10 Corporate Christmas Party Entertainment Types in London

For a company culture that wants a proper dancefloor moment, nothing fills a room quite like a live act. The Clownfish Yuletide runs from around £3,495 and turns the last hour of the night into something people stay for, rather than drift out of early. For a lower-key, background option through dinner, a pianist and singer duo runs from around £1,995, or the Human Jukebox format from £1,500 for something more interactive without needing a full band.

For a bigger finale moment, a headline vocal act like Tenors Unlimited runs from around £4,500 and works best placed right at the end of the night, after speeches and awards, so applause rolls straight into the last big singalong. Whichever act you book, check what PA and lighting the venue already has versus what needs to come with the band. That’s usually where quotes differ most between suppliers.

For teams who like being part of the performance rather than watching one, a hosted karaoke setup gives people the mic without needing a private booth booked elsewhere. It runs from around £985 and works best later in the evening, once dinner’s cleared and people are ready to be a bit silly. It’s a low-cost way to keep a smaller or more informal party moving without booking a full band or DJ.

It suits a room of anywhere from 20 to around 150 people comfortably, since the format’s really about a rotating handful of performers with everyone else as the audience. For a bigger crowd, pair it with a DJ set either side so the room isn’t waiting around between songs.

For teams that want maximum impact without piecing the night together themselves, a ready-made fairground package covers games, décor, food and hosting in one booking. Christmas Fairground: Silver runs from £3,495 for smaller teams, Gold from £5,895 adds more games and theming, and Platinum from £9,985 is the full production, maximum décor, a hero game and four hosts. This is the format for a company that wants the party sorted in one conversation rather than assembled piece by piece.

The jump between tiers isn’t just more games. Silver gets you decor, theming, one medium game and two side stalls, run by two hosts. Platinum adds a genuine hero game plus a fun food or photo experience on top, run by four hosts, which is usually what makes the difference between “we had games” and “we had an event.” Delivery, installation and collection are included at every tier, so the only real decision is scale.

For teams that enjoy a bit of friendly competition without the fairground theming, tech-based games give the same competitive energy in a smaller footprint. Scalextric slot car racing runs from around £825 for a 2-player setup, Mario Kart DX from £1,895, and cycle speed racing from £2,195 for head-to-head races between colleagues. These work well as one element among several rather than carrying the whole evening, since each game only holds a handful of players at a time.

Booking two or three of these side by side, rather than a single station, is usually what keeps a queue from forming around the most popular one. They’re also genuinely competitive rather than just novelty, so they tend to land well with teams who’d otherwise sit out a dancefloor-first night.

For a more reserved or client-facing culture, close-up magic gives guests something to talk about without needing anyone to dance or perform themselves. A magician works the room table by table through the reception, from around £1,295, and a mind reader offers a slightly bigger, more interactive stage moment from around £2,500. Both suit companies who want the night to feel polished rather than loud.

A single magician comfortably works a reception of up to around 100 guests over an hour. For larger numbers, book two acts working opposite ends of the room rather than one covering the whole floor. Caricaturists, also from £1,295, are a good alternative for the same slot if you’d rather guests take a keepsake home than just a memory.

For teams without a fixed idea of how the night should end, a DJ is the most flexible option on this list, from around £1,295, adapting the tempo up or down depending on how the room’s feeling. Pair it with a dedicated dancefloor (starlit from £750, or black and white from £695) rather than whatever flooring the venue happens to have, since a proper floor is usually what turns a good DJ set into people dancing.

A DJ typically covers two to three hours from the point dinner wraps, which suits parties without a strict finish time better than a band’s fixed set length. For a venue without its own sound system, a PA package (from around £1,095 for up to 150 guests) is worth adding rather than assuming the room’s speakers will cover it.

For any culture, a proper photo moment gives guests something to take away and keep, rather than a handful of blurry phone snaps. A mirror booth or selfie pod runs from around £1,195 with a host included, a Christmas GIF booth from £1,695, and the Snow Globe Experience from £2,995 for something a bit more theatrical. The host matters here. It’s what keeps the queue moving and the props from disappearing by 9pm.

For a slightly different take on the same idea, the Chalet Booth (also from £1,295, host included) leans harder into the festive theming than a standard mirror booth, which suits a company that wants the photo moment to feel unmistakably Christmas rather than generic. Position whichever option you choose near the entrance or bar rather than a side room, since that’s usually what decides whether it gets used properly.

For a team that doesn’t naturally mingle, a run of quick, competitive Christmas games gives people a reason to talk to colleagues outside their usual desk cluster. Reindeer Hoopla and Snowman Alley each run from around £895, and Christmas Shootout from £925, and they work best set up as a small cluster of two or three rather than one game on its own. They’re the cheapest entry point on this list and suit the reception or early part of the evening, before dinner is served.

Three games clustered together comes to roughly the same as one mid-range live act, but does more to get a quiet room talking in the first half hour. This is exactly the kind of competitive socialising we build the wider fairground packages around, since it’s proven to pull people away from the bar far more reliably than a playlist and a projector. They pack down quickly too, so they’re a sensible choice if your venue only gives you a tight window to clear the space before dinner service starts.

For a company chasing the genuine wow-factor, entertainment isn’t always a booked act. Sometimes it’s the room itself. A Winter Wonderland Scene runs from around £4,495, a branded Christmas Entrance from £1,595, and combining either with proper lighting and decor is usually what turns “we had a Christmas party” into “you should have seen where we had it.” It’s the format that does the most work on this list for a venue that would otherwise feel plain.

Smaller theming touches add up too. The VIP Entrance from £825 or an illuminated drinks bar from £750 can lift a plain function room without the full-scale commitment of a Winter Wonderland Scene, which is worth considering if the budget’s tighter but the room genuinely needs the help. Browse decor options through our event entertainment hire catalogue.

Booking the same format every year out of habit. What worked for one team’s culture three years ago might not suit the people on the guest list now.

Assuming games only suit junior teams. Hosted properly, competitive games work just as well for senior leadership as they do for a graduate scheme.

Treating entertainment as background noise. It’s usually the single biggest factor in whether people stay past 9pm or head home early.

Underestimating hosting. Kit dropped off with an instruction sheet is a corner of the room nobody visits. A host is what gets people playing.

Booking too late. Key December dates get booked out months in advance, and popular acts and packages go first.

Match the format to your team’s culture first, then work back to what fits the budget, rather than picking a budget and hoping something in range suits everyone.

Ask directly whether hosting is included. A game or booth without a host rarely gets the use you’re paying for.

Combine two or three formats rather than one booking for the whole night: something for the reception, something through dinner, something for the finish.

Confirm setup, running time and collection with your venue in mind, since load-in windows are often tighter around Christmas dates.

Book as early as possible for a December date. Popular Thursdays and Fridays are usually the first to go.

We deliver hosted Christmas entertainment for London companies end to end: games, live acts, photo experiences, food and drink machines, decor and full fairground takeovers, all run by our own team on the night.

Hanna Clay, Transforming Processes Manager at Lloyds, said of her party: “They handled everything, entertainment, games, setup and logistics, so we could just enjoy the night without a single stress. Our guests are still talking about how fun it was.”

Every event is backed by our satisfaction guarantee, and you can see more of this in practice across our case studies.