Camm & Hooper: 'No more white tablecloths, no more warm champagne...'

But where did it all begin for Camm & Hooper?

Camm & Hooper was founded by a lady called Claire Lawson. She effectively set out to completely shake up the events industry - that was her mantra.

No more white tablecloths, no more warm champagne on arrival, no more boiled chicken dinners at banqueting. She wanted to do something different, and Claire was a truly inspirational leader. Unfortunately, Claire passed away in 2019, and Camm & Hooper lost its direction during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

So my idea of coming into Camm & Hooper was to ensure I continued what Claire had started. I found a business that was coming out of the pandemic but in complete disarray. We were facing all the same issues that the hospitality industry was facing: a lack of people and a lack of resources. It was a business on its knees, so we set about changing all that.

Camm & Hooper made some significant hires, including appointing Natalie Sykes, formerly of Compass and CH&CO, as the chief financial officer (CFO). I’m very lucky to be assisted by a very competent CFO in Natalie Sykes. I also brought Sarah Barnard into the business as the creative director and she has a huge vision for how to do things differently.

So, with Sarah, Natalie and myself at the helm, we have really shaken things up and we are starting to pull Camm & Hooper back to where it belongs.

Will Camm & Hooper introduce an instant-book platform?

I don't think so because it doesn’t suit the type of events we do. The type of events we do tend to be into the tens of thousands of pounds.

If you're going to buy an engagement ring that's going to cost you £30,000, you don't just look in the Cartier window, for example, and say 'I’m going to have that one', you go for the Cartier experience.

We're creating a Camm & Hooper experience which means that we want to take clients through a frictionless booking journey, but it must still be very personal because they're spending a lot of money on their event.

How does Camm & Hooper fit into the events landscape?

We stand out, I believe, from our competitors because we truly can have no boundaries because we own our events spaces.

We’re finding that clients are now looking for interesting events as well as experiential ones. So we’re listening and have recently signed an exclusive partnership with a chap called Rich Woods, also known as 'The Cocktail Guy'. He's an author and he writes books on cocktails. He will develop bespoke cocktail menus for Camm & Hooper events under his own brand.

We also have a brand called the Garden Chef. This is headed up by a published author, who's written nine books on veganism, vegetarianism and local sourcing. She looks after all our vegan menus, vegetarian menus and foraging menus.

We offer a foraging experience where guests can come and forage part of their dinner plate in the venue. So, we create foraging walls and we explain what foraging is.

This is a very different take on adding something interesting to the event.

Your clients are looking for interesting experiences, but what other event trends are you seeing emerge?

We’re seeing up to about 75 per cent of delegates at some events choosing non-alcoholic options. It’s an interesting age demographic within the younger market where we’re finding a drive for taste and providence rather than just alcohol. So, they’re interested in where food has come from, the radius of menus, and local sourcing.

It’s a ‘young people’ event push.

So, what’s next for Camm & Hooper?

We've come out of Covid and we're trading well. We acquired the OXO2 last year and in the second half of this year, we should be opening three more venues.

All London based?

No, we have two teed up in London and we’re looking to expand with our first large venues outside of London.

We’re planning on expanding our business further in the first quarter of next year and we’re already seeking venues in Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool.

We’re an ambitious team and the opportunities in the industry are there, we are building the business on the back of these opportunities.