Hold an event or meeting.
Book a space

Request your booking using Resource Booker, or if you're booking for yourself, email sarooms@. Bookings are provisional until you receive a confirmation email.

If you have questions, can't see any spaces in Resource Booker, or aren't affiliated with the Union, email sarooms@.

 

Available Spaces

Spaces can only be booked within our regular opening hours. All bookings are subject to availability and may be subject to change. All the standard Building Rules and Regulations must be followed when using the building.

Meeting and rehearsal rooms

Affiliated societies can book meeting and rehearsal rooms for up to 6 hours per week, or longer, with approval from Reception sarooms@ or dosda@, with additional hours incurring a charge. It's a good idea to block-book at the start of the semester.

Request your society's booking using Resource Booker, or if you're booking for yourself, email sarooms@. Bookings are provisional until you receive a confirmation email.

Venues and commercial spaces

Commercial spaces are venues like The StAge, Club 601, the Union bars and any booking involving bars or catering.

Book at least 2 weeks in advance or 3 weeks if you have technical requirements such as lighting, sound, projections, DJs, etc. If you have technical requirements, you must discuss your needs with Ents Crew at least 2 weeks before the event. Drop into a Users' Meeting at any term time Wednesday from 1-2pm in the Meeting Room on the middle floor of the Union. Make sure to include set-up and tidy-up time in your booking.

Request your booking using Resource Booker. Bookings are provisional until you receive a confirmation email. If you have questions, can't see any spaces in Resource Booker, or aren't affiliated with the Union, email sarooms@.

Planning an Event

Ensure you've read this whole page to know how to handle bars, catering, security, decorations, and technical needs. Here are some other things to think about:

  • When picking a space, make sure it has the right atmosphere and the facilities and capacity you need.
  • You can apply for a society grant if you need extra funding for your event. Email the Societies Officer at socs@ for more information.
  • If your event needs tickets, wristbands, or box office staff, we can help. Read about ticket and wristband printing or email sadesign@ for more information.
  • Remember to advertise your event!

Event organisers should be familiar with the Emergency Evacuation Procedure and the Room Code of Conduct given by the union.

Book a Space

Societies can book 3 bookings of up to 2 hours a week through Resource Booker, with your booking time including your set-up and get-out time. Any additional bookings will need to be approved by sarooms@ or dosda@.

Commercial spaces cannot be booked before noon on the weekend. All booking requests in commercial areas or requiring any support, e.g. catering, tech, etc, must be made at least 2 weeks before your booking. You must contact all relevant departments at least 2 weeks before your booking to arrange food, drink, tech etc.

Any bookings made on behalf of a third party will be treated as if the third party were making the booking themselves. There may be hire costs for non-affiliated groups.

Any group selling items to raise funds for anything other than a charity or Society/Subcommittee must have the relevant license.

No events restricting attendance, e.g. ticketing, may be held in the Main Bar or commercial areas during regular operational hours unless otherwise agreed. Attendees of events held on nights when there is an entry fee to the Union will need to pay this entry fee unless otherwise agreed.

No alcohol purchased from outside the building can be brought into the building. Unless previously agreed, no alcohol may be consumed outside the bar areas. No hot drinks are allowed in any room unless purchased in the building. Unless otherwise agreed with said team, all catering must be fulfilled by The Union's catering team.

Rooms must be left the way they were found, i.e. chairs and tables back in the correct place and no litter left. If the space is not left in an acceptable condition, you will be liable for a fee equal to your original booking fee or higher. Groups with free access will be charged at least £15.

Society Spaces
Affiliated student group 6 hours free per week, £5.50 per hour thereafter
Subcommittee Unlimited free use of society spaces but subject to availability
University departments 6 hours free per week (unless for a third party), £5.50 per hour thereafter
Open Association (inc. Opera Group) £12.00 per hour
Non-affiliated student groups and local groups
  • £8.00 per hour - Small Room
    • Pods, Soc Room A, B, C
  • £14.00 per hour - Medium Room
    • Committee, Meeting, Soc D
  • £19.00 per hour - Large Rehearsal Room
    • Small / Large Rehearsal Room
Other (larger / national groups)
  • £25.00 per hour - Small Room
    • Pods, Soc Room A, B, C
  • £30.00 per hour - Medium Room
    • Committee, Meeting, Soc D
  • £60.00 per hour - Large Rehearsal Room
    • Small / Large Rehearsal Room
Graduate / commercial company promoting goods to students POI

 

Piazza Stall Charges
Affiliated Student Group Free if within 6 hour allocation. If over 6 hours,
  • £11.00 for half day
  • £16.50 for full day
Non-affiliated student groups and university departments
  • £11.00 for half day
  • £16.50 for full day
External Companies Please contact us

 

Bar Space Fee (no Bar or Catering)
Affiliated Student Group Free if within 6 hour allocation £25.00 per hour if over 6 hour
Non-affiliated student groups, university departments, local group £27.50 per hour
Other – Large Company / National Group Please contact us
Venues and Technician Support

Ents staff can assist on all matters relating to tech, including advising, designing, and operating your event. A crew member is required if you wish to use any of the AV capabilities in StAge or Club 601.

Decorations brought into the building must be fireproofed. Ents Crew can help with this but need at least two weeks' notice, and your decorations dropped off at least 24 hours before your event. There may be a cost for this service. No tape or blue tack can be used to attach anything to painted surfaces.

