Workshop and Seminar Venue in Central London
Workshops, Seminars and Training Days
Plan impactful away days at 20 Cavendish Square. Choose from a range of flexible spaces that are suited to both small or large group sessions.
Workshops Venue Central London
At 20 Cavendish Square, the room moves with your agenda instead of dictating it. Open the morning in theatre for a briefing, shift into cabaret or U-shape once the group work starts after coffee, and bring everyone back together for the afternoon wrap-up without anyone leaving the building.
Daylight runs through every space, which matters more over an eight-hour day than it might sound like it should. A group that’s productive at 9am tends to still be productive at 2pm when there’s natural light to keep them going.
Breakouts are just as straightforward. With 14 flexible spaces under one roof, splitting into groups and bringing everyone back together again takes minutes, not a walk to another floor or another building.
It’s all set within a Grade II listed Georgian townhouse just off Oxford Street, a building with real character that still gives you what an eight-hour session needs.
See It Before You Book
Photos only tell you so much about a room. Come and stand in it, check the light, and picture your group in the space.
The First Floor Suite
Workshops, seminars and training days rarely run to a single shape, so the First Floor Suite is designed to change with your day’s direction. This package grants exclusive use of the connected Agnes Hunt, Annie Altschul and Peggy Nuttall rooms for the full day.
A retractable wall between Agnes Hunt and Annie Altschul opens the two into one bright, daylit room, seating up to 90 in theatre rows or 100 standing for a networking close. Close the wall, and you have two separate rooms for parallel breakouts or syndicate work, each holding up to 40 in theatre style or 27 to 36 cabaret. Peggy Nuttall sits alongside, holding up to 30 boardroom or cabaret style for smaller group work.
Find the right space for your workshop, seminar or training day
There’s nothing worse than a workshop of 15 rattling around in an open hall, or a training day of 40 squeezed into a room meant for half that number. Getting the capacity right is most of the battle, so our 14 rooms span from intimate boardrooms to a 180-seat hall, each with natural daylight and built-in video conferencing, and each named after a pioneering figure in nursing history.
Small and Focused
For board-level workshops, syndicate groups and breakouts. Sarah Swift and Jean McFarlane seat up to 14, and Mona Grey up to 12. Mary Seacole and Florence Nightingale suit smaller groups of up to 10. The Betsi Cadwaladr is our smallest space, holding a maximum of eight.
Mid-sized
For seminars, training days and interactive workshops. Rosalind Paget seats up to 60 and overlooks a quiet courtyard, while the Edith Cavell, Marjorie Simpson and Peggy Nuttall rooms suit groups of up to around 35 in a range of layouts.
Large-scale
For conferences, plenaries and full-day programmes. The First Floor Suite opens to seat 130, the Council Room holds up to 80 seated or 140 standing, and Cowdray Hall seats up to 180 or 200 standing.
Cowdray Hall, our flagship space
For the largest end of that range, the Cowdray Hall is where it happens.
Three stained glass windows by Dudley Forsyth, original oak doors and a soaring ceiling give the room a genuine sense of occasion, backed by a raised stage, fully controllable lighting and repeater screens built for conferences and large seminars. Open the doors through to the connecting Council Room and the space extends. It’s ideal for registration, catering or breakout areas running alongside your main session.
AV and technical support
Most workshops, seminars and training days need nothing more than what’s already in the room. Every space comes with a 4K screen, wireless microphones, Yealink videoconferencing for Microsoft Teams or Zoom, and free Wi-Fi, all set up and ready before you arrive.
That support doesn’t end once the day gets going. As your agenda moves between theatre, breakout and plenary, our in-house AV team moves with it, resetting screens and connections in each room. A remote trainer or a handful of delegates joining by video call are covered by the same Teams or Zoom setup already built into the room.
If your day scales up into a full conference or seminar in the Cowdray Hall, one that needs broadcast-quality streaming and a fully staged main session, we offer a dedicated hybrid and in-person events package with its own PTZ cameras, sound system and streaming engineers.
Catering that keeps your day running
A full day runs better when the breaks land at the right moment and the food is genuinely good. Our catering is prepared by Green & Fortune, an independent, B Corp-certified London caterer, onsite each day. From the first pot of coffee to lunch and an afternoon pick-me-up, everything is timed around your programme and arranged through the same team looking after the rest of your day.
At least half of Green & Fortune’s core ingredients come from independent British producers or their own farm, Corneyside in Northumberland, where the beef and lamb are grass-fed. Coffee comes from Old Spike, a Southwark roaster whose profits go toward tackling homelessness.
What’s on offer:
- Tea, coffee and refreshment breaks
- Cakes, pastries and snacks
- Hot and cold sandwiches
- Working and light lunches
- Buffets and canapés
- Formal dining for catered evenings
Vegetarian, vegan, dairy-free and gluten-free requirements are all catered for as standard. Share them with us as early as possible, ideally before the day itself, so they’re built into the menu from the start rather than sorted with a last-minute swap once everyone’s already seated.
A Venue Built for Every Delegate
A workshop or training day only works if everyone in the room can take part fully. At 20 Cavendish Square, accessibility was built into the venue from the start, not added once the building was finished, so you can invite your full delegate list with confidence.
A Grade II listed Georgian townhouse doesn’t have to mean stairs and awkward corners. Every room has step-free access, and wheelchair-friendly lifts reach all floors, so a delegate using a wheelchair has the same route through the building as everyone else. Accessible toilets are available on every floor, and any room with a stage includes a ramp, so presenting isn’t limited to whoever can climb a step to reach it.
If a delegate has a specific requirement, tell us when you book. Getting it in place before the day is standard practice here, not a special favour arranged on request.
What Your Booking Does
20 Cavendish Square isn’t run for profit. It’s the London headquarters of the Royal College of Nursing, the professional body that has represented the UK’s nurses since 1916 and today supports over half a million nursing professionals, funding their development and shaping the policies that affect patient care across the country. Every pound of revenue from your booking goes directly to that work, so when you hold your workshop, seminar or training day here, you’re contributing to it too.
Our rooms are named after pioneering figures from the history of nursing, from Florence Nightingale to Mary Seacole and Edith Cavell, and the Georgian townhouse around you has nearly 300 years of stories in it. This means your delegates aren’t in an anonymous conference centre, they’re in a building with genuine character and a reason for being here, and their day leaves something behind beyond the notes they take home.
They catered to all our needs
"We hosted two days of meetings at 20CS and had a great experience. They catered to all our needs and ensured the event ran smoothly. Special thanks to Joey who looked after us. The food was great, we would definitely use the venue again."
Great venue, bright and airy, central location
"Hosted a corporate event recently at 20 Cavendish Square which was a great success. Great venue, bright and airy, central location, helpful staff, good food and service provided before, during and after the event. Would highly recommend and have already secured another event at the same venue. Thank you to all involved."
You go above and beyond what it required of you!
"The service we receive from everyone at 20 Cavendish Square, from reception, AV, catering and the events team, is outstanding. You go above and beyond what it required of you, and we genuinely feel you are an additional member of our team, with a shared goal to make our event a huge success - which they are, so thank you."
Workshop, Seminar, and Training Days FAQs
A few of the questions we’re asked most often. If yours isn’t here, just ask the team.
Start planning your workshop, seminar or training day
Tell us your date, rough numbers and the kind of day you have in mind, and our team will come back with the right rooms and the options to match. From your first enquiry to the closing session, you'll have one experienced team looking after every detail and a venue that gives your day genuine character.