Function Rooms Are Sitting Empty. Here's Why (and How to Fill Them)

TLDR: You invested £30K-50K building or refitting that function room. It sits empty Tuesday through Thursday every week and some weekends too. Meanwhile hotels are fully booked with private events. You CAN cook. You HAVE the space. The gap is menu presentation. When Mrs. Thompson calls about her mum's 80th, you say "yeah we can do something" but never send anything concrete. She books the hotel that sent her a proper menu within 48 hours.

Walk me through your function room.

Twenty-five grand? Fifty? More?

New flooring, nice tables, decent lighting, maybe a small bar area. You did it properly. It's a good space.

How often is it actually used?

"Well, we've got quiz night every Thursday. And sometimes people book it for birthdays."

So one regular booking per week, maybe 2-3 private events per month?

That's 12-15 uses per month out of a possible 120+ hours of availability (assuming 4 hours per event × 30 possible event slots).

Your function room is sitting empty 85-90% of the time.

Meanwhile, the hotel down the road has their event spaces booked solid. Tuesday corporate lunches. Wednesday training sessions. Friday birthday parties. Saturday weddings. Sunday christenings.

What are they doing that you're not?

The Investment That Doesn't Pay

Let's talk about what that empty function room is costing you.

Your investment:

• Build/refit cost: £40,000 (average)
• Financed over 5 years: £667/month
• Plus utilities, maintenance, cleaning for unused space: £200/month
• Total monthly cost: £867

Your current revenue:

• Quiz night: £300/week = £1,200/month (covers food/beer, minimal profit)
• Private events: 2-3 per month at £600 profit = £1,200-1,800/month

Monthly net:

• Revenue: £2,400-3,000
• Costs: £867
• Profit: £1,533-2,133

That's... fine. You're making a bit of profit. The room isn't losing money.

But compare that to what it COULD generate:

If you booked 15 events per month (still only using half the available capacity):

• 15 events × £600 average profit = £9,000/month
• Costs: £867
• Profit: £8,133

That's £6,000-6,600 MORE profit per month. £72,000-79,000 more per year.

Same space. Same kitchen. Different booking rate.

Why Hotels Fill Event Spaces (And You Don't)

Hotels aren't winning because they're better at cooking. Your kitchen makes better food than hotel banquet service. Everyone knows this.

They're winning on process.

When someone calls the hotel about a private event:

9:30am: "Hi, I'm looking at venues for my daughter's 40th birthday."
9:45am: Hotel email reply: "Thanks for your inquiry! Let me pull together some options for Sarah's celebration."
11:30am: Hotel sends branded PDF: "Sarah's 40th Birthday at The Grand Hotel - Three Package Options"
2:00pm: Follow-up call from events coordinator
End of day: Booking confirmed, deposit paid

When someone calls your pub:

2:30pm: "Hi, I'm looking at venues for my daughter's 40th birthday."
2:35pm: You (in middle of lunch service): "Yeah, we can probably do that. Let me check with the chef and get back to you."
Thursday: You remember you need to follow up
Friday: You call back. They've already booked the hotel.

See the problem?

The Menu Presentation Bottleneck

Here's what actually stops most pubs from filling their function rooms:

It's not that you can't cook party food. You cook roast dinners, fish, vegetarian options every day.

It's not that the space isn't nice. You spent good money on it.

It's not even that your prices aren't competitive. You're usually 20-30% cheaper than hotels.

The bottleneck is THIS moment:

Customer: "Can I see what menu options you can do?"

Your response options:

Option A (most common): "We can do whatever you like really. Chicken, fish, vegetarian. Give me a call and we'll chat through it."
Result: They hang up with no concrete information. Hard to make a decision. Hard to share with family for input. They keep calling other venues.

Option B (slightly better): "Let me email you some options."
Then you spend 2 hours creating a Word document that looks terrible on mobile and doesn't get opened for 3 days because you forgot to send it during service.

Option C (rare): "Give me 2 hours and I'll send you a branded menu for Sarah's 40th Birthday with pricing."
You send a professional digital menu. They review it immediately. Share with family. Book same day.

Most pubs are stuck at Option A or B. Hotels do Option C by default.

What Fills Function Rooms: The System

The pubs that actually fill their function rooms have a system. It's not complicated.

1. Templates Ready to Go

They're not creating menus from scratch every time. They have 3-4 event templates:

• Birthday/Anniversary Party Package (£28-32/person)
• Corporate Lunch Package (£30-35/person)
• Wedding Reception Package (£45-55/person)
• Wake/Memorial Package (£25-30/person)

When inquiry comes in, they customize the template in 5 minutes (change name, adjust portions, swap items for dietary needs) and send it.

