Blog

With events, weddings, parties and entertaining across the board opening up; friends, familys and companies are excited about being able to hold gatherings and celebrations again.  At Inkerman we are regularly providing bespoke gifts for many different occasions, with personalisation and creative design a key part of what we offer ensuring all our gifts remain unique and individual. 

The Inkerman team have shared a few of their favourite venues and events which albeit are somewhat scattered across the country will appeal to a varied budget, number of people to be included and or occasion to be celebrated.  Being based in East Sussex on the Eridge Estate on the outskirts of Tunbridge Wells they have taken the opportunity to hi-light a couple of local favourites too!

OUR FAVOURITE VENUES

THE NED

Located in the heart of the City of London, every one of the spaces available boasts period features including walnut panelling and vintage chandeliers, as well as plenty of natural light. Rooms range in size from 21 square metres to 165 square metres, and can accommodate between 4 and 200 people. Food and drinks menus – ranging from cocktails and snacks to four-course dinners can be created by their team.

THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM

The magnificent gallery spaces and stunning John Madejski Garden combine to make the V&A one of London’s most unique venues for corporate entertaining. The Museum is available to hire for a range of events, from breakfasts and private views to fundraising dinners and awards ceremonies.  The V&A is an elegant and exclusive location for your private party or wedding celebration. The areas available for hire provide impressive settings for receptions, dinners and dances.

THE WILDERNESS RESERVE

Whatever the event or meeting you have in store, Wilderness have a range of spaces available. From country pursuits to intimate dinners, Wilderness Reserve is the perfect destination for your company or family retreat. Choosing a meeting and event space is easy with 5000 acres to play with. Free from the restrictions of a hotel, the exclusive-use estate is the perfect backdrop for your private event.  

Suffolk is becoming a popular destination for both business and leisure visitors making Wilderness Reserve the perfect corporate retreat within two hours from London. The unique country concept and estates are big enough to host hundreds of guests but also intimate enough for small groups.  For those planning their own or someone else's special event - whether it be a birthday, wedding anniversary, family reunion - being able to bring friends and family under one roof is one of the best ways to celebrate such a momentous occasion.

TILLINGHAM

Whether you want to hire the whole site for a special occasion or if you’d like to organise an event in the restaurant, Tillingham is a unique place.  The private dining room and the oast room studio, also make great venues for away days and seminars. 

THE SMALLHOLDING

Named as one of the best restaurants in Kent, The Small Holding restaurant in Kilndown is nestled in one acre of beautiful countryside.

With growing, foraging and cooking at the heart of everything they do, the kitchen maintains a unique connection between farm and table, and prides itself on being able to serve up honest food that is full of seasonal imagination and flavour.

 THE PIG - COMBE, DEVON

The Folly is the largest of the private dining spaces and a unique setting for gathering together your nearest and dearest! Described as a  ‘semi-restored chic hideaway', The Folly is tucked away within the gardens and food is from the Kitchen Garden and Wood Oven.  There are other room options available we just liked this one!  

Great for when you are after something just a little different! There are 8 Pig Hotels in total so browse the link to find your nearest, The Pig Hotels

A FEW OF OUR FAVOURITE EVENTS...

Latitude Festival

Pub in the Park

Wimbledon

Reading Festival

Goodwood

The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition

Inkerman is always committed to achieving the very highest standard of quality and customer service whilst making sure of more sustainable outcomes whilst minimising the environmental impact.   We recognise that by ensuring good environmental practices into all areas of the business, we can offer lu...

Now that vaccines have made it possible to be together in person again, showing appreciation and connecting with your family is more important and exciting than ever.  With Father’s Day approaching on Sunday 20^th June, there’s an opportunity to celebrate the dads, grandpas, husbands, and all the fat...

With so many weddings being postponed during the pandemic it's great news that they're now being allowed again, albeit a maximum of 30 people in a covid secure venue.  There is light at the end of the tunnel though, with the possibility of all restrictions being lifted by the end of June.  We have s...

