The Refinery Bankside is a bar and restaurant on Southwark Street in London that can be hired for private events of 15 to 600 guests. Corporate clients can book a private room for a meeting, a client dinner, a drinks reception or a full-venue party, all in the Bankside area of Southwark. It is one of the venues of the Drake & Morgan group, whose events team handles enquiries for every site.
Seminars and company events
The group presents its private hire as a choice between private rooms, semi-private spaces and full venue hire. For business use, the website mentions bookable spaces, AV equipment and tailored packages, from a table for two to a whole floor for a private event. Day delegate rates are offered, along with pre-ordered food and drink packages, which suits a half-day workshop, a team meeting or a client lunch.
At the Bankside site, the smaller rooms are the most practical for meetings. The Mezzanine takes up to 15 seated guests, and the semi-private dining area takes up to 50 seated. For a larger company evening, the Lounge and the Terrace can be used together, or the whole venue can be taken over.
Rooms and capacities
The official site lists these spaces for The Refinery Bankside:
The Lounge seats up to 30 guests and holds up to 70 for a drinks reception with canapés. The Terrace seats 60 and holds 120 standing. The Mezzanine seats up to 15 and holds 25 standing, and it is also the space used for mixology classes for groups of 10. The semi-private dining area seats up to 50. Taking the whole venue, the stated capacity is 600 standing guests.
Because the spaces are in a working bar and restaurant, most events here suit an evening format: a reception, a seated dinner, a team celebration or a launch drinks. Ask the events team which spaces can be closed off from the rest of the venue for your date and time.
Weddings and receptions
The Drake & Morgan wedding pages describe flexible spaces that can work for small receptions or larger parties, and they list four group venues that are licensed for marriage ceremonies. The Refinery Bankside is not among those four, so a couple planning a ceremony would need another site of the group. A reception or celebration following a ceremony elsewhere is a question for the events team.
Catering
Food and drink are provided in house. The group mentions seasonal menus, cocktails and a wine list, as well as party packages that cover food, drink, table settings and entertainment. Mixology classes are available as an activity for teams. For weddings, the group says that a preferred caterer may use its kitchens and that dry hire is possible at all its venues. Ask whether the same applies to a corporate booking at Bankside.
History and setting
The Refinery Bankside sits in the Blue Fin Building at 110 Southwark Street, a short walk from Tate Modern and the south bank of the Thames. Its terrace gives the venue an outdoor option for summer receptions, while the lounge and mezzanine offer more enclosed settings in cooler months.
Getting there
The nearest stations are Southwark on the Jubilee line, London Bridge and Blackfriars. All three are within walking distance, and Blackfriars and London Bridge have national rail connections, which helps when guests arrive from outside London. The venue is also reachable on foot from the City and from the Southbank, so a lunch meeting can be combined with other appointments in central London.
To begin planning, contact the Drake & Morgan events team through the website, giving the date, the number of guests and the format you have in mind.
