One of the South West’s leading conference and event venues, Gloucester Rugby has seen a considerable increase in the growth of association and charity clients following a large investment in their re-brand and offering.
Association business has been the most successful sector for the venue recently, representing 25% of the last quarter’s revenue. Specific industries that are attracted to Gloucester include, engineering, aerospace, cybertech, education and healthcare. 26% of enquiries have come from entirely new sources made up of 150 new bookers working in over 70 new organisations.
Over the past few years, Gloucester Rugby has taken on many challenging projects in order to professionalise the venue and gain new business. The implemented changes included a re-brand for the club, installation of super-fast WiFi and a new pitch, all of which have significantly raised the venue’s profile amongst potential event clients – in addition to the Club’s consumer focused rugby offering. Gloucester Rugby also has future intentions to improve their stance on sustainability and install state of the art AV systems to help future proof the venue.
The rejuvenation of the Gloucester Rugby conference and events offering has seen it become favoured by association and charity bookers looking for a venue in the South West due to its great transport links and easy access from the Midlands, Wales and far South. Gloucester is also a more cost-effective destination to hold events, compared to venues in larger cities. Gloucester Rugby provides bookers with a unique alternative to more traditional conference and meeting venues in Gloucester due to its pitch-facing spaces.
Angela Sanders, head of conferences and events at Gloucester Rugby comments: “It is great to see such an increase in association business as it shows our efforts in implementing all these changes have truly paid off. It’s brilliant that industry professionals and event planners can see we have a lot more to offer than just industry leading rugby. I am really looking forward to working with the team to further improve and develop the venue and excited to see what the future holds, particularly in the association sector.”