Home / Negotiate like a pro – hospitality contract tips for maximum value
24th September 2025
Darcy MacMillan, Solicitor
Before you lock in your venue hire or catering agreements, it’s essential to recognise that contracts aren’t just paperwork – they are the backbone of every commercial agreement. Yet, many businesses dive straight into negotiations without a clear understanding of the legal implications involved. For effective negotiations, you need to grasp the key factors shaping these agreements. To help navigate through these complexities, we have outlined three essential factors (amongst many) to keep in mind when negotiating your agreements.
Rates and pricing are arguably the most important topic of negotiation in most commercial contracts. The pricing arrangements for any hospitality agreement can be multilayered and complex. It would also be beneficial to query discounted group rates, package deals and any seasonal promotions.
The key is to approach this conversation with confidence, be prepared with a clear understanding of your budget and expectations from the other party, and be ready to treat the initial draft contract as a flexible starting point rather than a fixed offer.
With typical hospitality agreements, you may present gestures to the other party which ultimately declares your intentions to enter into the contract. This may involve sending event schedules, confirming room blocks or even starting prep work for an event with an unsigned agreement. If you have engaged in any one of these activities, you may have already entered into an enforceable contract without knowing it.
Therefore, when negotiating your contract, you should make it clear in writing that you don’t intend to be bound until a formal contract is signed by both parties. Otherwise – all your correspondences or even your conduct could be treated as a binding agreement.
When negotiating your contracts, you should prepare for best-case and worse-case scenarios. It is common for disruptions such as bad weather, illness or travel bans to occur and potentially derail your event. You should pre-empt and deal with these scenarios in your contract and obtain the relevant insurance to ensure efficient protection.
Therefore, it is paramount to have a clear understanding of the possible disruptions when negotiating the terms of your hospitality agreement and ensure that there is no ambiguity when mirroring these terms in your contract. If you don’t clearly set these out in your drafting, this could lead to potential disputes – and no one wants this when managing events or client relationships.
By focusing on the above principles you can protect your legal position and foster better relationships with clients, suppliers and partners. In the hospitality industry where the stakes are high and timing is key, clear and balanced agreements are essential to saving time and money.
Reach out for help from our commercial team to make the legal side of hospitality simpler, sharper and far less stressful.
Contributor, Sunny Kaur, Trainee Solicitor