Hospitality V MK

[barrowaberdeen]

50 in not 15. Russ always gets told the number before he unleashes himself upon them.

The only model works at Barrow is cheap and cheerful. It's difficult to pitch.

[blue nige]

50 in not 15. Russ always gets told the number before he unleashes himself upon them.

The only model works at Barrow is cheap and cheerful. It's difficult to pitch.

Totally agree keep it basic, let's be honest the majority are only interested in drinking not fine cuisine!

[spirit of 1990]

50 in not 15. Russ always gets told the number before he unleashes himself upon them.

The only model works at Barrow is cheap and cheerful. It's difficult to pitch.

Totally agree keep it basic, let's be honest the majority are only interested in drinking not fine cuisine!

Definitely not “fine cuisine” but still very nice, nothing to complain about at all.

The other thing is Nige (and this is where I suppose it gets complicated for the club) personally I like the upgrade on the food, I and people I know probably wouldn’t bother with the basic menu so a tough one for them to get the balance right.

[bluessupporter]

I suppose after four or five months they’d have a better idea which works best for supporters.

I think the football being played and the league position will also have an effect.

[JayBee]

Hospitality packages cost £55 (buffet) or £70 (meal). In rough terms, £9 of the buffet package goes in VAT to UK Gov, as does £12 of the meal package so the club receives £46 (buffet) and £58 (meal)..

There is longer a programme to include in the package.

The provided adult stand seat costs ~£19 without VAT so the club is left with £27 or £39 from which to provide a buffet or meal, a range of bottomless drinks throughout the day (alcoholic and non-alcoholic options) refreshments at half time (for those taking the meal package) and to create a worthwhile profit for the club.

These prices do not seem unreasonable. A group (8+) Pie & Peas package at Accrington with a pay bar costs £35 inc VAT per person and the Bronze group package (8+ persons again includes three-course meal, pay bar, quiz, matchday compere, a signed shirt for the host of the group, photos and other 'bits' of little consequence) costs #£120 inc VAT.

I was invited last season to enjoy an excellent hospitality visit to a EPL club recently including very good seat behind a goal, a three course buffet of restaurant quality, cheese and biscuits at half time, coffee after the game, a pay bar, programme. It was a very good experience indeed but I have just checked the price for a similar game this season (v Bournemouth so not a top category game) and was shocked and somewhat embarrassed to find it costs £599 inc VAT. The top package costs £5500 inc VAT. Presumably for that, the club captain will come and cut one's toenails and advise on nightclubs in Marbella.

One of the big problems at Barrow is the lack of small/medium businesses in the area, given the dominance of BAe who put their support into community projects rather than sponsorship of other businesses. Could they be persuaded to offer visits to hospitality (a service rather than a sponsorship) as an employee incentive or reward scheme?

Another really issue is the lack of hinterland we have. Not only are there absolutely no small/medium businesses in an arc of 270° from Barrow, there is nobody at all and fishes would not be likely hospitality customers. The Irish Sea/Morecambe Bay Massives similarly do little for our gate figures.

They now have a monthly programme that takes in all fixtures in that month, programmes have always been a lost loser, but the monthly one is better than one on the internet as a lot of clubs are doing now including lots of clubs with a bigger incomes so well done to the board.

[mulholland]

There's an elephant in the corporate room. They or the viewing position on offer need relocating. I really enjoy it on the rare occasion I venture up there but I'm a dedicated fan. Not so sure it's that appealing to non-regulars. It's just too much messing around traipsing over to the main stand. Couldn't the seats in front of the cross-bar be used instead, perspexed in possibly and as soon as the referee/last official has left the pitch whoever's in them access upstairs from there? Just a thought. Obviously needs a rethink if numbers are that low.

[bluessupporter]

I see the cost of corporate appears to have been reduced and is now available from £45.00. Maybe someone has seen sense at last!

[Bingo]

I’m guessing if there is ever a major development on the pop side the corporate will be over there and you would be able to walk out and take a seat. I think that would make it a better proposition

[blue nige]

I see the cost of corporate appears to have been reduced and is now available from £45.00. Maybe someone has seen sense at last!

That's a cheap shot, Paul Hornby makes it clear we have to be more sustainable the club will now even have less profit off this ,which all helps our club prosper

[Van Der Nipper]

I see the cost of corporate appears to have been reduced and is now available from £45.00. Maybe someone has seen sense at last!

Nope it hasn't,from £45 is just the price for the cheapest option for a season ticket holder.

[Cubbins Paratrooper]

I see the cost of corporate appears to have been reduced and is now available from £45.00. Maybe someone has seen sense at last!

I think hospitality for midweek games is generally operated at a 'discounted rate', probably because of a recognised lower uptake. Game and match-ball sponsorship seem to work in the same way. The world has changed. Midweek, evening games, once upon a time, often attracted crowds as big or bigger than Saturday afternoons. I guess general social change and shift patterns in the Yard have put paid to that.

[MisterPleasant]

Seats on the Pop side?! What is all this sacrilegious talk? I shall prostrate myself, pie in hand, on the terrace as the diggers move in...

[bluessupporter]

I see the cost of corporate appears to have been reduced and is now available from £45.00. Maybe someone has seen sense at last!

That's a cheap shot, Paul Hornby makes it clear we have to be more sustainable the club will now even have less profit off this ,which all helps our club prosper

Perhaps I worded it badly. It wasn't meant as a cheap shot. It is basic economics - plle 'em high, sell 'em low. This gives you a profit. What's the point of having a higher price that means people don't buy? Having more in corporate also creates a better atmosphere.

As I have already said in another post I think Mr. Hornby and the Board are doing a brilliant job. Without them we wouldn't have a club.