Denise Sharpe
What is your job title?
CEO and Co-Founder
How long have you worked at Outsourced Events?
Since the beginning
What is one thing you cannot live without?
A cup of tea
Where is the best place you have travelled to and why?
Mauritius – it was just the most beautiful place I have ever been – an absolute paradise.
If you could learn to do anything what would it be?
Play the piano properly
When you have 30 minutes of free time, how do you pass the time?
Walking my dog, cooking, chatting to friends
What is your favourite thing about working at Outsourced Events?
I absolutely love working with all of our team – they take such pride in their work and its wonderful to see how well they collaborate with each other and grow as individuals and as a team – we are very blessed.
If you could invite four people to dinner (living or dead) who would you invite and why?
Neil Armstrong as the first person on the moon – as I would love to hear from him what it was like. Freddie Mercury – as I think he was the most amazing live performer, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Jennifer Saunders for their hilarious senses of humour.
What was your childhood ambition?
To be a doctor or work in science as I loved problem solving and speaking to people.
What is your most memorable day at Outsourced Events?
Apart from the obvious Covid-19 day that we all left the office which I am sure is ingrained on most peoples’ minds, my most memorable day was onsite at an event for Nokia many years ago when we had removed all the furniture from a hotel, clad all of the walls with graphics and brought in bespoke fixtures and fittings that we had made to our own design – it was awesome!
If you could do any job, regardless of skills and training, what would it be?
A Doctor
What are the top three items on your bucket list?
Go on a safari, have my grand piano restored (it is beautiful but un-playable) and Fly first class for a weekend in New York to drink cocktails in the Soho Grand with my bestie Alexandra 😊
What would people never guess you do in your role?
Hold up the stage set when the hotel in-house AV hadn’t put enough weights on the back 😊
If you could witness any historical event, what would you want to see?
Being in the control room at NASA when the Apollo 11 landed on the moon and Neil Armstrong stepped out.
Our Knowledge & Insights
Outsourced Events wins Best Large Agency of the Year at the UK Agency Awards 2026
Outsourced Events has won Best Large Agency of the Year at the UK Agency Awards 2026. The UK Agency Awards celebrate the best agencies across the country and the work they deliver for their clients. Best Large Agency of the Year looks beyond a single event or campaign to the business behind it. The win continues a big year of recognition for the team, as Outsourced Events marks 25 years since it was founded.
Read More
The company I hoped we'd become: 25 years of OE
To mark 25 years of Outsourced Events, CEO and Co-Founder Denise Sharpe looks back on the journey of the London-based event management agency she founded with Alexandra Sibley in 2001. From a desk in her son's bedroom to delivering more than 240 conferences, tradeshows and corporate events a year for technology brands and associations worldwide, she shares how long-term client partnerships, a people-first company culture and five core values shaped an award-winning agency. She also explains how the team celebrated its 25th anniversary the way it plans every event: with intention.
Read More
Why exhibitors have 3.5 seconds to earn a second look
Most brands treat signage as a finishing touch, something to sort out once the stand design, the demos and the giveaways are locked in. The evidence suggests that's the wrong way round. Signage is doing most of the work in the first 3.5 seconds. It's the first thing read from a distance, before a single conversation happens, which makes it one of the highest-leverage decisions in the entire stand design, not an afterthought. Find out more.
Read More
