Conference Venues for hire in Leicester

Leicester's sporting venues have transformed into serious conference contenders. Mattioli Woods Welford Road stands as the East Midlands' largest venue with 34 suites spanning almost 4,000 square metres. The Premiership Suite alone accommodates 1,250 delegates theatre-style, whilst the Final Whistle exhibition hall offers 900 square metres with direct vehicle access for those ambitious product launches. Just down the road, King Power Stadium provides 48 meeting spaces including the 650-capacity Walkers Hall, with Levy UK+I handling catering at both venues.

The Morningside Arena adds basketball court flexibility with configurations up to 3,000 delegates, whilst Leicestershire County Cricket Club at Grace Road offers the Charles Palmer Suite for 200 with panoramic pitch views. These venues share common advantages: extensive parking (300+ spaces), multiple breakout options, and surprisingly competitive DDR from £35. They've also mastered the art of corporate hospitality, with executive boxes doubling as boardrooms and pitch-view dining adding memorability to evening functions.

Leicester's Cultural Quarter has emerged as a conference cluster with remarkable density. Curve Theatre leads with theatrical flair, opening its stage to create unique plenaries for 1,150 delegates across two auditoria. Five minutes' walk away, Athena's art-deco interior houses 900 theatre-style with 100Mb dedicated broadband and an in-house tech team managing complex hybrid events. Phoenix Leicester adds versatility with cinema screens seating 60-217 doubling as presentation spaces, with meeting rooms starting from just £15 per hour.

LCB Depot brings transparent pricing to creative meetings with day rates from £145-300 clearly published, whilst the Lightbox Gallery accommodates 60 for workshops. The cluster benefits from exceptional transport links, with Leicester Railway Station under 12 minutes' walk from any venue. This concentration enables multi-venue conferences, using Curve for plenaries, Phoenix for breakouts, and LCB Depot for networking. The quarter's creative DNA also attracts innovative catering options, from Grays café at LCB Depot to experimental menus at Curve's various spaces.

Leicester's historical venues bring gravitas to corporate gatherings. The City Rooms occupies a Georgian townhouse with one of Leicester's largest period ballrooms, accommodating 200 theatre-style with original features intact. Leicester Guildhall trumps this with 14th-century authenticity, its Great Hall and Mayor's Parlour creating memorable settings for smaller strategic meetings. Winstanley House combines Grade II Georgian elegance with modern additions, the Grand Ballroom seating 400 theatre-style within 168 acres of parkland.

King Richard III Visitor Centre offers the King's Suite for 80 theatre-style directly opposite the Cathedral, with packages including exhibition access for historically minded delegates. These venues navigate heritage limitations cleverly, with The City Rooms installing lift access to its ballroom and Winstanley House adding contemporary pavilion spaces. Mercure Leicester The Grand Hotel bridges eras, its Victorian bones supporting the Kings Hall for 350 delegates with full modern AV. Even De Montfort Hall, the city's flagship auditorium since 1913, configures flexibly from 1,400 to 2,200 with adjoining suites for exhibitions.

De Montfort University has positioned itself as Leicester's sustainable conference choice with 'Green meetings' DDR from £39+VAT. The purpose-built conference centre offers over 1,200 square metres of flexible space, with the main hall accommodating up to 1,000 standing. Room hire starts from £250, making it cost-effective for training and larger gatherings. Across the city, Space Park Leicester targets tech-focused events with its 100-seat conference room featuring advanced AV and video walls, capitalising on its space industry connections.

Attenborough Arts Centre brings transparency to university venue hire with published rates: £450 per day for the 124-seat Main Hall, £170 for studios. The inclusive ethos extends to facilities, with full accessibility and flexible layouts for diverse event formats. The National Space Centre, whilst not strictly academic, offers educational conference experiences with the 192-seat Sir Patrick Moore Planetarium creating memorable plenaries. The Shuttle Suite accommodates 200 theatre-style surrounded by space exhibits, with evening exclusive hire bringing 500-person receptions amongst the rockets.

Leicester's hotel conference facilities range from boutique to business-focused. The newly rebranded voco Leicester (formerly Hotel Brooklyn) brings IHG standards with the combinable Foxes & Tigers rooms creating a 150-delegate space. Located near Leicester Tigers stadium, it offers synergy for sports-themed corporate events. Downtown, Novotel Leicester's pillar-free Westmoreland Suite accommodates 160 theatre-style with natural light, part of 14 meeting rooms serving various capacities.

The Belmont Hotel claims the closest station proximity at three minutes' walk, its Rose Room managing 175 theatre-style in period surroundings. Holiday Inn Leicester City scales up with the Leicestershire Suite for 280 theatre-style, whilst the Express variant at Filbert Way offers budget options with rooms up to 160. St Martins House creates a conference campus with St Martins Lodge's 28 bedrooms directly opposite, the main venue offering AIM-accredited rooms including 200-capacity spaces with clear DDR from £35 standard or £25 for NHS bookings.

