How to make your event budget go further

So, in today’s blog, David Tunnicliffe, GL events Commercial Director, shares his expert insight into how value engineering can help you achieve much more than you thought possible with your event budget. We’ll be bringing you practical advice on maximising challenging budgets. But we’ll also be highlighting just how important it is to value engineer your plans, however healthy your event budget might be – and however happy you are with your current event infrastructure.

Because, as we’ll explore, there’s always a huge benefit in reviewing your costs and plans with an engaged, experienced events team that has a real value-engineering mindset.

Value engineering is a collaborative process between you and your supplier, designed to maximise what you get for every pound you spend. It's about thinking differently, exploring alternative options and being open to new solutions. 

Every time. Our ethos is that every event planning project should go through a value engineering process to make sure you get the absolute most for your money. Because when the gap between your vision and your budget feels impossible to bridge, value engineering can help you get there. 

It might be that you’re in the early planning stages and costs are already creeping beyond what you budgeted for, leaving you wondering how you'll deliver on the brief.

It might be that your budget was set before you fully understood the scope – something that’s incredibly common, particularly for new event planners. You estimate a figure based on limited information… then you discover what’s actually needed and what things actually cost.

Or it might be that external factors force a budget reduction. Maybe ticket sales are lower than anticipated, a sponsor pulls out, or priorities shift, taking funding with them. 

In all of those situations, you still need to deliver, but with less money. And value engineering is the key to making that happen. But it’s not just about coping with constraints. Value engineering can also be about making the most of any additional budget you might have – adding the right extra elements to make the maximum impact.

Value engineering is as much about mindset as it is process. Our approach is always to start broad and then focus on a structured conversation about your objectives, your constraints, and the creative solutions that might bridge the gap between the two. When done well, it results in an event that meets your goals while respecting your budget – often incorporating elements you hadn't even considered.

Start the conversation early

If you’re planning a brand-new event, it pays to start the value-engineering conversation early. But the same goes for repeat or annual events too. Regular events can benefit enormously from periodic value-engineering reviews, giving you fresh approaches that keep audiences engaged. 

And the best time to start? As soon as the previous event finishes. By value engineering when your experiences are fresh, you’ll capture hugely valuable details, learn every time and make sure you’re not just repeating what you’ve always done, but genuinely getting the best value.

The big budget-shaped elephant in the room 

For value engineering to work, transparency is fundamental. That might sound obvious, but you'd be surprised how often it doesn't happen. Clients sometimes feel they need to hold back their true budget, worried that sharing it will just result in quotes that conveniently match that figure. The reality is, without knowing your budget, suppliers are working blind. We can't help you find creative solutions or deliver the best outcomes without real transparency. 

It's also important to be clear whether your figure is for the entire event, or just certain elements. For example, does it need to include catering, entertainment and staffing? Understanding the full scope helps your supplier give you realistic options.

How we build trust and long-term relationships with event organisers 

Value engineering requires a level of openness that we know can feel uncomfortable, particularly when you’re talking to a supplier you haven't worked with before. You're sharing budget details, constraints and challenges that you might not normally share.  

Of course, you can put a legal framework in place through contracts and non-disclosure agreements (NDAs), and we always adhere to those. But we also make a point of earning clients’ trust, repeat business and long-standing partnerships through consistent behaviour over time. In some cases we’ve been working with the same event teams for over 20 years. 

So, if you're considering your supplier options, it might be that full-scale value engineering develops over time – along with your relationship – rather than happening immediately. A good supplier will always be happy to flex their involvement as your conversations continue. 

Here at GL events, we take a three-tier approach to helping our clients navigate budget constraints. Understanding how and why this works can help you think more strategically about your own event. In our experience, the best value engineering framework for event infrastructure is a three-tier framework. This provides a clear way to identify what is essential, what is “nice to have”, and where strategic decisions can truly unlock the greatest value. This is where “game changing” innovation can be brought in through new products, suppliers or ways of working that can transform event delivery without breaking the budget.

While the three-tier framework remains a consistent, it is applied differently depending on the types of infrastructure and commodities needed for your event, including temporary seating and temporary event structures. A tailored approach, with specialists around the table, allows value to be delivered in a way that brings the best results across very different forms of temporary event infrastructure.

Decision-making authority

In the context of event planning, value engineering is a two-way process and requires making choices, sometimes difficult ones. If you need to consult others before decisions can be made, the process slows considerably. Ideally, the best approach is to have the key decision-makers involved right from the start and present at the meeting, so you're empowered to make calls that progress the process. 

