Luxury UK DMC for Incentives & Events | Hawkes & Holland

Some companies organise events. Hawkes & Holland opens doors. Based in the Cotswolds, this British destination management company (DMC) creates incentive trips, conferences, private experiences and weddings across England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, for international corporations, event agencies and private clients who want to see Britain the way most visitors never do. Their own line for it is simple: Britain, By Invitation.

What a destination management company does

If you are planning a sales reward trip for fifty people from Chicago, or a congress for several hundred delegates from Mumbai, you need more than a hotel booking. You need someone on the ground who knows the venues, the hotels, the drivers, the chefs and the people who can get you into places that do not usually take groups. That is what a DMC is: your local team in the country you are visiting, handling everything from the first idea to the final farewell.

Hawkes & Holland describe themselves on their destination management page as a British Destination Management Company creating exceptional events, corporate incentive travel programmes and bespoke experiences for those wishing to discover Britain a little differently. Their work covers international conferences, corporate incentive travel, sales kick-offs (SKOs), executive retreats and rewards for a job well done, with venues, accommodation, private transport, group travel logistics, entertainment and experiences all taken care of.

They sum up the arrangement rather neatly: you bring the guests, and they take care of Britain.

A very British way of doing things

Spend five minutes on the Hawkes & Holland website and the personality jumps out. The writing is warm, witty and full of the kind of dry humour that feels unmistakably British. There are castles with more rooms than anyone could possibly need, private clubs where the walls have more stories than the members, and a promise that a proper cup of tea is part of every plan.

Behind the charm is a serious point. The team say they have been both the hosts and the hosted, sitting in the best seats in the house and learning what makes people feel special. Their view is that a great deal of money can buy an astonishing amount of fuss without buying anyone a good time. What impresses them is thoughtfulness: the room with the view, the car waiting at exactly the right moment, the unexpected gift that makes a guest wonder whether someone has been reading their mind.

They even call themselves your very own British Jeeves, the people quietly making it all happen behind the scenes so that you can enjoy the applause and take all the credit.

Corporate incentive travel and sales rewards

Incentives are at the heart of the business. On the incentives page, Hawkes & Holland make the case that a job well done deserves rather more than a pat on the back and a bottle of something from the office cupboard. Their incentive and sales reward programmes have a distinctly British twist, from exclusive country-house retreats and private sporting encounters to city escapes and adventures that take guests happily out of their comfort zones.

Whether a company wants to celebrate its top performers, bring international teams together or simply say thank you, the aim is the same: rewards that feel personal. The team also create brand experiences and sponsor trips, and they talk about bringing back a little of that childhood wonder of doing something for the very first time. Only this time, as they put it, with champagne.

• Corporate incentive travel and sales reward programmes
• Country-house retreats and executive escapes
• Private sporting encounters and behind-the-scenes access
• City breaks in London, Edinburgh, Manchester and beyond
• Brand experiences and sponsor trips
• Adventure incentives for groups who like a little adrenaline

Conferences, congresses and corporate events

For larger gatherings, the corporate events page covers everything from an intimate meeting of minds to an international congress of thousands. Hawkes & Holland handle the venue, the delegates and all the small details that make a big event run like clockwork, while making sure every guest feels like the most important person in the room.

They also make a strong case for looking beyond London. Liverpool offers a setting with a little musical flair. Manchester has legendary music, striking architecture and a nightlife that has never been fond of an early finish. Edinburgh and the Scottish Highlands bring private estates, whisky distilleries and a spot of Highland revelry, while Wales adds castles, mountains, ziplining and white-water rafting. Across the Irish Sea, the Wild Atlantic Way offers dramatic scenery and a famously warm welcome.

For an event planner overseas, that range matters. It means one partner can plan a London conference, a Highland add-on for the top performers and a closing night somewhere unexpected, all with the same team.

Britain's great sporting occasions

Few countries host sport quite like Britain, and the Sporting Excellence page reads like a calendar of the British season. Hawkes & Holland arrange private hospitality, privileged introductions and access that goes beyond the grandstand, with travel and accommodation built around the occasion.

