How iconic sporting venues adapt to the objectives of modern organisers

Two of London’s – and indeed the world’s – most famous sporting venues have spoken the Talking Events podcast about the ways in which they have adapted and evolved to cater for the demands of modern event organsiers. Nick Kenton from Lords Cricket Ground and James Lee from Twickenham both highlighted the diversification within the events industry and how organisers are taking a far more invocative approach to sourcing and selecting an event space. Joining them was James Anderson from Arena Group, a company that has worked with both venues to deliver temporary elements that have been designed to supplement the permanent infrastructure. One such project was the Ashes Club that was erected for the England v Australia test match in 2015, which accommodated an additional 200 hospitality guests per day. “The shift for Lords came in 2005 when the catering operation was brought exclusively in-house”, said Nick. “That prompted a change in staffing infrastructure, which has allowed the venue to push itself out there more than it ever used to.” The construction of temporary hospitality structures was further examined by James Anderson, who said that the practicalities of them are obvious.  “If we look at Cheltenham as a good example, I would guess that it makes 75% of its annual revenue during the Cheltenham Festival week. We build the longest triple decker in the world for that event. The course could simply not afford to build that size of permanent venue and then have it sat there for the rest of the year, so it makes complete financial sense.” James Lee added to that thought, saying: “As James says, the opportunity to partner with companies like Arena makes sense in the right circumstance. There is a requirement for both: using the permanent space we have but supplementing when necessary. It’s very much about how we engage with our event clients to understand their objectives.”

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