If you need more equipment than is available in your event's venue, a hire kit is available on request and after training. Email ents@ to enquire. This equipment cannot leave the building. The kit includes:

  • A PA system.
  • Three microphones with stands.
  • Cables for electroacoustic guitars, pianos, etc.
  • An aux cable.
  • Power extension cables for your amplifiers and equipment.
  • All necessary cabling.

A dry hire refers to just the venue with no tech, and a wet hire refers to hiring the venue and its technical abilities. Below are some examples of events and how many technicians would be required.

  • 1 Technician: Speaker/Presentation/Careers Fair/Club Night
  • 2 Technicians: Live music
  • 3-4 Technicians: Events involving complex Lighting, Sound, Visuals/Projections and/or a Stage Manager
Club 601 and StAge – Venue and Tech
Affiliated student groups, (inc. AU clubs)
  • Dry hire within 6 hour allocation: Free, if over :
    • Full venue: £22.00 per hour
    • Just StAge OR 601: £16.50 per hour
  • Wet hire including 1 tech: £30 per hour
  • Extra technician(s): £17.00 per hour per tech
Non-affiliated student groups and university departments
  • Dry hire: £27.50 per hour
  • Wet hire including 1 tech: £35.00 per hour
  • Extra technician(s): £17.00 per hour per tech
External Commercial Please contact us
Local Events Please contact us
Fashion Show (or similar with significant pre-rig or staging) Please contact us
Affiliated Theatre production £550.00 Flat fee for 3 day hire
Any group affiliated or not in any room requiring tech £17.00/hr per technician, plus venue booking fee if required
Cancellation Fees

The following cancellation policy applies to room booking fees. To provide sufficient notice, you must email both does@ and sarooms@. Cancelling a resource booker booking is not sufficient notice.

Failing to attend your booking counts as 0 days notice, and repeatedly not turning up for your bookings may impact your future room booking privileges.

For Non-Commercial Spaces:

User Group Type Working Days Notice
7+ 3-6 0-2
Affliated Student Group No Charge
Other No Charge 100%

For Commercial Spaces:

User Group Type Working Days Notice
7+ 3-6 0-2
Affliated Student Group No Charge 100%
Other No Charge 100%

 

The following cancellation policy applies for service fees and minimum bar spends. Any bookings cancelled with more than 2 weeks notice will not incur any fee. To provide sufficient notice, you must email both does@ and sarooms@. Cancelling a resource booker booking is not sufficient notice.

Failure to attend your booking counts as 0 days notice. Adverse weather cancellation – cancellation charge will be at the manager’s discretion.

For Customer Safety, Bars, Tech and Catering:

User Group Type Working Days Notice
7-14 3-6 0-2
Affiliated Student Group No Charge 50% 100%
Non-Affiliated Student Group No Charge 50% 100%
University Department No Charge 50% 100%
Other 50% 100%

Additional Services

Bar

We can offer wine and various soft and alcoholic drinks on a sale-or-return basis. The Minimum Bar Spends are how much money must be taken by the bar. If this amount is not reached, you will be charged for the difference. For more information, please email sabar@ to speak to our Bars Manager.

Minimum Bar Spend
Beacon/Sandy's Bar £75.00 per hour + £50.00 set-up (if bar wouldn't otherwise be open)
Club 601 <100 people £75.00 per hour + £50.00 bar set-up
Club 601 >100 people £150.00 per hour + £50.00 bar set-up
StAge and 601 £300.00 per hour + £50.00 bar set-up
External Bars POI
Catering

Various catering options are available, including hot savery, nibbles, finger buffet, tea and coffee, snacks, cakes, etc. We can also cater to a variety of dietary needs. Please note final confirmation of requirements must be sent to sacatering@ at least 2 weeks before your event. For more information email sacatering@.

Customer Safety and Box Office

If your event includes alcohol or more than 100 people, you may need a Customer Safety presence. Our CS team are also able to handle ticketing and on-door sales. They will monitor activities and ensure guests follow the venue's rules; they will also handle any behavioural issues that may occur. Our CS team consists of SIA Licensed individuals as well as unlicensed event stewards.

Customer Safety Fee Guidance
0 – 100 people (1) £17 per hour
101 – 250 (2) £34 per hour
251-500 people (4) £68 per hour
501-750 people (6) £102 per hour
751-1000 people (8) £136 per hour
Gig with Pit: 0-250 people (5) £85 per hour
Gig with Pit: 251-500 people (8) £136 per hour
Gig with Pit: 501-750 people (10) £170 per hour

 

If groups need the Customer Safety Team to work their Box Office (required if using native or any form of Club Night), there will be an additional cost based on the staff required and the timing of the Box Office; this cost is POI. If events are society events on our website, they can print off ticket lists to do their own box office (excluding club nights). If we have added non-club night events to Native, we can send them an excel list to do themselves.

Cloakroom
Union Run Cloakroom £34.00 per hour
Event Run Cloakroom £17.00 per hour deduction from cloakroom taking, if insufficient funds raised the difference will be charged as a fee
Off Site Services

We offer various services off Union property. Our CS team is available to use as security for events in town. The bars team has first refusal on any event on University Property.

Design & Marketing

Our Design & Marketing department can assist with design elements for your event, from assistance in creative design to printing large-scale posters.

Ticketing

We can assist with wristbands, both the design for a personalised or supply of a generic option. We can also sell tickets for your event - see the society website guide for more.

Floats

If you require a float for your event, these can be sourced from the Cash Office. Please ask unionfinance@. Inform us of the purpose, location, and items/charge for purchase.

Useful Contacts