Inside Los Mochis: What London's Top Venues Are Telling Us About Event Trends

We sat down with Jack Rycott, Head of Events at Thesleff Group, on the terrace at Los Mochis, London City, to talk trends, tuna ceremonies, and why "just a venue" doesn't cut it anymore.

Clients don't want a venue anymore. They want an experience.

Q: You oversee events across a number of very different venues and concepts. What trends are you seeing across the Thesleff Group portfolio that feel particularly important right now?

A: There's a lot happening at the moment, but one trend we're seeing drive real decision-making is the demand for experience-led events. No longer are clients wanting just a venue, a space, food and drink — you need to add more, you need to add value.

And with that, a lot of clients want flexibility in the space too. They're after event spaces that transition seamlessly between a seated dinner or a conference and that late-night drinking and party atmosphere. An all-in-one space for events is becoming incredibly popular, and it's something a few of our venues are really seeing the benefit of.

Another trend we've noticed recently is the rise of short lead times. We're seeing a lot more smaller, department-led events — anywhere from 50 to 100 guests — booked with just two to three weeks' notice. That puts more pressure on us as a hospitality group, but it just means we need to be watertight and operationally efficient, communicating with the teams to make sure we can deliver. Because whether a client's been planning for a year or two weeks, they expect the same level of delivery.

The bar keeps rising...and so does the relationship

Q: How have organiser expectations changed over the last couple of years when it comes to booking hospitality-led venues?

A: Client and organiser expectations are becoming more and more sophisticated. The level of hospitality in London, and the competition between venues, is getting higher and higher, which means there's no room for us as a venue group to be anything less than operationally seamless.

There's also a growing demand for us to build more of a relationship and add creative value. Clients no longer just want us to send over proposals and offer a space — they want us to come with ideas, bring their vision to life. We're not just a sales team anymore, we're a 360 events function. It's genuinely exciting, because it means our teams provide that end-to-end delivery, going with the client on the whole journey from idea to reality.

For a group like ours, with lots of different venues and different brand identities, building that relationship really pays off — you might host a client here at Los Mochis one year, then atSale e Pepe the next. It makes the whole journey and relationship with the client so much easier.

Wow moments, tuna ceremonies, and the theatre of food

Q: Across the Thesleff Group portfolio, what do you think guests are looking for that goes beyond just food and drinks?

More and more clients and event planners want a sense of occasion. It's no longer just food, drinks, canapés and seats for dinner — the buzzword clients always use is "wow moments," whether that's in the food and drink, the entertainment, lighting, or other sensory touches. It all needs to fit together seamlessly, and you need to offer something a little different.

A great example here at Los Mochis is our TENrei Art of Tuna ceremony. We bring in a whole tuna, and there are lighting and theatrical moments built around it — it becomes a real performance. The team uses traditional Japanese knives and carving techniques to walk guests through the different cuts, dissecting the tuna right in front of them. People get to see it, experience it, live it. Guests can eat directly from the tuna, and depending on the event style, we'll then take it back and serve a seated meal or canapés built around it. It adds a real layer of food-and-drink theatre.

Why Los Mochis stands out

Q: We're filming here at Los Mochis City today. What has made this venue resonate so strongly with both corporate and private events?

Los Mochis London City is one of our most popular venues, and it's got a really strong brand identity — it's visually striking, the space is beautiful, and it's instantly recognisable across social media and websites. But I think what really makes us stand out is the sheer adaptability of the space: the size, the layout, and how it's been built to accommodate lots of different event styles and guest groups at the same time, without affecting guest service.

We've got a private dining room, an omakase space, a mezzanine, and the terrace we're sat on right now — which is a 200-capacity terrace in its own right. It's almost a venue within a venue; you can hire it out exclusively, and it's got a fully retractable roof, so it works for summer, winter, and conferences alike. It's a genuinely unique space.

The other thing that sets us apart is our cuisine — a Japanese-Mexican fusion you don't often see elsewhere, and the two complement each other really well. We're also gluten, nut, and celery free across the whole menu, which makes us approachable for a huge range of guests. For event planners, that means when dietary requirements come in, we can accommodate a wide range with ease. The flexibility and adaptability of the space is really what resonates with clients.

Why VenueScanner works for us

Q: From an events perspective, how important are platforms like VenueScanner in helping venues connect with the right organisers?

VenueScanner has been instrumental in helping us reach new audiences we wouldn't otherwise have been exposed to — it gives us great exposure in an increasingly competitive London market. But I think the most instrumental part is that it lets clients and bookers shortlist venues based on their actual requirements. On our end, that means the sales team gets more informed and qualified leads, so we can spend more time on the leads that matter, rather than getting flooded with enquiries that were never going to be a fit.

Working with the team at VenueScanner — people who actually come to our venues and know them — really helps build that relationship and deliver amazing events for clients together. For us, listing on platforms like VenueScanner is a no-brainer.

What's next: AI, expectations, and the future of events

Q: Looking ahead, what do you think people will expect from hospitality and event venues that they aren't necessarily asking for today?

I think we're going to keep seeing increased demand on the sales team to build relationships proactively, and to add creative value to the events process — clients want us to help inform their decision-making, not just execute a brief.

Personally, I'm really excited to see where AI and tech take the industry. We've already seen a lot of movement in venue and listing platforms, and in CRM platforms using AI for data, proposals, and decision-making. But what I'm most interested in is how clients themselves are starting to use it — we've seen them use AI to shortlist venues, and just last week, we were sent an image of our own terrace that a client had used AI to rebrand for their event. Expectations are only going to get higher each year, so I think we'll need to lean more into production as part of our event delivery. With AI, the opportunities are endless — we just need to make sure we can keep delivering against those expectations. I'm genuinely excited to see where it takes us.

Fancy hosting your next event somewhere with a fully retractable roof and a tuna ceremony? Explore Los Mochis, London City and see what all the fuss is about.