Find out all about this beautiful venue, behind Oxford Circus, with a colourful history…
I first worked for No.11 Cavendish Square when I was kindly introduced to the venue by Matthew Tolchard, who I met when I shot for The Red Carnation Hotel Group. He went on to head up Commercial Activities for The Kings Fund at No.11 and recommended me to Mark, when they needed a photographer to shoot their summer venue set-up. I since went on to shoot several client parties, some headshots for visiting clients (on site – there is a lot of great spaces to set up a mini studio), a beautifully air-conditioned all day conference during the crazy 2022 heatwave, when we hit 40 degrees in London, and, they’ve since brought me in several times to update their photo library with new venue images.
Mark and I have always gotten on so well – we both love a bit of industry gossip, discussing food and travel and he’s always given me great advice, feedback and support on my business. I was delighted when he attended my private launch of my (still under wraps) Vintage Portrait Project just over a year ago at Aures London.
In 2021 I helped him set up a new online library so that they could all keep their photos library up-to-date and accessible and I also introduced a friend to the venue who subsequently went on to have her wedding there.
I always love working at No.11 as it is such an incredible and unique venue with lots of historical features and great lighting. They also always have delicious food to eat, fantastic desserts and absolutely lovely staff who can’t do enough for you. I am looking forward to my next assignment there and it’s not just because of the lunch. Honest…..
Your Name: Mark MacDonald
Venue Name: No.11 Cavendish Square
Job Title: Events and Marketing Manager
Brief Overview of what you do, key responsibilities:
I’m the Events and marketing Manager at No.11 and one of my main jobs is helping the clients plan their events here and work out all the details for the day. I then hand over everything to the ops team on the day, but my team and I are also often in the building on event day itself and on hand if any help is needed.
In terms of the marketing side of my role, I look after all of the marketing for No.11 – updating and creating content for social, running campaigns to encourage people to use us, preparing marketing collateral and attending networking events.
I manage the marketing budgets and make sure we also get a healthy return on investment.
I also helped to create a new online image library (with the help of our photographer, Susannah) and make sure that it’s up to date and shared with anyone looking to explore or feature our premises.
This has been a brilliant and really useful asset.
In some ways I have two roles and often split my week 3/2 to cover both aspects of what I do.
How long have you worked there:
Nearly 8 years.
Prior experience/jobs:
I did a Marketing & Economics Degree and worked my way up in hospitality through a variety of event and marketing roles with a key role being Marketing Manager at the Wellcome Trust before here.
What does the venue specialise in?
We are a multi-purpose venue and host conferences, dinners, weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs and so many others. Because the building has both modern and traditional parts to it, it can lend itself to many different types of events.
Any interesting historical facts about the venue?
No.11 Cavendish Square has a really unique and interesting history.
The actual building started out as a fee-paying school for middle-class children run by nuns, in 1889. The profits of which were used to subsidise the teaching the nuns did in poor schools.
Over the next 75 years the building underwent various construction and modernisation, such as the installation of a hot-water system and electric lighting.
The building escaped bomb damage from the first world war but suffered during the second and some evidence can still be seen on the stonework.
To this day there remains a sculpture of Madonna and Child hanging above the front archway, although it nearly didn’t get made. The sisters had approved the maquette and didn’t realise the artist was Jacob Epstein, a Jew – very controversial for Christians back then.
After much back and forth, the sculpture was adjusted slightly and Epstein was given the go ahead to produce it, which he did using lead from the bombed roof of No.12.
The building went on to become Heythrop College in 1969 and when they decided to move, it was acquired by The King’s Fund, which had been searching for a site for all its activities, which were, at the time, spread across two separate buildings – Bayswater and Camden Town.
Before The King’s Fund moved in, in 1995, they commissioned a number of adaptions to the building, such as a new stone portico, a glazed atrium, a conservatory and courtyard garden. All of these make the building an incredible space for a variety of uses, with an abundance of natural light.
(For a more detailed history, please visit the ‘Our Building’ part of the venue website here: https://www.11cavendishsq.com/our-building)
Does your venue have an outside space for guests?
Yes, we have a lovely courtyard, which is available for all our Summer and Spring events
What makes your venue unique/special?
Most of our events are 75% repeat business, which tells you something about how happy our customers are.
In terms of what we do differently – firstly the space itself. The Orangery and Courtyard are very unique and offer a really lovely space to host events in. We also have extra room available in the building for breakout areas, lunch buffets, workshops and even photoshoots, such as the headshots session Susannah mentioned.
The location, being 5 minutes’ walk from Oxford Circus is very central and well connected.
We have an in-house tech team who are on had to support clients at all times and we’ve invested a lot of money, during Covid lockdowns, to be ready for online events, which we have now evolved into hybrid events to suit the modern customer.
We also include all this in our hire fees, so there are no hidden costs for AV, screens etc.
And finally – the staff. We never had to let anyone go during the pandemic and are fortunate enough to come out of the lockdown guns blazing and ready to serve our clients. You can see this translates into excellent customer service from our front of house teams.
Can you recall a funny/unique story about a recent event?
The Kings Fund have their own events and the matron was the then Monarch Queen Elizabeth.
