Download - Grass Roots October 2015
PRESS CUTTINGS
The English rugby team prior to their
knock-out game against Australia
Corporate sales around the Rugby World Cup have come to a
"grinding halt" now all home nations have been knocked out of the
tournament.
The Rugby World Cup spirit across the UK has been dampened
following the weekend losses, which event organisers predict will
reflect in corporate sales.
Despite the expected drop, the Rugby World Cup has already become
the most successful sporting event in England, with corporate
hospitality sales up 50 per cent from the London Olympics.
AOK Events, which has been appointed as one of four official agents
for the world cup, expects yearly targets to take a slight hit due to a
slow-down in sales.
CEO Alex Hewitt says he was aiming to sell an additional 500-1000
corporate packages as England progressed, but now says that will be
near impossible.
"But for England exiting the World Cup I had been extremely confident
of hitting targets (a 20 per cent lift on last year). Now it's going to be
hard," he said.
"The fact England didn't even make the quarter final4 if they had
made the quarter and maybe even the semi-finals people would have
chased England home in the tournament and we could have been
confident in selling more corporate packages.
"Without any of the home nations in the tournament it's just dampened
it a tiny bit. Sales had been very good until England came out of the
World Cup and then it came grinding to a halt."
Cavendish Hospitality, another appointed Rugby World Cup agent, has
also witnessed a slowing in sales. CEO Chris Bruton said the
tournament had run seamlessly and hospitality had been very good, but
it was let down by the performance of the home nations.
"We had some Scottish and Irish clients on the end of last week who
were talking about being in touch this week (and haven't yet)," he said.
"It's just a shame England didn't do better on the field. All you can do is
do your best to organise a fantastic event and hope the teams come
up.
"We've already hit our targets so we're happy about that. We did take
a few bookings yesterday, single figures though. But getting into the
last two weeks and hospitality-wise we're not expecting to sell much
honestly, and I think it's a shame, or worse than a shame, that the
home nations have done so badly. But on balance, we weren't good
enough so I don't think you can argue. It's just how things turned up."
Pretty Clever Events director Sam Nash said while there might be a
few more empty seats at the games, the tournament had inspired the
event industry.
"I do think it's reignited interest in the sport again," she said.
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Rugby World Cup corporate
sales come to a 'grinding halt'
Corporate hospitality sales drop following the exit of all the
home nations
20/10/2015
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Sam Coates of Keith Prowse 26/10/2015
Long standing competitions such as the RBS 6 Nations are continuing to be popular as organisations want to see in person the proven strength of the home nations. The RBS 6 Nations provides a cost effective solution
to see world class rugby in a format that sees the home nations compete head-to-head.
Giselle Ripken of Grass Roots Meetings & Events 20/10/2015
Sadly, the loss of the home nations from the Rugby World Cup has only heightened the negative impact on corporate hospitality.
In many cases, hospitality assets (tickets) were already being wasted because individuals have been afraid to say yes to invitations due to bribery risk, and understandably so. The problem is that many businesses do
not adopt an intelligent and procurement-led process to make the most of purchasing those assets. Systems like this can save millions, demonstrate a genuine ROI – removing the bribery issue - and stop empty seats
appearing around the stadiums.
Unfortunately, the disappointment of the home nations’ tournaments will only serve to emphasise hospitality asset wastage and it is something the industry needs to learn from.
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The first Living Wage for Live Events campaign debate is set to take
place featuring some of the UK meetings industry’s key figures.
The debate at Church House Conference Centre on Friday 16 October
will feature meeting and events professionals from firms including TFI
Group, Grass Roots, drp, KPMG, Innovision, MIA and BHA.
M&IT and the Association of British Professional Conference
Organisers (ABPCO) teamed up to launch the campaign this year, and
are encouraging event buyers to put the Living Wage at the top of their
agenda.
The debate, moderated by M&IT managing editor Martin Lewis, will
consider the campaign’s aim to ensure frontline staff in hospitality,
meeting and event venues are paid the Living Wage.
The discussions will be from 12 noon- 2pm, with registration from
11.45am, and Church House will be providing a working lunch at the
event.
Anyone with strong views on the subject or who would like to take part
or attend the debate should email Heather Lishman for more
information.
To follow the debate online, follow the @ABPCO and @meetpie
Twitter feeds and the event hashtag #LivingWage4Events. You can
pledge your support by signing the petition at
www.livingwageforevents.com.
ABPCO association director Heather Lishman said: “It is something we
are passionate about and we want the campaign to address questions
on behalf of event professionals everywhere.
"At present, the hotel and hospitality sectors are rated as some of the
worst offenders when it comes to not paying their frontline employees
the living wage. The Centre for Research in Social Policy found that 90
per cent of workers in the hospitality sector are paid under the living
wage and, whilst it is not enforceable, people are now starting to
question whether this is morally right.
“The positive news is that some companies are beginning to react and
make a change. One of the first conference venues to be accredited
was Sundial Group’s Barnett Hill and the campaign is now urging event
buyers to put the Living Wage at the top of their agenda when it comes
to selecting a venue.
“Support is growing and this is superb news but we are not so blind
that we accept there will not be challenges to face when adopting the
Living Wage and this is why a debate has been organised. It is
important that the campaign is debated from all angles so it ultimately
ensures that what is best for the industry is recognised and
implemented.”
The inaugural debate is also being held as part of the National Events
Month campaign, of which ABPCO is an active supporter.
Those attending the debate include:
- Robin Parker – Church House Conference Centre
- Des Mclaughlin, Grass Roots Meetings & Events
- Hannah Richardson – KPMG London
- Laura Brookes – KPMG London
- Tim Chudley – Sundial Group
- Claudia Douglass – Innovision
- Rachael Betts – on behalf of the MIA
- Dale Parmenter - DRP Group
- Sarah Vero - Living Wage Foundation
- Martin Couchman - BHA
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Debate at Church House Conference Centre on Friday 16
October will feature top names from across events industry
09/10/2015
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