Leicester's specialist venues create talking points. The National Space Centre planetarium transforms presentations into immersive experiences for 192 delegates, whilst evening hire encompasses galleries and the Rocket Tower for 500-person receptions. DDR from £52+VAT includes exhibition access, making it memorable yet practical. Phoenix Leicester's REAL Studio adds broadcast capability at £125 per hour serviced hire, suitable for filmed announcements or hybrid townhalls requiring professional production values.

City Hall's Attenborough Hall provides civic gravitas for 300 theatre-style at competitive public sector rates, whilst Leicester Museums venues like Newarke Houses offer Garden Galleries for 120 with museum access included. These venues excel at adding value beyond meeting space: behind-the-scenes stadium tours at Leicester Tigers, exhibition access at King Richard III Visitor Centre, or planetarium shows at the National Space Centre. Even standard meetings gain distinction when held in Athena's former Odeon theatre or amongst LCB Depot's creative businesses.

Leicester's conference pricing reveals clear tiers. Budget options start with Phoenix Leicester at £15 per hour for meeting rooms, whilst LCB Depot publishes day rates from £145-300 depending on space. The mid-range clusters around £35-45 DDR, with stadium venues, St Martins House, and De Montfort University competing here. Premium pricing above £50 DDR typically includes unique experiences like National Space Centre's planetarium access or full-service packages at Athena.

Room hire varies dramatically from Holiday Inn Express's £100-400 to De Montfort Hall's £5,000-12,000 for the main auditorium. Several venues offer sector-specific pricing: St Martins House's NHS rate at £25 DDR, university venues with academic discounts, and Leicester Museums with community rates. Transparency varies, with LCB Depot and Attenborough Arts Centre publishing clear tariffs whilst premium venues like Athena and Winstanley House quote individually. Early booking discounts appear common, particularly for multi-day bookings combining accommodation at hotel venues.

Leicester Railway Station anchors the conference venue network, with the Cultural Quarter cluster just five minutes' walk. Curve Theatre, LCB Depot, and Phoenix Leicester all fall within this golden zone, making them ideal for London-based delegates on the 65-minute Midland Main Line service. The Belmont Hotel wins for proximity at three minutes, whilst Mercure The Grand Hotel and St Martins House sit within comfortable 6-15 minute walks through the city centre.

Stadium venues require transport planning, with Leicester Tigers and King Power Stadium both 20-25 minutes' walk or short taxi rides. The National Space Centre and Space Park Leicester need 10-minute taxi journeys, though both offer free parking compensating for distance. Several venues tackle accessibility proactively: Curve Theatre holds awards for inclusive design, Athena provides 120 on-site parking spaces unusual for the city centre, whilst De Montfort University's campus offers step-free access throughout. Evening events benefit from Leicester's compact centre, with most venues accessible via the same taxi circuit.

Levy UK+I dominates Leicester's premium conference catering, operating at both Mattioli Woods Welford Road and King Power Stadium. Their 'Meetings for Change' sustainable packages at Leicester Tigers set environmental benchmarks, whilst maintaining the quality expected at 1,250-delegate conferences. Independent venues showcase local suppliers: LCB Depot's Grays café brings artisan coffee culture to meetings, whilst Curve Theatre's in-house team creates theatrical dining experiences on stage for 450 guests.

Hotels maintain reliable standards with Novotel, voco Leicester, and Mercure The Grand offering predictable quality for multi-day conferences. Budget options like Phoenix Leicester permit external caterers from £12 per head for sandwich lunches, whilst St Martins House packages meals from £12 for simple lunch to £35 DDR including refreshments. Unique venues add experiential elements: the National Space Centre themes menus around space exploration, Leicester Museums venues highlight local heritage, whilst stadium venues offer pitch-view dining. Dietary requirements receive increasing attention, with university venues like De Montfort and Attenborough Arts Centre leading on inclusive catering.

Zipcube streamlines Leicester's diverse conference landscape into manageable choices. Rather than contacting 29 venues individually, our platform presents real-time availability across the full spectrum from LCB Depot's £145-per-day creative spaces to Mattioli Woods Welford Road's 1,250-seat Premiership Suite. We maintain direct relationships with venue managers, ensuring accurate capacity information and current pricing that reflects seasonal variations and sector-specific rates like St Martins House's NHS discounts.

Our Leicester inventory spans every category: sporting venues with parking for hundreds, Cultural Quarter spaces within five minutes of the station, heritage venues adding gravitas, and unique options like the National Space Centre's planetarium. The platform particularly excels at complex requirements, matching multi-day conferences needing accommodation at voco Leicester or Mercure The Grand, or coordinating multi-venue events across Curve Theatre, Phoenix, and LCB Depot. With transparent pricing from venues that publish rates and guided quotes from premium spaces, Zipcube removes the guesswork from Leicester conference planning whilst maintaining the personal service that ensures your event matches the right venue personality.