Our Complete Guide to the Cost of Corporate Team Building Activities

Team building research 🤔

You may have been here before or may be doing it soon…

It’s a million miles away from your normal job duties and it may get you looking like this 👇

Your head hurts.

Has the task been given to you?

Or has it been forced upon you?!

Either way, it’s on you to come up with a plan.

It’s time for you to become a team building super-hero!

Your team are counting on you.

And I’m here to help you.

I’m the owner of the Laughtercise team building brand.

It’s important that I do competitive research of team building activity providers. So I’ve heavily spied on team building activity providers in the UK 👀

We’ve posed as customers.

And sent emails.

Proper CSI stuff!

How much do team building events cost?

Team building events and activities vary.

There is also a huge amount of choice.

It can get a bit overwhelming.

The best way to look at it is from a tier perspective…

Tier 1 – Activities like Escape Rooms, Bowling, Laser Quest, VR Experiences and going out for a meal

Activities like these will (roughly) be between £10-£25 per person. These activities are best for small teams of less than 20.

I’m listing ‘going out for a meal’ as it will help with perspective when it comes to the cost of team building. A decent meal out together (with a few drinks) will cost at least £30pp. If you’re a team of 15, that’s £450.

Tier 2 – The lowest priced activities on team building company websites

Brands like The TeamBuilding Company & GoTo Events offer a huge range of team building activities.

Their lowest priced activities, like a Boomwhackers Experience, will have a minimum price of around £1,500. 

That’s a minimum price for if you’re a team of 10, 40 or 100+. Most providers will have a minimum number of attendees, which is normally 10. The cost will increase per attendee.

At Laughtercise, our ‘Energiser’ package is around £1,200 for groups of 30 👇

Tier 3 – The mid to highest priced activities on team building company websites

This is the top tier.

The ‘pushing the boat’ out tier.

The best activities from team building activity facilitators, activities like a CSI Experience or an It’s A Knockout Experience, will be a minimum of £4,500. And that’s a minimum for 10 attendees. If you’re a group of 70, you’re looking at more like £6,000+.

If you have a specific budget, get a few options from providers.

Don’t say ‘I have X budget’ because you’ll end up with less bang for your buck!

Our Laughtercise top tier options, the ‘Super-Charger’ and the ‘All-Inclusive’ are priced at around £1,995 and £2,995 for groups of 30.

Tap to find out more about our Laughtercise Team Building Workshops.

If you’re looking for loads of ideas that come to your office or away day venue, check out 16 Team Building Activities That Come To You.

What do team building costs include?

Team building activity facilitators prices include their expertise at energising and connecting groups.

Think about it this way; would you like to facilitate a team building activity in front of your entire business? That question fills most people with utter dread! 

We found out this in our research that led us to write ‘Why The Word Icebreaker Should Be Banned’. Check it out!

Equipment costs are included, too. That’s why the top tier activities are priced as they are.

Just check out the equipment that is needed for a CSI experience!

The more amount of attendees = a higher cost.

And finally, travel costs are included. Most large providers are based centrally in England, so, if you’re central England based, you’ll get a slightly better deal!

If we go for a shorter time length, will it be cheaper?

The simple answer is, not really. Most team building activities will be between 1hr-2hrs.

If you would like an activity that normally lasts 2-hrs, to be 1-hr, the provider won’t be able to take too much off due to set-up costs and travel time.

How do I ask for budget for team building?

At Laughtercise, we’ve recently surveyed organisers of team away days.

The results are in. They’ve spoken.

They’ve spoken loud and clear…

🚨 Over 86% of the positive impacts from an away day come from the team building activities and general networking between the attendees 🚨

This theme runs right through the survey and it’s in our full Team Away Day Ideas Resource.

So, when you’re asking for budget from your manager or CEO, make sure they know how impactful team building activities are!

It’s also important to set expectations with your manager when it comes to budget.

If they ask you to shop around, it’s important they understand the general cost of team building activities before you begin the process. 

If they are keen for a team building facilitation company to come in, but say “we only have a budget of £800”, respectfully inform them about the costs listed above.

If budget becomes a problem, check out Fun Team Building Activities That You Can Do In-House.

How much should you spend on team building?

Simple answer is as much as possible. If you’re having an away day, most of the impact is going to come from the team building activity, so it’s an important investment.

Are you worried about overspending? 

Well, if you do overspend, but smash the away day you’re planning, it’s likely no one will care. 

This is one of the questions we asked to people who had recently planned an away day…

It probably goes without saying, but… whatever you do, do not tell your management team that you’re planning to overspend BEFORE the away day! 

Tell them AFTER, when they are still basking in the warm glow of a brilliant away day 😆

So it’s time to make your away day a huge success. Let’s go big or go home 💪

That’s it for today’s newsletter.

If you have any questions about Laughtercise or would like to book a session, simply send me a direct message on LinkedIn.

Talk soon,

Aaron