Leonardo Hotels
Why: Employee Excellence Awards
location: Tower Bridge, London
industry: Hospitality
The challenge:
Leonardo Hotels’ Employee Awards Night has become a flagship moment. A night of recognition for 240 of their top performers.
Our challenge was to create a prestigious and memorable experience transporting award winners to another world. To build upon the last four years of delivering this awards night and raise the bar even higher.
We were building on years of standout themes, from Enchanted Forest to The Great Gatsby. Expectations rise every time, so we chose Cirque de Leonardo to bring theatre, colour, and movement into the room.
Anticipation starts early, but the theme stays top secret. Invitations and comms dropped clues: stripes, curved typography. Just enough to spark curiosity. Popcorn and candyfloss in the lobby hinted at what was coming next.
Then the “Voice of God” called guests forward. A red-velvet tunnel. Festoon lights. Fairground sounds. Sugar in the air. A deliberate transition from everyday to something cinematic.
"The theme and styling went down really well. The tunnel is always the showstopper I think and that went down really well again"
– Group HR Manager
Guests stepped into a full big-top takeover. Sculptural circus staging. Giant elephants commanding the stage. LED screens carrying bespoke visuals, and a disco floor with oversized orbs waiting for later.
Every detail held the theme: circus menus and table styling, deep red draping, and a dressed back bar serving circus-inspired cocktails. A themed photo booth for award winners to capture the night as it unfolded.
The entertainment? An impressive skating duo took to the stage and lifted the room.
"It was amazing. Great night and you are so key to the success in ideas, planning and most importantly the execution of the event. Thank you."
– Head of Learning and Development
A theme like Circus only works when everything holds together. It’s not always about adding more, it’s about making everything feel like it belongs.
So, we assigned a dedicated theme guardian to protect the integrity of the experience.
Every detail was carefully aligned to create the right aethstetic. The right red. The right stripe. The right finish.
Table decorations, menus, the bar, staging, LED visuals. Even the waitstaff leaned in with striped shirts, red braces bow ties and facepaint.
"It was such an amazing theme and night."
- Head of Human Resources
What began as a celebration of top performing employees, is now a marker of Leonardo Hotel’s exceptional culture. Every year builds on the last: raising expectations and deepening meaning and impact.
The Employee Excellence awards are a clear expression of what Leonardo stands for, they are even used in recruitment and onboarding to show people what they can be part of.
It lands beyond the room too. Leonardo Hotels are recognised throughout their industry for employee recognition and engagement, and regularly win awards in this category.
Recognition for employee engagement doesn’t come from one night a year, but nights like this signal intent, show investment and make culture visible.
If you want an event that people carry into how they work, how they lead, and how they show up - I’d love to help you get there.
Get in touch
I’ve spent 30 years designing transformative events. The events are unique, the science behind them remains the same. I use 7 trusted frameworks to build every event. I've put them into a playbook.
