Thrumpton Hall – One day Heritage events audit

ASSIGNMENT

GFG were approached by Strutt & Parker to undertake a ‘one day’ audit review of the events business at Thrumpton Hall, a Heritage property built in the 17th century and situated on the outskirts of Nottingham. For just over ten years the Estate had established a sustainable wedding and events business however the family decided they wanted an independent audit to assess future opportunities from this market. As well as offering ten bedrooms for accommodation they also had a semi-permanent marquee structure built to support the annual 30 weddings.

Supported by two part-time Events manager we were asked to review the current business model to assess how this 300 acre estate could re-position itself to engage directly with the Corporate market.

As a result, we spent half a day at Thrumpton Hall which involved reviewing the Estate including access points to the park and farmland, the House event space, bedrooms and finally a detailed SWOT analysis involving the owner, agent and event staff.

Output and Results

As a result of this one day audit, our consultants produced a Report which included recommendations on suggested ‘next steps’ to engage with this market. These included:-

• Improved ‘directional’ and main entrance signage including the exterior appearance and interior of the House
• Introduction of standard operating procedures to ensure the Pavilion marquee was regularly cleaned and maintained to a high standard
• Suggestions on how the estate should be improved to engage directly with live ‘agencies’ who organise corporate family fun days, extreme sports, clay pigeon shooting, outside theatre/cinema and musical concerts, food fayres, motorized activities, glamping, etc., etc.,
• Within the limited marketing budget, we suggested alternative ideas on how the event managers could enhance the web site and in addition, incorporate more measurable and effective social media, e-marketing, Sales and CRM activity.

In conclusion and following our report, we then put forward ‘suggested next steps’ including internal timelines to engage with the corporate market for this year and next, which if implemented would deliver increased revenue year-on- year.