What is dry hire, and how does it compare with a minimum spend in London? (2026)

A dry hire is renting only the space, with your own caterer and drinks: for 40 guests over 4 hours, £77–£123 a guest before drinks. A minimum spend replaces the room fee with a guaranteed food and drink bill: in 22 London pub function rooms, the median weekday-evening minimum is £22.50 per dining seat, a floor rather than the bill.

Last updated: November 2026 · By Woolly Mammoth

Venues in London price events in two main ways: you hire the room and organise the rest yourself, or you skip the room fee and commit to spending a set amount at the bar or restaurant. We opened venues', caterers' and platforms' own pages to compare the two. Venue and bar prices exclude VAT; caterer and staff rates are shown as published, because their source doesn't state a VAT basis.

What is a dry hire?

A dry hire is renting a venue's space on its own, without its food, drink or event services. Venues and event companies define it in almost the same words:

• The Brewery (London): it "refers to a venue that only provides the use of the space that they have, such as a hall or room".
• Town Hall Spaces: "you are renting the venue space itself, without catering, bar service, or event production bundled in".
• Kindred (Hammersmith): "you rent the space itself, without any additional support or services from the venue". You bring the food and drink, equipment, staff, bar services and insurance.
• Connections Entertainment: the term "dry" "refers to the absence of hospitality services".

The term has another meaning outside events. In equipment hire, a UK law firm explains that dry hire "generally means the owner supplies the equipment only, without an operator" (Sprintlaw). Mobile bar companies use it too: at The Master Mixologist, "dry hire starts from £280 + VAT", and you buy the drinks from a shopping list while they bring the bar and the team. This guide is about venues.

What is the difference between wet hire and dry hire?

Wet hire is the opposite: "you rent the venue along with all the services it offers", including catering, bar service and staff (Kindred). The Brewery describes it as using "the venue space but also their caterers, drinks, event designers and audio-visual services". A minimum spend is a third model, common in bars, pubs and restaurants.

What this means for you: dry hire lets you choose every supplier; wet hire and minimum spend let you deal with one venue, on its menu.

What is a minimum bar spend?

A minimum spend is "a guaranteed amount you commit to spending on food and drinks", in place of a hire fee (venues.london). If your guests spend that much, "you don't pay anything extra for the space". If they don't, "you make up the difference". Tagvenue gives the same rule: "If your group falls short, you usually pay the difference."

• It is a floor, not a price. A minimum spend "is stating a threshold, not telling you what you'll spend" (venues.london). The bill is whatever your group orders, if that is more.
• Check the service charge. "Some venues include the service charge in the minimum spend, while others add it separately" (Tagvenue). London venues "commonly add 12.5–15%" to the bill.
• Check VAT. Duck & Waffle's private dining room states its minimums "inclusive of VAT, exclusive of 15% service charge". Many other pages don't say.
• Ask if there's a fee as well. "Some venues charge both" a hire fee and a minimum spend (venues.london).

What is the minimum spend for venue hire in London?

It depends mostly on the type of space. venues.london's 2026 guide gives these ranges:

Tagvenue's London page says minimum-spend venues "average £500 per event" (November 2026).

To see real conditions, we took the first 40 listings on Hire Space's London pub function rooms page on 2 November 2026 and kept every room whose page gives a dining capacity and a minimum spend for a time slot that includes a weekday (Monday to Friday) and runs through 7pm. Each figure is the lowest such minimum on the room's page. Only slots labelled "Minimum spend" count; combined "Venue Fee & Min Spend" slots are excluded. A room listed three times counts once, and one listing whose room description belongs to another venue was left out. One more room (The Angel, The Lounge) was dropped because its page was taken down after we sampled it: 22 rooms. Hire Space doesn't state whether these include VAT or service.

The median minimum is £775, the median room seats 35 for dining, and the median minimum per dining seat is £22.50. 17 of the 22 rooms ask £1,000 or less. The Waterway's page gives a range for the slot (£700 to £2,000); the table shows the low end. Restaurant private dining sits higher: Duck & Waffle's room for up to 18 guests asks £1,500 for a weekday dinner including VAT (£1,250 excluding VAT), plus a 15% service charge.

What this means for you: in 13 of these 22 rooms, a full room reaches the minimum at £25 or less per guest. For a smaller group, divide the minimum by your headcount: 20 guests in a £1,000 room must spend £50 each.

Dry hire or minimum spend: which costs less?

"Neither model is cheaper by default" (Tagvenue), and venues.london says dry hire makes sense "not necessarily as a cost-saving measure". Build a dry hire budget below, then compare its cost per guest, plus the drinks you buy, with what a minimum-spend venue would charge your group per head for food, drink and service.

