Venue Reading

03/01/2025

🥰We wanted to share this love story from the University of Reading Alumni Team as it made our hearts melt and we have just had the Proposal Season over the Christmas holidays and New Year so if your reading this and you've recently got engaged, head over to venuehenley.com where you can find out about our riverside weddings at the Greenlands Hotel 💍

😍Romy and Rhys met at the University of Reading, fell in love, and had their faces proudly displayed on a giant gazebo at an Open Day. Fast forward eight years later, and the Alumni Team pulled off a heartfelt surprise — they brought that very gazebo to their wedding day! What a beautiful full-circle moment for this amazing couple. Here’s to love, and memories that last a lifetime.

You can read the full story here:
https://sites.reading.ac.uk/connected/2024/12/16/a-wedding-day-surprise

20/12/2024

🎄We would like to thank you for choosing Venue Reading to host your events this year and for following us on social media. We hope you all have a fabulous Christmas break, and we look forward to working with you in 2025 🎅
🛑 Please note our offices will be closed from later today for the University of Reading Christmas closure. Our Venues will reopen, and we will be back to work from Monday 6th January.
See you all in 2025 🎉

19/12/2024

The Great Hall was opened in 1906, but it wasn’t until the summer vacation of 1911 that the organ was installed in the Great Hall.
An organ fund had been established and by the end of the summer term of 1911 sufficient money had been raised, or at least promised, for the installation to go ahead - a total of about £500 had been raised by 267 past and present students.

18/12/2024

👷🏼 Take a step back in time to when the Great Hall was under construction in 1905 with these photos from the University Archives 🔨 🧱 🪚
The New Buildings Committee had reported that the cost of the Hall would be £8,143 with an additional £550 for heat and light. The building of the Great Hall from the laying of the foundation stone on June 7th, 1905, to the grand opening in October 27th 1906 is fascinating, especially when you think there were no JCBs, cranes or anything much in the way of mechanical assistance. Today, the Great Hall hosts many concerts as well as the University of Reading summer and winter graduation ceremonies.

17/12/2024

At Venue Reading we offer exceptional event spaces but don’t just take our word for it… Check out this great feedback from a recent event in one of our lecture theatres on the University of Reading Whiteknights Campus ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

21/11/2024

Thanks for having us Expos. Good to be part of the first Business Expo taking place in Bracknell today.

If Lewis or I missed you, and you’re interested in finding out more about or drop us a message as we’d love to show you round either of our fantastic campus venues.

11/11/2024

27/10/2024

🎶 🎶 🎶

25/10/2024

Fall vibes at Park House today 🍂

23/10/2024

Happy to all our colleagues, clients, and friends in the events industry.

From the grand parties of ancient empires to today’s global conferences, event planning is an art that’s been perfected over millennia. Events often unfold seamlessly with thanks to the event organiser. Behind the scenes of these memorable moments are the event organisers, the unsung heroes who make it all happen.

Today, on October 23, we celebrate our behind-the-scenes wizards. Because they’re the ones who bring people together, creating unforgettable experiences from weddings to corporate gatherings.

Event organisers roles are as diverse as the events they orchestrate - they’re responsible for everything from understanding client’s needs, planning, and budgeting. Organisers negotiate with suppliers, manage staff, and solve problems on the fly, ensuring everything goes according to plan. This profession requires a unique blend of skills, including communication, negotiation, organised, leadership, and the ability to remain calm under pressure​​.

18/10/2024

The University of Reading has officially achieved the max 3* from the Sustainable Restaurant Association, scoring a very high 96% across all outlets and services operated within our Hospitality and Dining teams.

Our University has extensive activity within food and drink, from its farms, The National Fruit Collection, teaching and research in both Agriculture and Food Sciences as well as an extensive Catering operation.

As a self-funded service of the University, we are committed to consistent improvement around sustainability in a manner that is financially sustainable to allow us to continue to invest in this area. We appreciate and understand that different individuals and groups have different interpretations and views on how to achieve this, so we try to be open and transparent on our progress, to encourage conversation and debate.

All our physical outlets have been independently audited and certified through the Sustainable Restaurant Association’s Food Made Good scheme awarding us the maximum of three stars.