One of our Italian staff Lorenzo had his brother working with him at he time, who is a massive royalist. He was so utterly excited to have (now King) Prince Charles in the green room that he begged to serve him. However, Lorenzo had to send him first to wipe his sweaty hands, as he was so nervous and excited, before doing so.
It totally made his day!
Do you have a favourite spot in the venue (could be a window you look out on a park, the ceiling in one of the rooms, or just a fav room).
I love the town house part of the building and often simply look up and admire the curved staircase. I love the history, the old-fashioned architecture and a feeling that I am in the hidden back of house area. It brings the whole history into the building – what the house has born witness to…
What’s your favourite dish on your menu (whether it’s for the wedding menu, staff menu or if there is a restaurant or café in house?)
We have a buffet menu and one Italian dish ‘lamb brasato parmigiana’ tastes like I just stepped into the best restaurant in Italy!
We also had a Jamaican wedding recently and our executive chef has Jamaican heritage, so he really enjoyed creating the menu. I absolutely loved the goat curry – it was ‘melt in your mouth’.
What are yours/the venues goals and plans for the next year or so………
To keep building on what we’ve done coming out of the pandemic.
We over achieved on our budget of 2022 and we want to continue to make sure we create the best events for our clients, so they keep coming back.
We also shall continuously work on the venue – so it always looks brand new and fresh. For example we’ve just installed a glass roof between the Garden Room and The Orangery, so no one has to suffer when the weather is bad!
What are the best things about working in Hospitality?
I love meeting new people and building relationships.
I also really enjoy seeing the whole project, from start to finish and getting the feedback.
It’s always so great when they book again and you create this great event for them.
Being involved in people’s lives is great and every day is different.
I also get to work with different teams and external suppliers, which is fun and interesting.
And the worst?
Stress – things not going to plan. Once we had a leak coming into an event, which was not a good day! There are many factors out of control, which can lead to a long/bad day; thankfully though they are far and few between.
Covid & Brexit turned hospitality upside down. We are now back in biz – with many challenges still – strikes, high fuel prices, cost of living and hospitality staff shortages. What are you most grateful for, coming back from lockdowns? And what do you think we can do/need to do, regarding the challenges we face now?
One positive from covid was that it allowed us to take stock of where we were, re-evaluate, see our weak points and have time to build a proper strategy to go into the next chapter.
The overall industry had a chance to modernise their technology and gave everyone a kick up the butt. We all need to be better at these side of things.
What would you like to see improve in hospitality?
Tech!
What are you doing to be more sustainable in your venue?
We have invested in some big things, like auto lights when you go in to various rooms and the bathrooms.
We no longer use single use plastic and cartons and have limited the choice on the daily menu to cut food waste.
We have become more streamlined with smaller lunch choices and simpler menus to suit most dietary requirements.
We’ve also replaced pads and pencils and use all recyclable materials where possible.
Please tell me about the accessibility at your venue – for example do you have good disability access (wide walkways, audio summery features etc)?
As part of The King’s Fund – one of the leading think tanks on health and social care, we are fully accessible.
What do you think of the use of professional photography at your venue for marketing and/or events? (Be honest!)
I spend a lot of time on collateral. We have to ‘sell the dream’.
Not everyone can come in on a site visit so it’s important to have great photos to show the spaces empty and in use.
We use imagery on everything and really value professional photography and video, which is well worth the R.O.I.
All the main selling platforms – Hire Space, Square Meal, Tag, Premium Listings etc need imagery and if it looks good, we will stand out.
We also are getting better at social media and are regularly posting on Instagram. We use a combination of ‘snaps’ at events from us and our customers mixed with professional photos to keep engagement and show the spaces at the best and in use.
A great photo will sell your venue far more than a thousand words. Just look at the success of Instagram to see this!
A recent example is this shoot below, which we just commissioned, with Susannah, so that we could show how the space would look with beautiful flowers (from Fresh Flowers Scent) in place, and different lighting, to create a rather luxurious atmosphere for special events.
How is your relationship with social media? Anything you wish you knew more or had time to do more of?
As mentioned above, I am getting better at using social media. It took a bit of time to get the hand of it since I took over the marketing role and getting the website to the standard I wanted it to be, over the last 6 months, became a part of my working day.
I have also been trying to focus on our Instagram – telling our story, showing behind the scenes and allowing people to get to know our brand.
Favourite London venue (apart from yours!)
I love The Barbican. It has this interesting Industrial ‘hard’ look but had a charm about it, with a great theatre, the amazing conservatory, outside spaces and a great place for gigs.
Where’s a great place to take a visitor in London?
I really enjoy going to the Greenwich museums especially the Royal Naval College, which is stunning to visit and a great venue too.
What’s your ideal Sunday in London?
Columbia Road Flower market, breakfast in a nice cafe and buying too many plants – followed by a pint in the afternoon!
What’s your best advice/instruction for anyone considering an event at your venue?
Look at our socials and website to get a real feel of our events and then get in contact to arrange a site visit. Once people come on site, 98% book as they can see the possibility of their event in our spaces.
Website: 11cavendishsq.com
Socials: