Corporate Events Guide

Furniture for conferences, award dinners, product launches, AGMs, training days and team away-days. Layout options, chair selection and quantity planning.

Meeting and Conference Layouts

Theatre style

Rows of chairs facing a stage or screen, no tables. The highest-density layout for a given floor area. Allow 0.5 sq m per person as a minimum; 0.65 sq m for comfortable spacing with aisle access. A 200-person conference in theatre style needs 200 chairs and roughly 130 sq m of usable floor space.

The padded conference chair handles full-day seating in a way that folding chairs or Eames-style seats do not. It stacks to 10 high, so storage and changeover between sessions is fast.

Classroom style

Rows of tables with chairs behind them, all facing forward. Used for training sessions, CPD days and presentations where delegates take notes or use laptops. Allow 1.0 to 1.2 sq m per person. A 6ft rectangular banqueting table seats three per side on classroom rows, so 50 delegates need 17 tables.

Boardroom style

One large table with seating on all sides. Used for AGMs, board meetings and executive briefings. The oval banqueting tables create a single surface for up to 12–14 delegates. For larger groups, join several 6ft rectangular tables end to end. Allow 0.75m of table edge per person.

Dining and Award Dinners

Seated dinners use round tables to allow conversation across the table and to give room for service from all sides. A 5ft round table (152cm diameter) seats 8 comfortably; a 6ft round (183cm) seats 10.

Networking and Standing Receptions

Standing receptions use poseur tables as surfaces for drinks and plates, not for seating. Allow one poseur table per 8–10 guests. For 50 guests that is 5–6 tables; for 100 guests, 10–12. Poseur tables stand at 110cm; they work alone or paired with bar stools.

At receptions preceding a seated dinner, clear the poseur tables from the dining area before guests sit. Leave them in the foyer or adjacent breakout space for post-dinner networking.

Chair Selection by Event Type

Brand Alignment

Event agencies and in-house corporate teams use chair colour as part of event design. The Eames chair range covers black, blue, green, grey, orange, red and white. The Eiffel armchair covers black, blue, grey, red and white.

The most reliable approach is one colour for all chairs used consistently. Two-colour mixing (black Eames chairs at tables, white Chiavari at a top table) works only when every table in the room follows exactly the same scheme. Inconsistency looks accidental.

See the Colour Selection Guide for detail on which colours suit which event contexts, and advice on ordering samples before committing to volume.

Volume and Pricing

Most corporate events run between 50 and 500 people. At standard pricing, a 200-person conference in theatre style with conference chairs costs roughly £6,800. A 100-person award dinner with 6ft round tables and White Chiavari chairs runs around £8,200 for tables and chairs combined. Bulk pricing reduces both figures.

Trade accounts are available for event agencies, venues and organisations that buy regularly. Bulk order pricing applies from 20 units on most lines.

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