The same budget for 20 and 40 guests over 4 hours, in a venue that seats 40 at tables, rounded as the calculator rounds it:

How it's calculated: venue £350 an hour (median starting rate of the 9 Woolly Mammoth venues that seat 40 or more guests at tables, listings of 2 November 2026) × 4 hours; bowl food £30–£65 per person, a 10–15% caterer service charge, and servers at £15–£30 an hour, one per 20–25 guests (venues.london, VAT basis not stated); mobile bar on dry hire from £280 + VAT (The Master Mixologist). Drinks, equipment hire and VAT on the caterer's rates are not included.

What this means for you: for 40 guests, a minimum-spend room is cheaper if your total bill there (food, drink and service charge) comes to less than about £77–£123 a head plus what you would spend on drinks. Above that, the dry hire costs less, and you choose the caterer and the menu.

What do you organise yourself with a dry hire?

• A caterer: Town Hall Spaces suggests checking what kitchen facilities are available for your caterer.
• Drinks: buy them yourself, with or without a mobile bar team. In England and Wales, selling alcohol at premises without a licence needs a Temporary Event Notice from the council (£21, applied for at least 10 clear working days before; GOV.UK).
• Staff: about one server per 20–25 guests for bowl food and one bartender per 35–40 guests for beer and wine (venues.london).
• Insurance: Kindred lists insurance among what you bring to a dry hire. Woolly Mammoth venues ask for public liability insurance for the event.

Can you dry hire a Woolly Mammoth venue?

At most of them, yes:

• Most of our venues accept an outside caterer; a few work only with approved caterers, and some charge a fee for outside catering, shown on the venue page.
• At most venues you bring your own drinks, so nothing is sold and we don't ask for an alcohol licence. A few venues have their own alcohol licence and don't allow outside drinks: check the house rules on the venue page.
• Venues ask you for public liability insurance for the event.
• There is no booking fee. The rate on each venue page is a starting price, plus VAT, that can vary with the date and the type of event.

Of our 65 venues, 52 list an oven and 54 a fridge among their amenities. Hourly starting rates by capacity with tables (the layout for a seated meal):

For a larger dinner, The Regency House in West London takes 140 guests at tables and its page lists cleaning as included; its kitchen amenities are a fridge and tableware, so the caterer brings their own cooking equipment. See more corporate party venues in London.

Frequently asked questions

Is dry hire cheaper than a minimum spend?

Not by default. A minimum-spend room has no hire fee, but you pay the venue's menu prices and often a 12.5–15% service charge. A dry hire adds a room fee, but you choose the caterer and buy the drinks. Compare the cost per guest, as in the table above.

What happens if we don't reach the minimum spend?

You usually pay the difference between what your group spent and the minimum. Confirm this, and whether the service charge counts towards the minimum, before you sign.

Does a minimum spend include VAT and service charge?

It varies. Duck & Waffle states its minimums including VAT and excluding a 15% service charge. venues.london gives an example: a 12.5% service charge plus 20% VAT turns a £10,000 catering quote into £13,500.

Can I bring my own caterer to a Woolly Mammoth venue?

At most venues, yes. A few work only with approved caterers, and some charge a fee for outside catering: both are shown on the venue page. For prices, see what a caterer costs per person in London.

Find a venue for your event

Browse venues for hire in London, with the hourly starting rate on every venue page. For daytime meetings, see what a meeting room costs in London.

Sources

• The Brewery, Wet hire vs dry hire, 16 October 2025
• Town Hall Spaces, What is dry hire?, 20 May 2026
• Kindred, What does dry hire mean? Dry and wet hire explained, 14 August 2026
• Connections Entertainment, What is a dry hire venue?, 3 June 2026
• Sprintlaw, Wet and dry hire agreements in the UK, 24 June 2026: equipment hire meaning
• venues.london, Venue hire costs in London 2026, 26 February 2026: minimum spend definition and ranges, service charge example
• venues.london, Event catering costs London 2026, February 2026: bowl food prices, caterers' service charge, staff rates and ratios
• Tagvenue, Minimum spend venues for hire in London, November 2026
• Tagvenue, How to find a venue with no minimum spend in London, 21 October 2026
• Hire Space, Pub function rooms in London and the 22 room pages linked in the table, accessed 2 November 2026
• Duck & Waffle, Private Dining Room, accessed 2 November 2026
• The Master Mixologist, Mobile bar hire, accessed 2 November 2026
• GOV.UK, Temporary events notice, accessed 2 November 2026
• Woolly Mammoth, public venue listings (65 venues), 2 November 2026