Event hosting & entertainment
Far more than someone with a microphone
Twenty years hosting awards ceremonies, conferences, product launches and galas, with my own TV-style game shows built into the night. Plenty of people can run your auction. Very few can run your whole evening and be the entertainment as well.
A host with real range
I have spent twenty years hosting the full spread of events: corporate awards ceremonies, conferences, product launches, family festivals and large-scale charity galas. More than eight hundred of them now. A television and live entertainment background means I am as comfortable in front of twenty people as I am in front of eighty thousand, keeping the programme to time and the energy up from the first welcome to the final thank-you.
Range matters more than it sounds. A boardroom awards dinner and a family festival stage need completely different things from a host, and most events need both inside the same evening: the polish for the speeches, the warmth for the room, and the judgement to know which one the next ten minutes calls for.
- Full run-of-show planning before the night, built with your team
- Speaker introductions, awards and smooth handovers
- Energy management so the auction and pledge land at the right moment
- A calm hand if the schedule slips, and it usually does
- Names, pronunciations and top-table sensitivities checked in advance
Entertainment, not just announcements
This is the part most charity auctioneers cannot offer. Alongside the hosting I bring a real entertainment package that gets the whole room involved and keeps the night moving, rather than simply reading out what happens next.
- Interactive games and quizzes
- Table-to-stage competitions and crowd-wide challenges
- Comedy and warmth from a live-entertainment background
- Moments built to be remembered, not just sat through
What I host
One host, the whole evening
Book me for the auction alone, or hand me the entire running order. Most clients do the second, because it is one person carrying the night rather than three trying to hand off to each other.
Award ceremonies
Your winners get their moment and your run of show stays on time. I keep the pace up between categories so a long list of awards never starts to drag.
Conference hosting
A clear through-line for the day: tight speaker introductions, a Q&A that actually gets to the point, and momentum that holds from the keynote to the close.
Charity galas and fundraising dinners
Hosting, live auction and pledge drive in a single booking, with the energy built deliberately so the asks land where they should.
Festivals and large-scale
Warmth and control in front of very big crowds. I have held a field of eighty thousand at Download Festival and kept it family-friendly throughout.
Product and venue launches
Carrying a brand message properly, on script where it matters and loose where it does not, so the room remembers the product and not just the canapes.
Master of ceremonies
The traditional MC role done properly: names pronounced correctly, guests looked after, top table respected, and a room that always knows what is happening next.
The signature
TV-style game shows, built into the night
This is the part that surprises people. Alongside hosting your event, I bring full game show formats rebuilt for a live room and woven between your awards, speeches and dinner. Every question and every round is written for the audience actually in front of me, not pulled off a shelf.
I can also split the room in two and rotate the teams, so most of your guests end up playing rather than watching. It turns the flat hour after dinner, the one every event planner quietly worries about, into the part people talk about afterwards.
Family Fortunes format
We surveyed one hundred people, and your tables have to guess what they said. Fast, loud, and the easiest way to get a quiet room competing.
The Generation Game
The conveyor belt, the demonstrations and the cuddly toy. Deliberately silly, and it lands with every age group in the room.
Play Your Cards Right
Higher or lower, played table against table. Simple enough that nobody needs the rules explained twice, tense enough that the room shouts.
Written for your room
Questions built around your organisation, your people and the in-jokes of your industry. That is what makes it feel like your night rather than a hired format.
If you want the games without the fundraising, or the fundraising without the games, that is fine too. See fundraising games for the shorter money-raising formats, or entertainment packages for the full evening.
The television years are why nothing rattles me.
I came to live events from broadcast, presenting for Fox, the BBC and Warner Bros. That work teaches you three things that matter enormously on an event night.
- Autocue and a script, so a sponsor message or a difficult name lands cleanly
- Hard timings, so when your programme is eleven minutes late I can take that back without the room noticing
- Live nerves, so when the AV fails I hold the room while your team fixes it behind me
From the corporate side
Trusted by UK brands, not just charities
Kevin was fantastic as the conference host, managing the room with great energy. I particularly enjoyed the Q&A session; he didn’t hold back and really put me to the test. It was a really, really good experience.
Kevin was a brilliant host for our event, incredibly well prepared including double checking pronunciations of names, turning up early to complete a dress rehearsal and helping out to run around with a card machine for charity in his breaks from hosting without prompting. Would highly recommend for any event.
Kevin hosted our staff conference event this year which was fantastic. He brought an energy and enthusiasm with him and played a really important part in getting people engaged in the day.
Kevin is a fantastic host. He managed to provide an exceptional service, professional and going above and beyond to ensure guests were engaged throughout.
My company used Kevin’s services for our awards evening and we were blown away with his performance. We will definitely be working with Kevin again.
Hired Kevin to be a Master of Ceremonies and he was incredible. The day ran so smoothly and he was attentive, understanding and helped increase the energy of the day.
My dedicated event host site
See the full hosting and entertainment work
For corporate awards, conferences, product launches and the full entertainment offering, visit my separate event hosting site, with more reviews and examples.
From the guests
Kevin was very, very good. Going forward, anybody who needs a good host, Kev's your man.
From the client
We hired Kevin to be our MC for the Special Lioness annual ball and he was absolutely sensational. He covered all of the areas that we discussed and a little bit more. He kept the day flowing beautifully and added in his own flair and personality. It’s absolutely wonderful.
From the client
Kevin has just facilitated our entire conference today and I must say, his energy, the structure behind it, his natural enthusiasm has just kept the whole thing rolling along. I’m really grateful for your input and your efforts.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What does an event host or MC actually do?
An event host runs your whole programme: welcoming guests, introducing speakers and awards, managing transitions and timing, and keeping energy up so the fundraising moments land. I do this alongside the auction and pledge, or as a standalone booking.
Can you host a corporate event that is not a charity gala?
Yes. I host corporate awards ceremonies, conferences and product launches as well as charity events. You can see more of that work at eventhost.info.
Do you provide entertainment as well as hosting?
Yes, and this is unusual for a charity auctioneer. I bring a full entertainment package of TV-style game shows, interactive games and table-to-stage competitions, so the night is genuinely entertaining, not just organised.
What areas do you cover?
I am based in Kent and work right across the UK, with regular events in London, Manchester and Edinburgh. I also travel, with regular bookings in the US, Spain, Monaco and Portugal.
How far in advance should I book?
Popular dates, particularly in awards season and December, tend to go months ahead. It is worth getting in touch as early as you can, though I do take shorter-notice bookings when the diary allows.
How much does it cost to hire an event host?
Every event is different, so I quote individually based on the date, location, running time and what you actually need on the day. Tell me about your event and I will come back with a clear number. There is more detail on my fees page.
Can you host the whole evening and run the auction?
Yes, and that is how most of my clients book me. One person carrying the welcome, the speeches, the dinner transitions, the games, the auction and the pledge means the energy is managed deliberately across the whole night rather than handed between people who have not met.
What do the game shows actually need from the venue?
Very little. A microphone, a screen for the graphics and a couple of minutes to brief your AV team. I bring the formats, the questions and the props, and I write the rounds around your organisation beforehand.
Let’s talk
Tell me about your event
A free initial consultation to talk through your goals, your room and your target. Available for events across the UK, Europe and the US.