Report of Members' Working Group meeting - Thursday 31 August
19 October 2023
Those present were:
Neil Priscott - COO
Lizzie Allen - Operations Manager
Ellen Mutch - Executive Assistant (minutes)
Dominic Ferguson
Jim Bath
Matt Davies
John Gordon
George Cook
Chris Toft
Wendy Body
Ruth Sharville
Apologies were received from David Finch.
COMMERCIAL & CLUB COMMUNICATIONS
- Plans to start a new website project in Autumn ’23 and launch a new site for the start of the 2024 season. This should mitigate some of the issues re content and accessibility. Plans to create separate events pages and one specifically for Cheltenham will be included in the brief. Accommodation will be made for organisations such as the Cricket Lovers’ Society pages to promote events.
- Player profiles on website need updating with current information.
- Feedback on quality of highlights packages available on the website: some content/sections of play missing.
- Scoreboard failure at Cheltenham. There were no score announcements during the down time. Noted in case this happens again in the future.
- Although publishing squad in advance has improved, there is a request for more updates on squad selection/injuries etc. The Club committed to publishing information as soon as it was available but noted that on many occasions, fitness tests were only conducted at the last minute.
- Live stream is good, given resources available. Can this be better used to advertise commercial ventures eg events, café etc? Could also be used to attract sponsors. The Club are actively looking to do this.
- Potential to charge for live stream access?: Due to broadcast deals the ECB provided special permission to Kent for a pilot project and will receive feedback on this in Autumn. Could live stream impact on gate revenue given viewing figures? We await the pilot results with interest.
- Shop will be selling Bucket Hats next season!
TALENT PATHWAY
- Mark Thorburn has been appointed Lead of Talent Pathway on a permanent basis.
- GCCC have set up a working group to discuss talent pathway in response to the ICEC report. This will include discussions regarding gender and class-based discrimination.
FACILITIES
Bristol
- Hand dryers in gents’ toilets next to Jessop Bar are weak and create a bottle neck at the doors.
- Lack of female toilet facilities behind The Mound Stand. Some facilities are brought in for the season, whilst other temporary units are hired based on sales for specific fixtures. Plumbing and drainage facilities are limited in certain areas.
- Bar queues were long at some matches (Somerset T20). People gravitate to nearest bar when they enter and may be unaware of others around the ground eg Tribute and Legends. This could potentially mean lost revenue due to queuing. Could consider opening can only/non-alcoholic bars to ease queues or have mobile sellers with back packs as seen at other grounds?
- Issues with anti-social behaviour at Somerset match means some Members won’t attend or bring families to that fixture but there was good feedback from the low and no-alcohol sections.
- Pre-somerset T20’s were well organised but overstaffed which added to costs.
- Lack of folding seats at matches was an oversight due to them having to be packed away for the Ministry of Sound concert.
Cheltenham
- Catering: New company was used this year. Lots of issues on the first day with hospitality but this did improve as the festival went on.
- Lack of quantity and variety of concessions with queues and expensive prices. Plan is to use different concessions (including local businesses) for next year.
- General feedback: Exiles Hospitality feedback was better than last year and improvement on food offering in the Premier Club Marquee
- 1 County Championship match and 3x T20s are anticipated to be scheduled for Cheltenham 2024. T20’s will need to be in the daytime or early start as no flood lights. 5.30pm is latest start time.
- Additional T20s would mean extra stands, toilets and licence extensions.
- Options for other games at Cheltenham including Women’s, Disability and ‘celebratory’ matches etc? This will increase use on days when there are no FC matches on.
- Positive feedback from members re parking and toilets this year and the Members’ area was well managed.
- Good feedback on stewards who were very friendly and welcoming on the gate.
- Club tents: Discussion regarding club tents and overall atmosphere. There were concerns raised about changes in recent years and the impact this has had on the atmosphere at the festival and regarding a perception of some members in the north of the county that they are no longer included in the activities of the Club. It was agreed that the MWG would discuss this in more detail at the next meeting.
- Premium Tent tickets sold well this year.
- The shop sold out of some product lines by the end of the festival.
FIXTURES
- The Hundred and One day Cup will start earlier in 2024 and the T20 group stages will be longer.
- There will be County Championship matches in August next year but not in July.
- Next year’s fixtures are due to be released around the 20th November.
AOB
- Seat plaques for players.
- PA system can be very quiet in certain areas of the ground.
- Cup Deposits: £1 deposit scheme no longer in place due to complaints from customers regarding young people/children emptying cups to claim deposit money.
- Compostable cups are being considered for next season. Need to do cost analysis for this and look at environmental impact.
- Alfred was not available for finals day due to illness
- LGBTQ+ supporters’ group: Great feedback from members. Want to extend reach and market more widely next season.