Total time: 5-10 minutes from inquiry to sending menu.

2. Fast Response Standard

They treat event inquiries like they treat food orders. Would you make a customer wait 3 days for their lunch? No.

Same with bookings. Inquiry comes in, response goes out within 2-4 hours. Every time.

This alone captures 60-70% more bookings than "I'll get back to you in a few days."

3. Follow-Up System

They don't just send the menu and wait. They follow up:

Day 1 (2 hours after inquiry): Send menu options
Day 2: Follow-up email: "Did you have questions about the menu?"
Day 3: Phone call: "Just checking if you'd like to book Sarah's birthday with us"

Most bookings are confirmed by Day 3. If not confirmed by Day 5, they move on (customer booked elsewhere).

No more "did that person ever get back to me?" uncertainty.

The Tuesday-Thursday Opportunity

Here's something most pub owners miss:

Your function room is probably empty every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

You're already paying rent/mortgage on that space. Utilities are on. You're running lunch service with kitchen and staff.

Those weekday slots are PERFECT for corporate events:

• Team meetings (10-20 people)
• Business lunches (15-30 people)
• Training sessions (12-25 people)
• Department meetings (8-15 people)

One pub in Reading started targeting local businesses for Tuesday/Wednesday lunches. First year: 6 corporate bookings. Second year: 28 bookings (word spread in business community). That's £16,800 profit from space that was previously generating £0.

They didn't upgrade the kitchen. Didn't hire more staff. Just filled empty Tuesday/Wednesday slots with £600 corporate lunches.

Real Example: The Bull Inn

The Bull Inn in Warwickshire had the same problem most pubs have.

Nice function room. Built 6 years ago. Quiz night Thursdays. Maybe 2 birthday parties per month. Lots of empty space.

Owner (let's call him Mike) was frustrated: "We spent £45K on this room and it's not paying for itself."

The problem wasn't the room. It was the booking process.

Before:

• Inquiry comes in
• Mike says "let me check availability and get back to you"
• Gets back to them 2-4 days later (when he remembers)
• Sends verbal quote over phone or basic email
• 30% booking conversion rate
• 2-3 events per month

After (implemented digital menu system):

• Inquiry comes in
• Mike sends branded menu within 2 hours
• Follows up next day
• 75% booking conversion rate
• 8-12 events per month

Same room. Same food. Same Mike. Different system.

The numbers:

• Previous: 2-3 events × £600 = £1,200-1,800/month profit
• Current: 8-12 events × £600 = £4,800-7,200/month profit
• Increase: £3,600-5,400 per month = £43K-65K per year

That £45K function room investment finally paying for itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

What if we genuinely don't have availability when someone calls?

Offer alternative dates. "We're booked that Saturday but we have the following Saturday available, or Friday evening if that works?" If they're flexible, you capture the booking. If not, at least you tried. But make sure you're actually booked - don't say no to weekday bookings just because you "don't usually do events Tuesday."

Should we charge the same for function room events as regular dining?

No. Function room bookings should be 20-30% premium over regular menu prices. You're providing private space, set menu efficiency, and advance booking guarantee. Plus they're getting better value than hotels (who charge 50-70% more than your regular menu).

What about minimum spend or minimum guest requirements?

Reasonable to require 20-25 guest minimum for function room bookings. Below that, they can book a section of your main dining area. This ensures the room rental is worth your setup effort.

How do we market the function room if we've never really pushed it?

Start with your existing customers. Put notice on your regular menu: "Function room available for private events - ask for details." Email your customer list. Post on your pub's Facebook/Instagram. Most venues get first few bookings just from letting people know the option exists.

What if we get too many bookings and can't handle them all?

Good problem to have. If you're regularly fully booked (15+ events per month), you can either raise prices or maintain current pricing and enjoy having a waiting list. Better than the current problem of empty space.

The Bottom Line

Your function room isn't failing because it's a bad space or because you can't cook party food.

It's sitting empty because you don't have a system to capture bookings before customers move on to venues that respond faster.

Hotels book 60-80 events per month in similar-sized spaces. You're doing 2-3. The gap isn't quality. It's process.

Digital event menus let you respond in 2 hours instead of 2 days. Send "Sarah's 40th Birthday - The Bull Inn" instead of "give me a call and we'll discuss options."

After that, it's just math. More inquiries convert to bookings. More bookings fill your function room. Empty space becomes profitable space.

Fill your function room with digital event menus. Create one event package. Test responding fast to the next inquiry. See if your conversion rate improves. It will.