A Michelin-level chef, a private swimming pool, a collection of interesting sculptures and forest walks are perhaps not what you’d expect from your next rented meeting room space or training venue. But they are what you get (plus more) at Roffey Park Venue.
Most people in West Sussex will have driven past Roffey Park just outside Horsham. In fact, it’s easy to assume, as you whizz by, that what looks like a modern building, combined with the name Roffey Park Institute, is some form of institution. But stop and investigate, and you’ll find not just a warm welcome and excellent training and meeting facilities, but a place where wellbeing, fabulous food and the great outdoors matter as much, if not more, than any meeting itinerary.
What exactly is Roffey Park?
To understand what Roffey Park is and what it offers as a venue today, it’s worth understanding how it came about. Roffey Park began life in 1943, when the National Council for the Rehabilitation of Industrial Workers (NCRIW) decided to establish a rehabilitation centre for people in industry suffering from overwork, burnout, nervous strain and depression (sound familiar today?). In short, long before workplace wellbeing became a corporate phrase, there was a recognition that people under pressure needed something more than simply time off. They needed a change of environment.
So the NCRIW acquired two grand Victorian country estates, Roffey Park House and Beddington House, right on the edge of St Leonard’s Forest, and a different approach to the workplace was born. A holistic approach that has evolved over the decades, but at its core recognises the importance of environment, movement and wellbeing to working culture.
Institute versus Venue
Roffey Park has changed a great deal since those early days, and today, there are two distinct parts: There is the Roffey Park Institute, which is focused on leadership, organisational learning, research and workplace development. And then there is Roffey Park Venue: a purpose-built residential training, learning, meetings, conference and events centre set within 40 acres of grounds.
But that description doesn’t really do the Venue justice because this is not simply a collection of meeting rooms. The central ethos is still grounded in the organisation’s founding beliefs: creating a workplace where people can come and stay away from the day-to-day pressures, to think differently, to reconnect and to benefit from relaxed and beautiful surroundings.
Space changes behaviour
Sussex Exclusive recently chatted with Operations Manager José Sanchez, and one message came through repeatedly: people at Roffey Park Venue are encouraged not just to use the rooms, but to use the surroundings. That might sound obvious, but in reality, many conference venues are designed around keeping people inside. Have your coffee in the meeting room and crack on with your agenda. Roffey Park seems to work differently.
Meeting spaces and lounge areas spill directly out into the grounds, where you find yourself in landscaped surroundings with sculpture set among the greenery and with pathways leading out across the estate to the forest. The idea is not simply to move people between meeting rooms and coffee breaks. It is to encourage people to pause, walk, think and reset. A recognition of the fact that space can change behaviour. Conversations can happen around a table, in the lounge, on the terrace, down by the fire pit or side by side walking around the lawns.
The Roffey Park experience
If you have ever visited Roffey Park, you are probably familiar with the large reception space, breakout pods / meeting rooms and central conference room with views over the grounds. But wander a little deeper and you may be surprised. Yes, there are 60 bedrooms and 22 meeting rooms of different sizes, with breakout rooms where you can split your group. But there’s also a stylish lounge area which opens onto the lawns, there’s a private pool, sauna and hot tub with views of the grounds and a small gym, there’s an internal courtyard complete with a piano, there are terraces, water features, coffee on tap and cake! Daily cake. There is even a fire pit where you can unwind over toasted marshmallows.
Guests can eat indoors or outside. Residential rooms mean visitors can stay rather than rush away and after a day spent in training, you can go back to the room, go for a swim, a walk or a run, and then come back for an early drink, and have dinner with your group. And did we mention the food?
The food!
The kitchen is headed by chef Richard Mann, whose background includes Michelin and rosette level cooking, most recently at well-known South Lodge. He brings a level of quality and sophistication to the menu, often associated more with luxury hospitality than a traditional training venue. They use as much local produce as they can, as well as seasonal ingredients. They even have their own small kitchen garden where they grow things like rhubarb, herbs, vegetables, tomatoes and onions. And they have a food map so that you can see just how local many of their suppliers are. You will be well fed if you visit Roffey Park, there is no doubt about that.
The hidden scale
Perhaps the biggest surprise is the scale of it all. Forty acres is larger than many people realise. Once inside, Roffey Park opens up in a way that simply isn’t visible from the road. Woodland edges, lawns, outdoor spaces and places to sit create a feeling that is part countryside retreat and part business venue. In an era when we are finally realising that productivity does not simply come from putting people in rooms for eight hours, it perfectly meets the brief. Ideas need space. People need breaks. Teams work differently when the environment itself encourages breathing space. Difficult conversations can be easier when not face to face over a table. And the real joy is, it doesn’t feel overcrowded. In fact, there is a real sense of calm.
Logistics
There is ample free parking at Roffey Park and it’s just a short drive from the M23 / A23 meaning travel by car from north, east, west or south is easy. By train, you’re a short taxi ride from Horsham or Three Bridges station.
How does it make you feel?
Many venues can tell you how many meeting rooms they have, how large their conference facilities are or how many delegates they can host. So as we concluded our tour, we asked José what makes them different,
“Of course, we run events well. But the thing we are most proud of is how our reviews often mention how everyone here goes above and beyond to make sure that everyone is treated differently. A lot of that is just down to being more personal, more relaxed about things. We want to make sure that when people come here, they want to come back again. A lot of people arrived expecting just another conference venue, and then they realise it feels very different once they’re here, with the surroundings, the atmosphere and the space. People enjoy the facilities and people enjoy the food. And, I think we want people to remember how the place made them feel so. There’s a special aura here. It’s relaxed, calm and unpressured.”
So, if you’re looking for a venue for an event, almost of any sort, put Roffey Park on your list, go and have a look and meet with a member of staff. You may be surprised:
Visit: Roffey Park Venue
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