.

Tap Into Quirk Potential

Afternoon tea has aristocratic roots. But it’s proving surprisingly rebellious in today’s events scene. And here’s why:

· It breaks the working lunch mould

· It creates space for meaningful conversation without the formality of dinner

· It’s nostalgic and novel, especially when creatively interpreted, making it a delicious conversation starter

In fact, the corporate afternoon tea format flexes beautifully to your brand, brief, or business vibe. That might be a classic silver-tiered spread, or an unrestrained Mad Hatter’s Tea Party complete with cocktails and costumed chaos.

What’s on the Corporate Afternoon Tea Menu?

Think of afternoon tea events as dainty, engaging and perfectly timed performances.

“Afternoon Tea is a meal composed of sandwiches (usually cut delicately into 'fingers'), scones with clotted cream and jam, sweet pastries and cakes”, the Afternoon Tea website clarifies. “Interestingly, scones were not a common feature of early Afternoon Tea and were only introduced in the twentieth century.” Glory be!

This play of three acts includes:

Finger Sandwiches

· Wafer thin, crustless perfection

· Cucumber, smoked salmon, egg and cress - simple yet sublime

· Minimal filling, maximum finesse

Dainty Sweet Treats

· Bite-sized but brilliant tarts, mini muffins, friands, macarons

· Variety is key, think chocolate, lemon, raspberry, pistachio

· Moist, elegant, and easy to eat during a conversation

Scones with Jam and Cream

· Still causing a national debate - jam or cream first?

· Serve warm with both, and nobody will give a monkey’s about the order when they’re tucking in

· Homemade, heart-warming and Instagram gold

And of course, the tea. But no one’s saying no to coffee (or bubbles) either, especially when there’s a mid-afternoon energy slump.

Ripe strawberries and scones on a glass plate, next to a plate of sandwiches at an afteroon tea event.

Make It Business

The thing is, afternoon tea for meetings is more than a pretty plate. Moreover, afternoon tea week ideas are showing up year-round and in the most unexpected places, such as:

· Client meetings with a sprinkle of hospitality

· 1:1s where a human touch goes a long way

· Networking groups that want to make an impression

· Offsite strategy days where less flipcharts + more fondant fancies = heightened creativity and productivity.

Where to Host It?

At the Venue Hunters, we’ve helped bookers plan corporate afternoon tea at garden view hotel terraces to historic royal palaces.

And the choice is increasing as hotels and venues constantly look to boost their conference and meeting experiences.

So, afternoon tea might have started as a dainty Duchess’s indulgence. But circa 2025, business afternoon tea has become a compelling and immersive experience.