Wimbledon, Henley and Cowes Week

At Wimbledon, think Centre Court seats, the drama of the finals and private hospitality among the immaculate lawns. Henley Royal Regatta brings riverside elegance and fine tailoring, while at Cowes Week guests can take to the Solent aboard a privately chartered yacht, watching world-class sailing from the water with the Isle of Wight as a backdrop.

Royal Ascot, Cheltenham and polo

Racing fans can enjoy the finest enclosures and private suites at Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham Gold Cup, meet owners and trainers in the winners' enclosure, or even visit celebrated training yards. For polo, the team arrange hospitality at the Queen's Cup at Guards Polo Club and at Cowdray Park, home of the British Open Polo Championship for the Gold Cup, plus private introductions to the sport with professional players.

Formula 1, Goodwood, cricket, golf and football

Motorsport is a particular strength. At the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, Hawkes & Holland can arrange hospitality at Soho House's Club 44, guided paddock tours, grid walks and a place beneath the podium as the champagne flies, along with private Formula 1 factory tours. At Goodwood, the Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival come with exclusive hospitality and paddock access.

There is a summer's day at Lord's, the Home of Cricket, with private tours of the historic Pavilion. There are private rounds at St Andrews and Gleneagles, tuition from a leading professional and The Open Championship from a privileged vantage point. And for football, a Premier League day can include walking the turf with the head groundskeeper, a visit to the media room and the team news before the rest of the stadium hears it.

Entertainment beyond the velvet rope

A sold-out concert, as the team put it on their entertainment page, is merely terribly inconvenient. Hawkes & Holland arrange front-row seats, private hospitality boxes and backstage encounters, including a table among the artists at the BRIT Awards and invitations to exclusive afterparties. For companies with bigger ambitions, they can explore branded hospitality, event partnerships and sponsorship opportunities.

They also look after the evenings that are all about the guests: West End theatre nights, the music scenes of Manchester and Liverpool, an intimate performance in a private residence or a surprise appearance by a favourite artist. Their belief is that the smallest, most unexpected moment is often the one that steals the show.

Private Britain: doors that are usually closed

The Private Britain collection is where Hawkes & Holland's address book shows. These are experiences most visitors simply cannot book for themselves:

• Windsor Castle after the crowds have gone, with your own expert guide through the State Apartments.
• Celia aboard the British Pullman, a private dining and events carriage imagined by Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin inside an original 1932 Pullman carriage, for just twelve guests with their own chef, butler and steward.
• Dinner beneath the blue whale at London's Natural History Museum, or an after-hours evening at the V&A.
• Dinner beneath the wings of Concorde and private hire of aviation museums.
• Silverstone, Goodwood and Formula 1 factories, with exclusive circuit hire and dinners among championship-winning cars.
• The Great Hall at Warner Bros. Studio, dining alongside the Hogwarts Express on Platform 9¾.
• Titanic Belfast, with gatherings beneath the atrium or aboard SS Nomadic, Titanic's restored tender.
• Candlelit concerts in ancient halls, with anything from Mozart to Queen.
• Festive celebrations in some of Britain's most enchanting settings.

Whether the group is a dozen distinguished guests or an entire company, the idea is that the setting should be every bit as memorable as the occasion itself.

Christmas and festive celebrations

The festive season gets its own place in the Private Britain collection. Hawkes & Holland plan glittering Christmas soirées, intimate candlelit dinners and grand company celebrations in some of Britain's most enchanting settings, with champagne and mulled wine flowing and, as they cheerfully admit, the occasional gentleman discovering that his dancing is rather more enthusiastic than his abilities. Whether it is the whole company or a select few clients, the goal is guests who feel thoroughly spoilt.

It is a good example of how the team think. A Christmas party is not just a room and a menu. It is the decorations, the music, the moment people walk in and the stories they tell in the office the next morning.

