Wanting to put an exhibition on, is there any way of renting out warehouses, who do you contact??

Question

i dont think councils rent warehouses, so who is best to contact to get one, also do you have to pay for licenses for bands to play or to serve alcohol, how much does it usually cost?

Answer 1

Most Exhibition Halls are on purpose built sites with facilities (power, parking, toilets etc) and have all the right Licences and Insurance ...

These halls are mostly run by dedicated businesses .. (see link)

.. if you want one for a 'rave', I guess any old aircraft hanger would do .. try Mildenhall

Answer 2

Speak to the council and see if they have a list of available spaces that you can use. Some do so you might get lucky. Otherwise ask them for the name of (or look up) a regional arts foundation and see if they know or can suggest someone else to speak to.

As for licensing bands and alcohol, if it's a one off-event for 499 people or less (like a launch party) then you can use what's called a Temporary Event Notice. Speak to the Council's licensing team about how to apply - there's a £21 fee and just one form.

There are limits to TEN usage though - if you want to serve alcohol/put bands on more regularly then you'd need a Premises Licence for the place if it's not got one already, just like any pub/club would do. You'd be looking at upwards of £1000 for that.

Also, I'm not sure what the planning permission situation would be for using warehouses for any other purpose, it might be worth checking that with someone - the Council's planning dept would be a good first port of call.