Realistic timescales

This is crucial. Value engineering takes time, often several weeks of collaborative discussion. If you need a solution next week, your options are severely limited. The earlier you start the conversation, the more creative suppliers can be. If you’re working with us, realistic timescales mean our in-house design team will be able to create detailed visualisations to demonstrate how your event’s going to look and feel. 

One piece of value engineering you can do for yourself, straight out of the gate, is make sure you’re working with suppliers who’ll go the extra mile for you and your event. Our GL events team goes into every value-engineering conversation with a wealth of industry expertise and extensive experience in facilitating meaningful conversations like these. We bring:

Market knowledge: We have a pool of trusted, experienced suppliers who you might not know about. A new supplier might suggest alternatives you've never heard of, different products and a range of approaches at different price points. We can bring these suppliers together, making recommendations based on your unique requirements. For example, we regularly partner with Flow Power solutions, who can re-engineer your temporary event power and HVAC requirements with sustainable solutions.

Broad cross-sector event experience: We’ve delivered temporary structures at thousands of events, including sporting spectacles like the Commonwealth Games, festivals like Hay and Goodwood Festival of Speed, and a whole range of corporate exhibitions and trade shows. That means we’ve seen countless variations on the challenges you're facing, and we can draw on that experience to suggest proven, replicable solutions.

Honesty and pragmatism: You need a supplier who’ll tell you the truth, even when it’s not what you want to hear. If your budget genuinely can’t deliver your vision, you need to know that early, not after you’ve committed. We’ve got the courage to have those conversations – and the drive to solve them.

Diverse skills and broad scope

Working with us gives you access to the global GL events Group and over 5,000 talented events people. Over the years, we’ve evolved into a diverse group of businesses, with a broad service offering. We’ve always been known for our event marquees, but today our seven business units unify event activation, with complementary event services and commodities – from temporary  hire to event illumination and placemaking.

Let’s take a closer look at how value engineering works by exploring a real-life example. We were working with a sporting organisation which faced a common challenge, their event had been downgraded in the competition calendar, meaning reduced ticket revenue and sponsor interest. The budget that had supported previous years' infrastructure just wasn’t available.

Rather than accepting a significantly diminished event, we held a collaborative value-engineering workshop and involved our senior leadership team, giving the client access to over 80 years of combined event-delivery experience. The conversation started with a simple but powerful question: “What is the budget you’re trying to work within?”

From there, we discussed their vision for the event, looking at how they wanted it to feel and what they needed it to achieve, rather than starting with a list of products. We worked through our three-tier framework, quickly establishing the have-to-have baseline, then identifying which of the “must to haves” and “nice to have” elements could fit within the available budget.

Exploring alternatives was easy with so much combined experience and market knowledge in the room, and we identified options the client hadn’t considered before. That included different products that achieved similar outcomes, configurations that maximised impact within constraints, and informed trade-offs based on full visibility of options and costs. All of this empowered the client to make decisions about what mattered most.

The result? An event that delivered for guests and stakeholders, while fitting into the financial reality. Not the same as previous years, but appropriate for the circumstances and achieved through partnership rather than painful compromise.

If you’re looking for temporary event infrastructure, and you’d like to value engineer your project, we’d love to help. We’re here to guide you through the process, help you explore new possibilities and make sure you get the most from your budget, every step of the way. 

But whoever you’re considering working with, here are five key questions to help you have the best possible value-engineering conversation… 

“What alternatives exist?”

“Where would you recommend we prioritise spending for maximum impact?”

“What have you seen work well for similar events?”

“What would you do differently if you were in my position?”

“Where are the opportunities to enhance the guest experience?”

It’s never too soon to get started

In summary, if there’s one message we’d like you to take away, it’s this: start early. Value engineering works best when there’s time to explore options, consult stakeholders and make considered decisions. If you're planning an event and feeling uncertain about how to bridge the gap between your aspirations and your budget… start the conversation now. 

About GL events

GL events UK specialises in temporary structures, seating and event infrastructure for events of all sizes. If you’d like to discuss your upcoming event and explore working together, get in touch.

About the author

David is one of the most recognised faces in the UK events industry. Previously a board member of the International Live Event Society (ILEA), he was recently given a prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Outdoor Events Association. He represents the GL events Group across its UK businesses, bringing our people and clients together to deliver exceptional, commercially successful events. You can connect with David Tunnicliffe on LinkedIn.