Guide · Christmas Parties
If you're sorting the work do, there's one question that matters more than the menu: are you booking private hire, or a shared party night? One means you pick your own DJ and run your own night, the other means you share the room and take the entertainment that comes with it. I'm a Huddersfield mobile DJ, so here's an honest look at where the town holds its Christmas parties and which model each place runs.
A shared party night is a ticketed evening where several companies sit in one big room: dinner, crackers, and a house DJ or entertainment package that's already part of the deal. They're easy to book and good value for small teams, but you don't choose the music, the running order or who's behind the decks. Private hire is the opposite: the room is yours, the guest list is yours, and the DJ is whoever you book. If your lot care about the party half of the night, private hire is where a proper DJ earns the money. Most venues below do both, so ask the question before the deposit goes down.
Huddersfield Town's stadium has multiple private suites for hire alongside its big shared Christmas nights, and it's the obvious pick for larger companies who want town-centre convenience and parking. Book a private suite and you can bring your own DJ; join a stadium party night and the entertainment comes with the ticket.
The big hotel at Ainley Top, right on the M62, runs both models: shared disco party nights through December, and private or bespoke Christmas hire in the Yorkshire Suite with your own catering and your own entertainment. For companies with people driving in from Leeds or Manchester, the motorway junction location does half the work.
A genuinely private-hire venue at Aspley: a hall with a stage and full bar taking anything from 40 to 300 guests, and they're happy for you to bring your own DJ. If you want a Christmas do that feels like your party rather than a hotel package, this is the model that gives you the most control.
The country house hotel at Scissett runs a shared Christmas party night with a singer and DJ included, but it also takes private and exclusive Christmas bookings for larger groups, where an external DJ can be arranged. For teams out this side of Kirklees, it's the smart middle ground between a town-centre do and a full country-house wedding-style budget.
The country inn at Thunderbridge near Kirkburton hires its function room for corporate events and private parties, and openly lists mobile DJs as a bookable extra, which tells you everything about the model: it's your night, built your way. Recently taken on by Robinsons Brewery, still trading and expanding.
Over the Halifax side, the 17th-century inn in the Shibden Valley has three event spaces and eleven guest rooms, and runs private function hire where you book your own suppliers, DJ included. The overnight rooms make it a good shout if the team wants to make a proper night of it.
The independent hotel at Birchencliffe has a function suite with its own private bar taking up to around 120, used for private party and business hire. A sensible size for most Huddersfield firms: big enough for a proper dance floor, small enough that the room never feels empty.
Some popular spots mainly run ticketed shared nights with the entertainment baked in, so an external DJ usually can't play them unless you buy the whole night out. Nothing wrong with those evenings, just know what you're booking: if the plan is your own music and your own DJ, confirm the words "private hire" with the venue before anything is paid.
A shared party night is a ticketed event where several companies share one room, with entertainment already baked into the package, so you can't usually bring your own DJ. Private hire means the room is yours: your guest list, your running order and your choice of DJ. Ask which one you're booking before you pay a deposit.
December Fridays and Saturdays are the first dates to go every year, and the popular rooms are usually taken by early autumn. If you want a prime date, book the venue by September and sort the DJ at the same time.
It depends on the date, the hours and the venue, and December weekends are the busiest nights of the year. Send me your date and venue and I'll come back with a fixed, no-obligation quote within 24 hours.
That's the job. A work do usually has everyone from apprentices to directors in one room, so the set moves between eras: festive classics and singalongs early, current chart and dance as the night builds, and requests welcome all night.
Written by DJ Musha, a Huddersfield mobile DJ with 213 events under his belt.