Away day facilitator in Manchester, with activities that end in decisions.
Our away day facilitators work across Manchester and the North West. We design the day's activities and chair the discussion, so the whole leadership team can take part and the day ends in decisions.
The venue's booked. Now the day needs filling with something your leadership team will take part in and still talk about. We bring the activities, the props and a neutral chair, and the day ends in decisions. We work at venues across the city centre, Salford Quays and Cheshire, or at the one you've already booked.
Full-day and multi-day formats, run at the venue you've already booked in Manchester.
Away day activities that do real work
Pre-mortem
"It's a year from now and this plan failed. What killed it?" People find it easier to be critical this way, and the plan gets stronger for it.
Write first
Everyone writes their ideas silently before anyone speaks, so the most senior voice doesn't set the frame.
1-2-4-All
Think alone, then in pairs, then fours, then the whole room. Every voice is in within minutes.
Stop-doing
Design the perfect way to miss your targets, then spot what you already do that looks like it.
Confidence vote
Everyone shows one to five fingers on each decision. A room of threes isn't agreement, so we ask the twos what would move them.
Plus the games from our sessions, which make more sense on a call: Unicorns love Rainbows, Becoming a Time Lord, Strategy Bingo, and It's a deal, it's a steal.
How long should it be?
A full day gives you time to agree where you really are before deciding anything, which is usually the part that's missing. For annual planning or a strategy reset, take two days or more.
Getting the most from your venue
Daylight, walls you can stick paper to, space to break into groups of four, and lunch in a different room so people get up and move. A U-shaped table looks smart and kills conversation.
Away day venues and evening plans in Manchester
An away day should feel like a change of scene without being a novelty. These Manchester venues have character and the basics we look for, and the evening ideas below give the team something to do together that isn't another drink at the bar.
The John Rylands Library
Deansgate · Characterful space
A Victorian Gothic library with event spaces. Memorable for a board day.
Hallé St Peter's
Ancoats · Characterful space
A restored church that's now the Hallé's rehearsal space, in the middle of Ancoats' restaurants.
The Lowry
Salford Quays · Characterful space
An arts centre on the water with conference rooms and plenty of daylight, by MediaCity.
Rookery Hall
Nantwich, Cheshire · Country house within an hour
A country house that offers exclusive use for senior teams, with 38 acres for breakouts when the weather's kind.
De Vere Cranage Estate
Cranage, Cheshire · Country house within an hour
A rural retreat with 28 meeting spaces and grounds for breakouts, within reach of Manchester Airport.
Evening plans in Manchester
Flight Club
City centre
Social darts with automatic scoring.
Junkyard Golf Club
City centre
Crazy golf built from salvaged junk. Daft in the right way.
Lane7
City centre
Bowling, ping pong and karaoke rooms under one roof.
Roxy Ball Room
Arndale
Pool, shuffleboard and duck pin bowling, with bookable group areas.
NQ64
Northern Quarter
A retro arcade bar. Surprisingly good at levelling a room.
Piccadilly and Oxford Road stations cover most of the city centre venues on this list. Manchester Science Park and the Manchester Technology Centre sit on the Oxford Road corridor. Rookery Hall is about 10 minutes from Crewe, which is on the London Euston line.
All our Manchester venue, restaurant and evening ideas
Venues researched October 2026. We don't take commission, and listing a venue doesn't mean we've run a session there. Check availability direct.
Why bring in a facilitator
What we do that is hard to do from inside your own team.
We do the prep
One-to-ones, pre-work and the data, ready before anyone sits down.
Structure that works
Frameworks proven in hundreds of sessions, fitted to what you need to decide.
The skills to run the room
Timing, pace and the recovery moves when a conversation stalls.
Objective and neutral
No budget to protect, so we can challenge anyone, including the CEO.
We spot the patterns
The things people keep circling back to, which are hard to see from inside the team.
We read the room
Who has gone quiet, who is holding back, and when to push or pause.
We coach in between
Support for the people who own the next steps, so momentum carries.
We adapt on the day
Because we do this a lot, we change the plan when the room needs it.
What you can count on
Whoever's in the room, every session we run meets the same standard.
Experienced facilitators
More than 500 workshops facilitated, by people who have built, run and sold companies. Collette Easton is an Association for Coaching accredited executive coach.
Success agreed first
Before we design anything, we agree with the sponsor what the session has to achieve, and build every part of it around that.
Speaking your language
Matt Roberts has been a founder, CEO, Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Product Officer, and began his career in ad agencies. He has worked across every function, so he speaks your team's language and nothing slows down.
Every voice heard
We talk to attendees beforehand, and chair the room so the most senior voice never sets the frame.
Nothing lost afterwards
Decisions, owners and dates are captured as they happen, and the follow-ups are agreed before anyone leaves.
Skills your team builds by doing the planning
We don't teach theory. Your team learns these by planning its real year, with us alongside.
Estimating the value of an idea
Put a rough value on each option before anyone argues for it, so the debate is about evidence, not volume.
Goal writing
Write goals that will move you forward faster, educate the reader, and inspire the team pursuing them.
Questions people ask first
Can you work with the venue we've already booked?
Yes. Tell us the room and we'll plan around it. The things that matter most are daylight, wall space for paper and room to break into groups of four.
What makes a good away day activity for senior leaders?
It does real work. A pre-mortem on next year's plan, silent idea-writing before discussion, and games that reframe the conversations people avoid. If an activity doesn't feed a decision, cut it.
Where we work
We run planning days and away days across the UK, Europe and the US, in person or online. These are the cities we're asked about most.
Away days elsewhere: London and Birmingham.
Also in Manchester: strategy days, ai strategy workshops and venues, dinner and evening ideas.
Related
Last updated
Tell us what has to be decided.
Thirty minutes with Matt Roberts. Tell us who'll be in the room and what you need by the end, and we'll tell you how we'd run it.