Agency Dinner, Tobacco Dock.

Last month we were kindly invited to the annual Concerto Group agency dinner at a really fabulous venue in East London called Tobacco Dock. We thought we would share a little bit about our experience…

Tobacco Dock was re-launched in October 2012 and has been transformed from a Tobacco Warehouse into an expansive and flexible events space comprising of over 70 individual spaces and covering 16,000m2 over the two floors. This vast space can accommodate 10,000 guests at any one time, but is also perfect for unique smaller events utilising a combination of a few of the spaces. The venue is made up of the Great gallery, Quayside spaces, East Mall, Vaults, Quayside bar and Walkways.Concerto group had invited us to an ‘east end knees up’ and so we arrived with much anticipation to see what was in store for the night.

We were greeted in the Quayside Bar which had been transformed into an east end pub ‘The Agency Arms’ where a range of drinks were served by “liquid chefs” and served in small old fashioned pint glasses to give it a more authentic feel. Here we were given a choice of a range of starters from mini pie and mash, Yorkshire pudding and our favourite; a selection of seafood (cockles, muscles, shrimp) served amongst ice in the fountain which dominates the lower space.We were given the opportunity to be shown the range of venues including the Great Gallery, the singular biggest space in the venue at 1178m2 which can accommodate 2000 for a reception and 1300 seated on rounds.

We then headed down to the vaults for the main courses. We were seated on a range of pub benches and got the chance to meet lots of other events profs which was great to discuss the industry and our favourite venues, new and old. CrEATe served the most delicious fish and chips with a selection of extras served in concerto newspaper cones. Following that we were treated to a highly amusing sing along completed with Kazoo’s and a piano. We laughed a lot! Finally came the desert. A Do it your own “DIY” trifles with Chantilly cream, hundreds and thousands, dehydrated berries and so much more, such a naughty treat and we loved every mouthful of it!

The venue looked so impressive and boasts such a range of flexible and diverse spaces. We loved our visit and truly got to experience it in both a daylight and night-time setting. A huge thank you to Concerto Group for the invite and also to CreEATe for the wonderful menu. Hopefully we will be invited back next year…we can’t wait to see what you have in store for us!