As AOK Events celebrates its 25th anniversary, micebook caught up with founders Alex Hewitt and Jo Greenstock to reflect on their journey, the evolution of the events industry, and what’s next for one of the UK’s most respected agencies…
How did you celebrate 25 years in business?
Alex: We had a spectacular party for our staff in June, which was organised in secret by a few members of the team. We wanted it to be different from the kind of events we do for clients, so Jo found this amazing venue called Nomadic Dining in Buckinghamshire, which is outdoors, very different and totally unique. We had a roaming band, fire acts, flower people and amazing food and drink, before heading back to The Grove where we were staying and celebrated into the early hours.
Jo: Beyond the anniversary event for the team, we wanted to focus on giving back through charity initiatives, both locally and overseas, and celebrating with key clients on a more personal, one-to-one basis.
What’s changed most in the industry since you launched AOK in 2000?
Jo: One of the biggest changes has been the shift in our client base. Back then, our largest clients were all banks—but that’s no longer the case. The sector has become so heavily regulated, and they simply don’t entertain in the way they used to. Today, our clients come from a much broader range of industries.
When we started, our work was very focused on hospitality—that was the core of the business. Over time, it’s evolved into creating bespoke events, where the experience itself is everything. Hospitality has changed dramatically too. Twenty-five years ago, it was pretty basic: a ticket, an average three-course meal, and a match programme. Now, it’s completely different—the quality of food, service, and overall experience has skyrocketed. The seats might be the same, but everything around them has been elevated.
Alex: I completely agree with Jo. In some ways, organising events is actually a bit easier now as there’s a much wider and more trusted network of suppliers than there was 25 years ago. That said, I think we’re still quite similar to how we were when we started. Events are, at their core, a service industry. Whether it’s a conference, a product launch, a Christmas party, or a trip to Wimbledon, our job is to help clients tell their stories. We still arrange every event as if it’s the most important in the world and that hasn’t changed.
What’s been your most memorable event?
Alex: The first event that springs to my mind is an event we organised for Microsoft Advertising, who were celebrating their tenth anniversary. It was a big event at Heaven nightclub and we had Pet Shop Boys booked to play live for the evening entertainment. But on the day, there were student riots and the mayor closed all the London Bridges. All our AV, food, drinks and suppliers were on the south side of the River Thames, and needed to be on the north side. We literally carried flight cases and ovens over Waterloo Bridge by hand – I still don’t know how we pulled it off. The client had no idea until after and was blown away.
Jo: Some events that we delivered at Penha Longa in Portugal stand out for me. It was a big distributors event for Wolverine, which owns brands like Merrell and Hush Puppies and we took over the entire resort exclusively for 10 days. A different group of guests arrived every other day, and there were fashion shows, actual Hush Puppy dogs on-site, outdoor activities and parkour runners free-running across the rooftops of Penha Longa – terrifying now I think about it! But it was a turning point for us as an agency in terms of scale and creativity.
That feeds nicely into the next question, which is what have been the biggest turning points for AOK?
Alex: That’s such a good point about it being a turning point, Jo. I think we delivered that event twice—once in 2008 and again in 2011—and it was around that time that Jo and I decided we wanted AOK Events to really go for it.
I think we’d run it as more of a lifestyle business for the first 10 years. Of course, we delivered every event professionally, but it was during the decade from 2010 to 2020 that we really focused on growth and ambition.
We made three acquisitions, our team grew from around 10 to 45 people, and our reputation grew. So, instead of knocking on doors and asking to pitch, we had people calling us to ask, “Will you organise our event?” That decade was one of real transformation and achievement for us.
Jo: Ironically, I think some of our biggest turning points have come when things have gone wrong globally. In 2008, during the recession, all our best clients were banks, and they stopped calling immediately. But we were quick and nimble, and that year we ended up delivering a major event around the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. At the same time, we started working more with tech and mobile companies.
Then fast forward to COVID, five years ago—it was horrific for the industry and, for a time, for us too. But again, we put our thinking caps on and started looking at things differently. We realised that no one was going to stadiums or attending live events, so we asked: what can we do? And that led us into virtual events, whether it was virtual hospitality around sports in empty stadiums, or online Christmas parties that were genuinely memorable. We just did it differently.
What are you most proud of as a leadership team?
Alex: I’m incredibly proud of the way we’ve recruited. We’ve built an amazing team and an even better culture. A few years ago, we entered The Times Best Places to Work awards and were very proud to be the highest ranked hospitality company in the country. That was a huge moment for us, especially considering the results were based on an 86-question survey completed anonymously by our employees and submitted directly to The Sunday Times.
Jo and I have worked hard to develop the next generation of leaders within the business, and they’re helping take AOK into the future. We’re as ambitious now as we’ve ever been, and we absolutely expect AOK Events to still be here in five, ten, even 25 years as one of the leading event management companies in the UK.
Jo: The honesty, transparency, fairness, kindness, and respect we all have for each other. There is no job that Alex and I won’t do. No one is too busy to help their colleagues and that’s so important. We’ve even got people here whose best friends are their colleagues. They met at AOK and ended up being each other’s maid of honour or bridesmaid! I honestly don’t think there are many businesses with a team that genuinely enjoys spending time together as much as ours does.
What excites you about the future?
Alex: I think what excites me most is that, despite all the change, some things remain constant. We talked about this in our speech at the anniversary event. When Jo and I started the business, email and the World Wide Web had only been around for a couple of years. Since then, we’ve seen the arrival of social media, AI, and all sorts of time-saving technologies that, in theory, could make an event management company seem less necessary than it once was.
But I feel just as strongly now as I did back then. Great storytelling is the most important thing about events, and that ability to make the hairs on the back of someone’s neck stand on end, whether through incredible entertainment, a moving speech, or a powerful experience. That’s still the absolute bedrock of what brands and clients are looking from their events, and that is what makes companies like us unbelievably relevant and more useful than ever.