venue-contract-review

Venue Contract Review

Venue contracts are priced in the exclusions. The hire fee is the headline; the money is in minimum spend, the cancellation ladder, attrition, mandatory suppliers, and the six things you assumed were included. This reads for exposure rather than for legality — what could this contract cost that the quoted fee does not show, and which three clauses are worth spending negotiating capital on.

What This Skill Produces

• The commercial summary — what is actually being committed to, in money and dates
• Flagged clauses ranked by exposure — worst-case cost of each, not just its presence
• What is not included — the list that turns a hire fee into a real budget line
• Negotiation asks in priority order — because you will not win all of them, and some matter far more
• Questions to put in writing — the ambiguities that must be resolved before signature, not after
• The decision points calendar — cancellation tiers, guarantee deadlines, and final-numbers dates

Required Inputs

Ask for these if not provided:

• The contract or proposal — the full document including annexes and the fine print
• The event — date, expected headcount, format, and how firm the numbers are
• What you were told verbally — sales conversations often contain promises the contract does not
• Your constraints — budget ceiling, whether the date could move, and how certain attendance is
• Comparable options — whether you have an alternative venue, which determines your leverage

Framework: Price the Downside, Not the Headline

1. Find the total commitment, not the hire fee. Hire plus minimum spend plus mandatory services plus service charge and tax is the real number.
2. Map the cancellation ladder to a calendar. At what date does cancelling cost 25%, 50%, 100%? Put those dates in the diary — they are the real decision points.
3. Read the attrition clause carefully. If you contract for 200 and 150 attend, what do you pay? This is where events lose money quietly.
4. List everything not included. Tables, linen, power, cleaning, security, AV, corkage, overtime, get-out. Each is a budget line the fee implies you do not need.
5. Check the mandatory suppliers. In-house AV or catering with no competitive alternative is a pricing position, and it needs testing before signature.
6. Look for the asymmetries. Their right to relocate you, to change the room, to cancel — versus yours. Force majeure and access-time guarantees matter more after recent years.
7. Prioritise three asks. Cancellation terms, attrition percentage, and the biggest exclusion. Trading everything at once wins nothing.

Output Format

Venue contract review: [venue] · [event] · [date]

Commercial summary: hire [amount] · minimum spend [amount] · mandatory services [amount] · service charge [%] · tax [%] · total commitment [amount]

Exposure ranking

| Clause | What it says | Worst case | Exposure |

|---|---|---|---|

| Cancellation | [terms] | [amount] | High |

| Attrition | [terms] | [amount if numbers drop] | |

| Minimum spend | [terms] | [shortfall payable] | |

| Overtime / curfew | [rate] | [amount] | |

Decision calendar

| Date | What happens | Cost of cancelling after this |

|---|---|---|

| [date] | [tier change / final numbers due / deposit] | [amount] |

Not included — [each item, with estimated cost to source separately]

Mandatory suppliers: [who, for what, whether rates are fixed, whether alternatives are permitted]

Asymmetries: [their rights vs yours — relocation, cancellation, force majeure, access times]

Negotiation asks — in priority order

1. [ask] — [why it matters most] — [fallback position]
2. [ask] — [rationale] — [fallback]
3. [ask] — [rationale] — [fallback]

Put in writing before signing: [the ambiguities and the verbal promises that need to appear in the document]

> Not legal advice. This identifies commercial exposure; it does not assess enforceability, and contract law varies by jurisdiction. Have a qualified lawyer review any significant venue contract before signature.

Quality Checks

• [ ] Total commitment is calculated, not just the hire fee
• [ ] Cancellation tiers are converted into diary dates
• [ ] The attrition clause is modelled against a realistic headcount drop
• [ ] Everything not included is listed with an estimated separate cost
• [ ] Mandatory suppliers and whether alternatives are permitted are identified
• [ ] Rights are compared in both directions, not only the venue's obligations
• [ ] Negotiation asks are prioritised to three, each with a fallback

Anti-Patterns

• Reading the hire fee as the cost. It is the smallest number in the document.
• Skipping the attrition clause. The quietest way an event loses money.
• Not diarising the cancellation tiers. The decision date passes unnoticed and the option disappears.
• Assuming tables, power and cleaning are included. They frequently are not.
• Relying on what the salesperson said. If it is not in the contract, it does not exist.
• Negotiating twelve points. Signals no priorities and wins nothing.
• Signing without legal review on a material contract. This skill is not a lawyer.

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Review this venue contract before I sign it"
• "What does this attrition clause actually mean?"
• "What is not included in this venue hire fee?"
• "How do I negotiate better cancellation terms?"
• "Is this minimum spend reasonable for 200 guests?"