Inside 60 Great Queen Street: How Event Planning Is Changing, According to Lauren Faraday

Event planning has changed more in the last couple of years than in the decade before it. To find out what that shift actually looks like from the venue side, we spoke to Lauren Faraday, Director of Sales at 60 Great Queen Street, who has spent 11 years with Smart Group, the venue's sales and marketing partner.

A day in the life

Lauren and her events manager, Laura, spend most of their day client-facing: calls, emails, site visits, and the operational work of turning enquiries into events. It's a role that puts her at the centre of exactly the kind of shifts organisers are navigating right now.

What's actually coming through the door

Enquiries these days lean toward curated, guest-list events rather than mass-attendance ones. Brand launches and product launches make up a large share of the pipeline, and even conferences are evolving. Organisers are asking for summit-style formats with more meaningful content, rather than simply filling a room. Lauren has also noticed a rise in enquiries from US businesses, alongside a strong core of local London clients, both of which speak to the venue's location and international appeal.

The strategic shift

"It's less about the scale of the event and more about the content of the event," Lauren says. That's the biggest change she's seen in the last year or two. Organisers now want spaces that can do more than host a conference; workshop areas, breakout rooms, and hybrid capability are increasingly part of the brief.

Spending smarter, not less

Budgets haven't collapsed, but they have changed shape. Rather than broad cuts, Lauren is seeing more deliberate spending. Organisers are investing in sessions, workshops, hybrid meeting setups, and watch parties. As she puts it, clients are "spending differently rather than just spending less."

The new non-negotiables

Two things now sit firmly in the "must-have" column: accessibility and hybrid capability. A venue simply has to be fully accessible, something 60 Great Queen Street can deliver on. Hybrid, meanwhile, has moved from a nice extra to an expectation. On top of that, clients want the handoff between venue and production partners to be seamless from the very start of planning.

What makes an event actually land with guests

For Lauren, success today is less about scale and more about design. Flow is everything. Guests shouldn't have to think about where to go next; the space should guide them there naturally. Food plays a bigger role than people might expect, and 60 Great Queen Street's in-house caterer, Moving Venue, is a key part of that: exceptional not just at the food itself, but at telling a story through the menu and service. When branding, catering, and content all align, an event stops being just attended and starts being remembered.

Advice for the next 12-18 months

If Lauren had one piece of advice for organisers planning ahead, it's this: prioritise adaptability. Programmes are changing, attendee numbers fluctuate, and hybrid elements aren't going anywhere. A venue that can scale up and down with your needs is one of the most valuable assets you can have on your side.

Why organisers choose 60 Great Queen Street

The venue's appeal comes down to a combination of heritage character and genuinely modern production capability. It hosts everything from summits and conferences to fashion shows and film premieres, and its scalability is rare. It’s equally suited to large-scale productions and intimate gatherings. Importantly, it's not treated as a blank canvas handed over as-is; the team actively encourages clients to make the space their own, offering strong support around branding during activations.

What the best events there have in common

According to Lauren, the most successful events at 60 Great Queen Street share one thing: collaboration from day one. When agencies and production teams align early on floor plans and production details, the guest journey feels cohesive rather than assembled piece by piece. Clear intent, thoughtful design, and exceptional catering consistently make the difference between a good event and a great one.

The role of VenueScanner

Lauren also spoke about the value third-party platforms bring to the venue side. VenueScanner, she says, plays a genuinely practical role, connecting the team with strong corporate leads and quality enquiries. The platform makes responding to clients and attaching proposals straightforward, and VenueScanner for Business in particular helps her team stay on top of enquiries and get quick updates, keeping everything moving efficiently.

Lauren Faraday is Director of Sales at 60 Great Queen Street, and has been with Smart Group, the venue's sales and marketing partner, for 11 years. Connect with her on LinkedIn.