Three Durham Businesses Join Forces to Reinvent the Corporate Away Day
Three well-known Durham names have joined forces to change the shape of the modern corporate away day.
Radisson Blu Durham has partnered with local movement studio Onda Pilates and Durham Cathedral to offer businesses a meetings and events experience built around wellbeing, alongside a new ‘Back to Nature’ Team Building package with Raby Castle.
The move responds to a clear shift in what businesses want from a day out of the office. Where a full agenda and a well-stocked coffee station once defined a successful meeting, today's teams are asking for something different: a break in the day that actually feels like one.
Located five minutes from Durham railway station and ten minutes from the A1(M), Radisson Blu Durham is using its city-centre setting to connect delegates directly with two of the city's best-known names. Groups booking meetings, conferences or team days can now add a guided tour and Tower Climb at Durham Cathedral's World Heritage Site, a riverside walk along the Wear, or an on-site movement class with Onda Pilates, designed to be accessible to all fitness levels.
“At ŌNDA, we’re passionate about making movement feel accessible, enjoyable and genuinely beneficial to everyday life,” said Kayleigh Letman, Founder of ŌNDA Pilates. “For many people, a corporate away day can mean spending even more time sitting down, so we loved the idea of working with Radisson Blu Durham to offer something that breaks up the traditional meeting format. Even a short Pilates or mobility session can give people an opportunity to reset, move and reconnect before heading back into the rest of their day. Being a Durham business ourselves, it’s also really exciting to collaborate with other organisations in the city and showcase what Durham can offer businesses looking for something beyond the traditional corporate experience.”
“We're seeing it across almost every booking now,” said Wendy Bryant, Director of Groups, Meetings and Events at Radisson Blu Durham. “Clients don't just want a room and a projector any more. They want their people to leave feeling better than when they arrived, whether that's through movement, fresh air or simply a proper break in the middle of the day. Wellbeing has gone from a nice-to-have to a key factor.”
Delegates can move from a fully-equipped, full-AV meeting space to climbing Durham Cathedral's tower or rolling out a Pilates mat within the hour - a contrast the hotel says is central to the new approach. The hotel's specially designed Brain Boosting Lunch Menu has also been created to keep delegates focused through the afternoon, rather than reaching for the buffet.
The partnerships extend beyond the city. Half an hour down the road, Radisson Blu Durham has also launched the Back to Nature Team Building Experience with Raby Castle, giving teams exclusive hire of one of the estate's event spaces, a grazing lunch sourced from the Raby Estate, and a choice of clay pigeon shooting or a deer safari, with dinner, bed and breakfast and return transport included. Packages start from £200 per delegate, with a second night's accommodation available for those extending the trip.
“It's a genuinely different proposition for the region,” added Bryant. “You get the reliability of a five-star hotel with proper facilities, and then a completely different environment for the team-building element itself. Clay pigeon shooting or a deer safari isn't something most away days offer, and it gives people something to talk about long after the debrief.”
The hotel's meeting and event spaces cater for groups of every size, from intimate boardroom sessions to large-scale conferences, with recently refurbished bedrooms for residential delegates and Presidential Suites available as a private space for organisers or VIP guests.
For a venue with a decade-long reputation for flexibility - equally at home hosting conferences, weddings and awards nights - the move into wellness-led corporate days marks a natural next chapter. The location and facilities were already there; what's changed is the emphasis, with recharge now built into the agenda rather than added on top of it.
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