Business Profile
The Wasing Estate is one of the South of England’s best kept secrets. Located between Reading and Newbury, just 45 minutes from London, this 4,000-acre property is an unblemished jewel with magical ancient wooded lakes and undulating farmland engraved by meandering rivers, Enborne and Kennet.
Wasing has been used by celebrities and is a regular haunt of BBC television chef Valentine Warner. It was used to film the second series of BBC’s Cranford, which aired over Christmas 2009.
It has recently been voted the South of England Best Rural Enterprise by the Countryside Alliance Awards for 2009. The only business from Berkshire to celebrate winning a regional title, it was described by judge Sara Rutherford as, “a truly impressive enterprise”.
At the heart of the estate is Wasing Park, with a prodigious variety of venues affording an unrivalled and discreet setting, with exclusive use for corporate events, concerts, weddings, parties, private dining, photo shoots as well as an established site for film and TV.
The renovated Castle Barn and purpose built Garden Room, with its folding back glass doors are ideal to hold meetings, conferences and dinners for up to 150 delegates. Both barns have built in sound systems, the Castle Barn has a projector and screen and a licensed bar. The terrace and garden leading from the Castle Barn lends itself to barbecues and hog roasts throughout the summer months.
The elegantly decorated, eleven bedroom Stables Lodge boutique hotel, complete with its meeting room and adjacent courtyard is perfect for alfresco dining, overlooking the parish church. The Stables Lodge provides relaxed and
luxurious comfort for the smaller event, six to 40 delegates, and is complemented by a cosy dining/lounge area, with wood burning stove.
The Secret Walled Garden and Shoot Lodge offer an alternative corporate space, hidden away in the midst of the Estate and accessed by its own private drive and gatehouse. Fig trees, passion flowers, fragrant herb beds, fuschia walkways are just some of the flora and fauna that adorn this special place.
The catering at Wasing Park is something it is extremely proud of, using estate-sourced game and local producers wherever possible. Bespoke menus at Wasing Park are par for the course, from simple but inspiring working lunches to six-course gourmet dinners. It does not have standard delegate rates but prices each event according to requirements. At Wasing you can have exclusive use of a unique venue, with bespoke menus, giving amazing value for money.
The corporate team building opportunities are pretty much endless at Wasing, from simple walks around our stunning lakes, to quad biking treasure hunt safaris through ancient woodland and undulating parkland to the more unusual pursuit of ice sculpting.
Foraging for wild food including greens, mushrooms and nuts followed by a hands on cookery demonstration is one of the latest corporate team building courses on offer – Wasing’s Wee MacNab. Instead of the normal coffee and biscuits in a break out room, try boiling a kettle and frying up a few wild mushrooms to spread on freshly baked bread, at the edge of a lake in the woods.
For more information about Wasing Park and the Wasing Estate, go to www.wasing.co.uk
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