Estates, venues and members' clubs

Britain is, as the team say, blessed with an almost unreasonable number of very large houses. The Estates & Venues page brings together a remarkable collection of addresses, some famous, some discreet and a few that seldom open their doors to groups.

Private estates, historic houses and castles

Althorp, ancestral home of the Spencer family, is one of the places Hawkes & Holland can access for a small number of exclusive events each year. Syon House, Boughton, Holkham and Goodwood sit alongside Blenheim Palace, Castle Howard, Burghley and Highclere Castle, the home of Downton Abbey on screen. These are private homes, where access often begins with a relationship and knowing who to call.

Members' clubs and iconic venues

For something more intimate, there are Soho Farmhouse, Babington House, 180 House, Estelle Manor, Annabel's, The Arts Club, 67 Pall Mall and The Ned, places where knowing how the house works makes all the difference. Iconic venues include Kew's Victorian Temperate House, the V&A and Fortnum's Bar & Restaurant at The Royal Exchange, plus great spaces in Manchester, Cardiff and across Scotland.

Retreats, whisky, wine and proper pubs

Executive retreats can disappear into Heckfield Place, Beaverbrook or Gleneagles, or go urban at W Edinburgh or voco St David's on Cardiff Bay. Groups can enjoy private experiences at The Macallan, vineyard lunches at Gusbourne and Rathfinny, and evenings in old coaching inns with low beams, a roaring fire and a proper pint. As the team put it, heritage is considerably more entertaining when someone hands you a glass.

What stands out is how they choose a venue. They say they never begin with capacity charts and conference packages. They begin with the feeling you want to create, because the best venues become part of the story.

Weddings in England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland

Hawkes & Holland also create modern, beautifully considered weddings, from intimate celebrations to multi-day affairs. Their weddings page welcomes every kind of celebration, whether steeped in tradition, bringing several cultures and families together, or entirely contemporary. There may be a chuppah, a mandap, a ceilidh, a string quartet, a headline DJ or a Labrador in a bow tie. Quite possibly several of these.

That makes them a natural fit for couples marrying in Britain from overseas, including multicultural and Indian weddings across several days. The team bring together trusted florists, chefs, musicians, photographers, production crews and stylists, many of whom have worked with them for years. They also organise the arrivals, from vintage cars and chauffeurs to boats, helicopters, a London cab or a red double-decker bus.

Production is part of the service too. Their lighting, sound and staging teams turn ballrooms, barns, marquees and gardens into something quite extraordinary, timing the reveal of a room to the minute. On the music side, the choice runs from a string quartet during the drinks to a band after dinner, a DJ who reads the room, or, if a couple asks politely, an artist whose songs have been the soundtrack to their relationship.

Food is treated with the same personality: perhaps a Michelin-starred chef, perhaps the dish from a first date, or Britain's finest fish and chip van arriving at precisely the right moment at midnight.

Why international planners choose Hawkes & Holland

1. Connections. Decades of experience and relationships that open private estates, clubs and behind-the-scenes access.
2. Range. Incentives, conferences, sport, entertainment, private venues and weddings, all from one team.
3. Reach. London, the Cotswolds, Manchester, Liverpool, Edinburgh, the Highlands, Wales, Belfast and Ireland's Wild Atlantic Way.
4. Care. A focus on how an occasion feels, not just how it looks on paper.
5. Discretion. Quiet, behind-the-scenes delivery, so the client takes the credit.

You can read more about the team's story and spirit on their About page, which describes a business built on a little heritage, a little mischief and an awful lot of imagination.

How to start planning with Hawkes & Holland

Every event they plan begins with a conversation. The easiest way to begin is to email the team at DMC@HawkesandHolland.com with a few details:

• The type of occasion: incentive, conference, celebration, wedding or something unusual
• Roughly how many guests and where they are travelling from
• Your preferred dates or season, especially if a sporting event is involved
• The feeling you want your guests to come home with

From there, the team put their heads together and come back with ideas. As they say themselves, the best adventures begin with a little intrigue.