10/10/2024

An opportunity to join the Venue Reading team as a Lead Event Coordinator is now live on the University of Reading Jobs Page.

We’re looking for an experienced events professional to join our team for a year to support covering maternity leave within the team. You will be experienced in a customer service environment within an events setting as you will be interacting with our clients, new and repeat on a daily basis. Please follow the below link or search ‘Events’ at Jobs.Reading.ac.uk for more information and read the full job description. The closing date for the vacancy is 3rd November with interviews to be held on the 15th November.

https://jobs.reading.ac.uk/Job/JobDetail?JobId=13808

There are many benefits of working for the University of Reading:
Generous annual leave – our annual leave scheme entitles colleagues to take up to 21 days annual leave per year, increasing to 25 days after 5 years’ service. (The entitlement will be pro rata for part-time colleagues). In addition to this, you will be entitled to public holidays and additional days (normally 6 in total) when the University is closed around Easter and Christmas.
Great pension scheme – members of staff can join a pension scheme offered by the University. The scheme is funded by contributions made by both members and the University with the University paying most of the cost.
Beautiful Campus Environment - our Green Flag Award winning Whiteknights campus is not far from Reading town center. It has its own bus stop, serving Reading Buses, a free park and ride from Mereoak and Thames Valley Park and on-site permit parking available. It is set in 130 hectares of beautiful parkland, so you’ll find plenty of places to relax during your breaks.
Additional benefit Schemes – such as Cycle2Work, travel loans and discounts are just some of the package’s staff can benefit from.
Your health and wellbeing – there is a considerable discount on our on-site Sports Park Facilities because we care about our employees’ Health and Wellbeing.

26/09/2024

Great day at the Reading event, networking with other local businesses at Green Park.

25/09/2024

We’re so excited! Foodie Thursday returns to the Whiteknights campus from tomorrow!! Choose from your favourite international cuisines for lunch tomorrow 🌯 🌭 🥗 🍤 🍜

17/09/2024

Venue Reading and Venue Henley will be exhibiting at the Reading Business Expo next Thursday (26th September) and will be on stand 16. If you’d like to visit the exhibition, you can pick up free tickets to attend here:
b2bexpos.co.uk/event/reading-expo-september-2024

As well as a busy exhibition, there will also be free seminars and workshops from Berkshire’s leading keynote and business speakers as well as a speed networking session. This event is completely free to attend - simply pre-register online today!

03/09/2024

🚌 Reading Buses are launching a new bus service coming to our Whiteknights campus from 21st September making it even more convenient to travel to events on campus by public transport.

The White Knight 20, developed by has been tailored to the University and will provide an express service between Reading Town Centre and train station, to and from campus during term time. Delegates and visitors to the University of Reading can use this service as with any other public bus, making it even quicker to get to a meeting destination on the Whiteknights campus.

The White Knight 20 will run up to every 10 minutes during term time peak periods with a travel time of 15 minutes or less between campus and the station. During the first half of Semester 1 (until October half term) the service will be enhanced, running up to midnight each day. The White Knight 20 will also run on Saturdays and Sundays during term time, at a frequency of every 15 minutes between around 11.30am and 11.30pm (Saturday) and 11.30am and 7pm (Sunday/Bank Holiday).

Between the two routes, the term-time frequency of buses running between the town centre/station and campus will be every 7-8 minutes. It is hoped that the combination of route offers will speed up all journeys and improve the reliability of the existing (enhanced) 21 service 🚎

Reading Buses have also confirmed that a fleet of zero emission electric buses are on the way for introduction onto the Claret 21 route next June and following that, they plan to introduce sustainably fuelled bio-methane buses onto the White Knight 20 for the 2025/26 academic year. This will remove most of the carbon impact of running the bus service, which is already significantly better for the environment than private cars and aligns with the University of Reading Travel Plan 🚍

27/08/2024

Your team of Event Professionals at the Whiteknights & London Rd, Reading campuses and Greenlands, Henley. The Venue Reading and Venue Henley Team got together today to celebrate a successful year of events. None of us are stronger, than all of us together ❤️