Corporate groups are staying longer and spending more beyond the meeting room, says Foxhills

The traditional meeting room is no longer enough for many businesses, according to Foxhills Club & Resort. The Surrey resort reports that corporate clients are increasingly building time together around their meetings, rather than simply booking a room for the day.

Foxhills recorded a 15% year-on-year rise in meetings and events revenue across June, July and August. The most telling detail is where that growth came from.

What are corporate groups doing differently?

Room hire revenue rose by 12% over the summer. Food revenue grew faster, by 25%, and drinks revenue faster still, by 29%. The figures suggest groups aren't just booking more meetings. They're spending more on the time either side of them, with shared lunches, longer dinners and drinks after the final session becoming a bigger part of the day.

Corporate bedroom bookings also rose by 7%. More teams are staying overnight, turning what might once have been a day of back-to-back sessions into an away day or short retreat.

Why are businesses changing how they meet?

Foxhills puts the shift down to a greater emphasis on bringing people together with purpose. With many teams now spending less time in the same office, planners are using meetings to build collaboration and connection, not just to get through an agenda.

Kelly Elton, Director of Sales at Foxhills Club & Resort, said: 'Businesses are looking for experiences that make meetings and events memorable, allowing their guests to take part in more activities together and ultimately making time together count. We're seeing more enquiries that look to combine productive meetings with opportunities to connect through more diverse team building activities and experiences, away from the usual working environment.'

What does an experience-led meeting look like?

At Foxhills, it often means a morning session followed by an afternoon out on the estate. Groups have been combining meetings with golf on the resort's championship courses, time in the spa, or team building activities across the grounds, before regrouping for dinner. The opening of contemporary Indian restaurant Lomri in April has also given groups a new option for evening meals.

For planners, the takeaway is that the venue increasingly matters as much as the meeting room. Businesses are choosing places where colleagues can work, eat and spend unstructured time together in one location.

Planning a corporate away day in Surrey? Explore Foxhills' meeting and event spaces.