The Grand National is one of the most famous and unpredictable horse races in the world, taking place this year behind closed doors for the first time in its history.

It's a hugely popular event and 600 million people watch it on TV all over the globe.

Lots of people follow it at home, and you and your family might even pick your own favourite horse - often based on its name and colours.

The race is part of a three-day race meeting held in Liverpool, with usually more than 150,000 people in attendance. 

A version of the race took place before this, but 1839 is accepted as the official start of the race as we know it today.

Between 1916-1918 during World War One, the race had to be moved to Gatwick Racecourse. Then, it was called off between 1941-1945 because of the Second World War. 

The race has changed a lot since it began.

The courses and fences have been tweaked over the years - not least to make them safer for the horses and jockeys. The starting line has also moved further away from the main stand to help the horses to remain calmer at the beginning.

But throughout the years, it has always been one of the biggest jump races for horses and riders in the world - and it is currently the longest race in the UK.

In the biggest race - the Grand National - horses have to complete two laps of the course, covering four-and-a-half miles and jumping 30 fences.

There are 16 different jumps, known as fences, on the National Course.

All 16 are jumped during the first lap but on the second lap of the circuit the horses only jump 14 of them - so that makes 30 fences in total for the race.

The fences are different widths and heights, and some of them have different names

One of the most famous fences is called The Chair, which is the tallest on the course at 5 foot 3 inches.

The ground on the landing side is higher than the side the horses take off from, and there's also a six-foot ditch that horses have to jump over before the fence.

Fortunately, The Chair is one of the two fences that riders only have to go over once, rather than twice like most of the others.

Canal Turn and Becher's Brook are two other extremely difficult fences.

Red Rum died in 1995 at the age of 30 and was buried near the winning post at Aintree.

In 1993, no one won because there was a false start - some riders didn't realise and carried on so the race had to be cancelled!

George Stevens is the most successful jockey in Grand National history.

He has won the Grand National five times, but given that his final victory came back in 1870, you probably weren't around to remember this!

The fastest time ever the course has ever been completed in was by Mr Frisk in 1990, who covered the four miles and 514 yards of the race in just 8 mins 47.8 secs.

Inkerman are now in their 14th year of working with Aintree as the official trophy supplier and never before has it been run in its history behind closed doors.  Inkerman are providing over 80 trophies for

owners, trainers, trainers and stable hands.  The crowds and soldiers will be missed along with that Grand National 'roar' from the crowd, but here's hoping that next year it will be back stronger and bigger

than ever!

Lucy has recently joined Inkerman to help Angela with private sales and as a new member of staff has been brushing up on all things gifts, trophies and awards

First on the list is glassware... 

The distinction between glass and crystal items can often be misconstrued and mislabelled, especially as...

Inkerman reaching it’s 25^th anniversary has made us feel very proud and nicely established.  To put 25 years into context some of the events you may remember from 1996 are the first ever Red Nose Day, Kylie & Jason’s wedding in Neighbours, Dolly the Sheep, Edwina Currie’s ‘Salmonella-in-eggs’  contr...

Firstly we can’t complain;  Inkerman is as busy as ever,  we still have our jobs,  we’ve managed to keep the virus out of our office and none of us have lost anyone close to us.  For this we are very grateful.  But the Groundhog Day phenomena is getting to us. 

Life is very different to a year a...

However you end up spending Christmas this year, thinking up gift ideas is no easy feat, whether it's for your sister, brother, mother or father, girlfriend, boyfriend or best friend.  This year will be a challenge for most to get it crossed off the list without battling high street crowds and with ...

We thought now would be a good time to re-introduce Inkerman to our followers (existing and new) to give everyone a brief overview of our business: how we started, our values, our challenges and goals, to introduce our staff & craftsmen and to show you how products are designed and made.

It’s be...