Hire our studios

Studio hire

Our two beautiful studios are both available to hire outside our regular timetabled hours, now with slots from just one hour. Half-day and all-day hires are available most Saturdays and some Sundays.

Sycamore is our larger studio, with a capacity of up to 50, and Silver Birch is the smaller. Both are suitable for a variety of uses such as workshops, events, meetings, rehearsals, performances, exhibitions and private functions, including celebrations and sit-down meals in gorgeous surroundings.

The practical capacity of each studio depends on its use. A yoga workshop with mats occupies a very different space to a seated meeting, a dance rehearsal or a live music gig, for example.

Multiroom hire

You may also, on occasions, be able to hire both studios together, add our reception area or even hire the whole building, when available. The more advance notice you can give us, the more we can work to accommodate your needs.

Treatment room hire

You may also hire one of our three calm and beautiful treatment rooms, inclusive of couches, with accommodation for either one or two massage couches together. For larger needs, we can accommodate three or four couches together in our larger studio, Sycamore. For more information please visit our therapist work page.

Studio availability

Our two lovely studios are available to hire as follows:

• Mondays–Thursdays: some availability 9am–9pm, with a possible extension to 10pm, subject to our timetabled classes and other events.
• Fridays: daytimes 11am–6.30pm are offered. Evenings may be available from 7pm.
• Saturdays: afternoons 1pm–6.30pm are offered. Evenings may be available from 7pm.
• Sundays: generally not available but if you’ve a strong Sunday need (or would like a whole weekend booking) do please ask.

Please note that, for all hires, our doors close no later than 10pm on weekdays and 9.30pm on Saturdays.

NEW – shorter, easier booking slots

It’s now possible to book daytime sessions as short as one hour (eg for you to offer a one-hour class, workshop, appointment etc). Sessions are available up to half a day. Evenings are usually offered as single, all-evening bookings.

If you need something different or longer, or want to book both studios or even more of (all of?) the Centre, please talk to us as early as possible.

Prices – summer-autumn 2023

The table below shows our current pricing for studio hire, with sessions from just one hour.  Please note any additional charges given below the table.

Sessions available	Ideal for	Sycamore	Silver Birch
1-hour session	A 1-hour class, workshop, treatment etc	£25	£20
90-minute session	A 75-minute or 90-minute workshop, treatment etc	£37.50	£30
2-hour session	A 2-hour workshop, treatment etc (or 2 x 1-hour)	£50	£40
3-hour session	A 2½ or 3-hour workshop, performance, event etc (or maybe 2 x 90-minutes or 3 x 1-hour)	£75	£60
Half-day session	Up to a 4-hour class, workshop, performance, event etc (or maybe 4 x 1-hour or 2 x 2-hours etc)	£100	£80
Get-in/get-out	See below	£10	£5
Friday & Saturday evenings from 7pm
All-evening session	Please ask	Please ask

Get-in/get-out

When you make your booking, we will automatically add an additional 30 minutes to each session. This is strictly non-contact time, to enable you to get in and set up before your session (we allocate 15 minutes) and to pack up and free the space after your session (15 minutes maximum). We will automatically add the flat 30-minute get-in/get-out charge as shown in the table. This charge is waived for bookings of half a day and longer.

So, for example, a one-hour session in Silver Birch will give you a full one hour of contact time with your clients/students plus 15 minutes to set up and 15 minutes to free the space, for a total charge of £25 (£20 + £5).

Out-of-hours charge

If your booking is outside our advertised reception hours and this is your first out-of-hours studio hire with us, you will need staffing on site, for which we will automatically add a supplementary charge of £15 per hour. This enables our staff to be on hand to help you get used to the building and routines and to open up and/or lock up the Centre. There is no such supplementary charge when reception staff would normally be on the premises.

Out-of-hours times are after 6.30pm Mondays–Saturdays and any time on Sundays.

Deposit

This also applies only to out-of-hours hire. If this is your second time hiring one of our studios out of hours, and we are not adding an out-of-hours supplementary charge, we will instead charge a £50 deposit. This would be refundable unless we need to make deductions to cover our costs in rectifying or covering

• any damage
• any cleaning/clearing/tidying of rooms not left as they were found
• the use of any parts of the Centre not included in the hire agreement

Refunds where appropriate will be made approximately two weeks after the date of hire.

Overruns

Our pricing includes 15 minutes for you to pack up and clear the studio. If the studio is not vacated within 15 minutes of the end of a session, we will automatically charge you a further hour at the full hourly rate plus a £10 administration fee, such charges to be applied automatically to your payment method.

This is principally because an overrun may prevent us from handing the room on time to another paying client or, at the end of the day, may prevent staff from going home at the end of their shift.

Part or all of such a charge may occasionally be waived by a Unity manager at their absolute discretion but only in exceptional circumstances. For the avoidance of doubt, you are absolutely responsible for the prompt departure of your clients or students; slow departure by clients or students, or the knock-on effect of such slow departure on your ability to vacate, will not be a valid reason to waive any charges.

How to hire

We hope soon to bring our studio hire process online. Meanwhile, please use the link below. Bear in mind that, to accept your booking, we’ll ask you for:

• Your preferred hire dates and times – we’ll try hard to meet your first choice but please provide alternatives in case it isn’t available
• The name, nature and details of your class/workshop/event
• Proof of your appropriate insurance cover, including a minimum £10m public liability insurance
• Any catering/hospitality requirements
• Details of how people can book places and/or buy tickets

Once we’ve agreed the date(s) with you, we’ll send you an agreement, containing our terms and conditions, for your signature. We’ll then be ready to take payment for fees as above plus any supplementary charge and/or deposit where required (see above).

If you would like to visit the Unity Centre and studio(s) before or after you agree your booking, please make an appointment with our lovely reception team by phoning 01273 778400, emailing reception@being-in-unity.com or popping in. Please note that we may not be able to let you visit the studios on spec, if you pop in, as they may be in use.

If you have any other enquiries about studio hire, including availability, please email studio@being-in-unity.com.

Catering

If your event or function requires catering, please note that we have only a small food preparation area and no commercial cooking facilities on site, so catering would generally have to be prepared off-site and brought in.

Alcohol

If you are intending to serve alcohol at your event or function, please let us know before you confirm your booking, so that we can consider and discuss your plans and, for example, any licencing implications.

Publicity

We will help you publicise your event on our website, in our reception and on social media but the primary responsibility for publicity is yours. To help us do our bit, we’ll ask you for

• The name, nature and details of your event, as mentioned above, together with a short one-paragraph summary
• High quality publicity photos/images (preferably three)
• A handful of A5 or A6 flyers (not posters) to be displayed in our reception area (and replenishments if they go quickly)

The earlier and better you can give us these things, the more effective we can be. You will also be welcome to discuss with our social media team any videos or other materials that you can provide for social media use.

If you have any questions about publicity, please email comms@being-in-unity.com.