Best Operations Team
Chelsea Football Club Marketing & Events
As well as being a football powerhouse, Chelsea Football Club is a leading London events venue with a unique footballing heritage Stamford Bridge stadium is a versatile hospitality destination with spaces for exhibitions, conferences and charitable functions, alongside dining and hotels We work with corporates, SMEs and charities In 2019, our event’s team was especially proud to host SoccerAid, from both an operational and charitable impact perspective SoccerAid is an annual charitable football match that raises funds on behalf of international children’s charity UNICEF Former football stars and celebrities participate It operates as a partnership between UNICEF, the sports agency Triple Sport Entertainment and ITV The match came to Stamford Bridge last year for the first time, returning to London for the first time since 2008 having been hosted at Old Trafford bi-annually on all other occasions since 2006. But following SoccerAid’s success the decision was made to hold the match annually, alternating between the north and south of the UK Prior to 2019, SoccerAid had raised £30 million for UNICEF Stamford Bridge was initially selected as the venue for our ‘one stop shop’ hospitality offering We have restaurants and bars for entertaining, and importantly two hotels onsite enabling travelling
Cheltenham Racecourse – The Jockey Club
Cheltenham Racecourse continues to be a world-renowned multi-functional space, attracting thousands of people every year for its racing and non-raceday events.
It continues to attract new business – including 17 exhibitions in 2019 of varying size and type, both private, public and specialist – but has numerous clients that have returned for a number of years.
Cheltenham is leading the way in showcasing just how flexible racecourses can be with exhibitions, such as with the Cheltenham Balloon Festival and the Fresh Art Fair, reinforcing the venue as a place filled with versatility that can be used for any non-racing event.
Cricket Team – CSM Live
CSM Live are the branding and live experience specialists, creating unforgettable sporting moments across the globe, enabling the industry to evolve and change for the better.
CSM Live were contracted as the Official Signage Production and Management Services Provider for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, hosted in England and Wales. Our team set out to deliver impactful in-bowl (TV facing) and outer-bowl (non-field facing) branding and signage.
In other words, the ICC challenged us to make the tournament look stunning, and our team worked tirelessly to deliver an unmistakable Look & Feel for players, fans and the millions watching across the globe.
The sheer magnitude of the event, along with an incredibly demanding delivery timeframe, posed the biggest challenge to our team. Having to service 48 matches in 56 days across 11 venues in England and Wales, is undoubtedly no mean feat.
Given the magnitude of the tournament, it was vital to take a holistic and consistent approach in dressing each aspect of the myriad of venues as well as each and every event point of interaction – setting the scene for a distinct event identity and a memorable sporting occasion.
Operations Department – Harlequin Football Club
Harlequins once again delivered the sporting event of the festive calendar with over 75,000 fans packed into Twickenham Stadium, the home of rugby to watch the Club take on Leicester Tigers in the Gallagher Premiership and then Leinster Women in a friendly – the first time a women’s club game has been held at HQ.
Despite the train strike across the South Western Rail network which affected the number of trains coming into Twickenham Station, Harlequins worked extensively with their travel partners (SWR, TFL, RFU and Highways England) to offer alternative routes for all supporters and to make their journeys to and from the stadium as seamless as possible, resulting in a supporter score of 9.2/10 for transport.
The fixture once again generated record revenues for the Club and attending fans gave the whole day a Net Promoter Score of 61, nine points higher than Big Game 11 with a match day experience score of 8.2/10.
The addition of the women’s game also saw a younger and more female-based audience than in previous years with over 7,500 fans staying to watch as Harlequins Women made history.
Spartan UK and Ireland
Context:
Spartan UK operate across a wide range of environment, combining the skillsets of 25 personnel, covering course design, obstacle builds, sport officiating, event village management and customer experience, we have bought the Spartan mindset to corporate meet and greet functions, exceptional, stunning and scenic outdoor venues to world famous sporting stadiums.
Challenge:
Spartan UK set out to continue innovating our course designs to create a more appealing product for racers and spectators alike, in addition to increasing the sporting standard of all athletes competing across the Spartan UK and Ireland Regional Series
Solution:
Intelligent course design returned racers through event villages multiple times to allow spectators to see significant portions of the course, and see the race unfold before them
Increased communications to athletes on the obstacle standards, pass/fail standards and clarity on the officiating process allowed us to push more athletes to achieve cleaner racers and more obstacle competition
Results:
An increase in spectator levels, supporting local vendors and growing the Spartan family
Lower disqualification levels, lower penalities applied, increased athlete competition, all of which gave closer racing, great for competing athletes, driving their capabilities and also for spectators being able to see a closer, higher intensity race
The 2019 Solheim Cup Project Team – VisitScotland/EventScotland
The innovative team delivery structure around The 2019 Solheim Cup delivered what some commentators outlined as the best-ever Solheim Cup and helped redefine expectations of a women’s golf event on and off the course. Remembered as one of the most dramatic conclusions in sporting history with Suzann Pettersen’s remarkable closing putt, outside the ropes it provided a global platform for women’s sport and broke new ground for a golf event. It attracted the biggest-ever UK crowd for women’s golf of more than 90,000. It had a potential audience reach of 875 million homes in 100 countries around the world. Social and digital engagement delivered more than 7.7 million video views and almost 86,000 social posts with nearly 16,000 online press articles and a potential readership of 3.2bn. Strong global sponsor support saw sponsor revenue targets exceeded by 100% with more than $34 million returned in gross media value. Attendees included more than 6,000 children with women accounting for 59% of all spectators, while 88% of those attending with children regarded the event as family friendly. In addition, the event was delivered £2.5 million under budget thanks to its successful commercial programme.
World Darts Championship – Professional Darts Corporation
The Professional Darts Corporation’s World Darts Championship has become synonymous with Christmas in the UK either as compulsive television viewing or a must-do Christmas night out for friends, family and work colleagues.
Over the course of 16 days from mid-December, 85,000 fans climb the hill to Alexandra Palace in north London to see the 72 best dart players in the world battle it out for the sport’s most coveted prize in 22 sessions of play.
And whilst those fans, many of whom are decked out in all manner of fancy dress, all have the same intention – to have a great Christmas party – behind them is a team of hundreds of staff who put the event together and ensure it all runs smoothly.
As the event has grown over the years, so has its infrastructure, and the PDC as event promoter brings together the key stakeholders to deliver a world class sporting occasion that allows fans to have a great time and stay safe.
