CEO Update | March 2024

Hi all.

Over the past few months, I’ve been chatting to several of our members and one of the common threads was the asking for the return of a monthly update from the Club. Consequently, I have listened and agreed, but am going to do the updates a little bit differently.

Each month, I will ask our operational leads to take centre stage and provide an update from their Pillar, giving you an insight of what’s going on. So, starting from April, I will ask Steve Urwin - our Finance Director and operational lead for our Cash Pillar - to write the update and give you an insight. I suspect Steve’s update will be around the trading performance of the Club after 6 months of the financial year. I would also imagine Steve will update you on the challenges we face and how we are working with our stakeholders.

Then in May, I’ll ask Claude Henderson, our Director of Cricket and operational lead for the Cricket Pillar to give you an update on all things Cricket including the First Team, Academy, Women’s and Girls’ etc. Then, by rotation, each operational lead will aim to give you the latest from their pillars.

By taking this approach it gives all parts of the business the opportunity to inform you of the ins and outs of the Club roughly twice yearly. I hope you enjoy reading them and help you keep abreast as to how we are collectively trying to move Leicestershire CCC forwards.

Now for a brief update from me.

In simple, since the end of last season and being crowned One Day champions (I don’t get tired of saying that) it’s been non-stop at the Club. As well as having some commercial activities ongoing, such as renewing partnerships and sponsorships, it’s been a very busy winter. As always, we look to try and improve the ground and we made some changes, including extending the nature walk, improving the seating in the Dafabet stand, updated one of our hospitality suites and modernised our entrance. Additionally at the time of writing we are planning on updating our signage to make the Uptonsteel County Ground more welcoming and inclusive. I hope when you next visit us you see the improvements we are making.

Additionally, It’s been a busy time for our coaches and players as they train in preparation for the upcoming season. It’s been great to watch them and see the bond of a great tam spirit building. Having achieved what we did last year in the latter part of the season, I am optimistic what we can achieve this year. Furthermore, moving the Women’s and Girls' section from our community pillar into our Cricket Pillar is an exciting step for us and I look forward to seeing how that part of the business flourishes.

As you will have seen the cash side of the Club is always challenging for us, and us not securing the legends series at Grace Road was the difference between a profit and loss for the Club, which demonstrates how precarious it can be. One event can make or break us! As such the ground development is a huge and crucial priority for us.

I am pleased to say, that despite it being 12 months since we launched the Masterplan, things continue to progress. We have now entered a contract with a company to really push on with Phase 1. I hope that over the upcoming year this part of our business plan comes to fruition, and we can really begin to physically see the changes and improvements to our ground. I would urge you to also keep your eyes peeled on the Club website for updates on this.

As always thanks for your support and here’s to a great season ahead.

Kindest regards,

Sean.