Leicestershire Monthly Report “ December 2021

The year ahead holds so much promise.

First and foremost, I hope you and your loved ones had a truly brilliant and of course safe Christmas. I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you a very merry and prosperous 2022. I for one am very excited what the upcoming 12 months can bring us here at Leicestershire County Cricket Club and I look forward to sharing the journey with you.

For my update this month, I would like to focus on the Club’s strategy for 2022. As mentioned in my last month update, 2021 was one of progression both on and off the field. For the next 12 months we must build on these positive steps and foundations that have been created. Consequently, earlier in the year myself and the board created our strategy for the Club in 2022. If you came online to the recent members forum you will have seen a series of presentations from myself and some of the staff, that looked to set out how we are going to deliver the strategy and ultimately hit our targets. And in so doing continue to progress Leicestershire CCC.

To recap our strategy is entitled “ ‘County Together “ taking five major steps’.

Firstly, why County Together? In simple,  this is our phrase for the upcoming season and means we aim to bring together the whole of Leicestershire and Rutland behind our Club. It stands for us representing and being proud of our diversity as a county and together we can be much stronger. Everyone at the Club and those associated to us can play their part in continuing to build our great Club. In simple all of us are one team.

So onto the five major steps.

Our first step is ‘Hitting our KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators)’ 

As we did last year we have set ourselves, across the five pillars of the Club, 25 targets or key performance indicators to achieve. I will ensure these are published on our website but briefly they are targets for all of the team to hit, including showing further progression in our cricket performances, building on our commercial success from 2021, meeting the standards that are set by the ECB in our governance and administration, a deeper relationship with our community and ensuring our finances are strong and complaint to government regulations. 

Naturally there is far more detail to the above and these are all provided to each of our staff. However, rest assured if we hit our targets in step one there is no doubt Leicestershire CCC will be much stronger this time next year.

Our second step is a ‘Commercial Restructure’. 

Last year we took some positive steps to reengage with our business community and as we grow commercially, our structure needs to be fit for purpose. Over the course of the next 12 months this part of our business will continue to evolve and grow and as such I expect our recruitment to do so as well. I also expect our processes to improve and communication between the Club and its stakeholders to move to another level. This will take time and some of the new processes may be alien to our stakeholders, but rest assured they are all intended to allow Leicestershire to grow. As mentioned before any income generated will be reinvested both on and off the field at the Club. With an improved commercial structure we aim to modernise and in some ways pioneer in the business of cricket. 

Our third step is entitled the ‘Entrance Project’.

If you have been following our social media channels you will have seen, we are progressing well on this particular ‘step’, particularly around our Memorial Garden. Our aim here is to improve not only the customer journey at the Club but also provide a sense of occasion when arriving (whether that is on match day or not). Again this will take some time to implement particularly in phases but I am certain when you return to the Uptonsteel County Ground for the new season there will be positive changes. The Entrance Project should also improve our business practices as a Club too and further developments of the Entrance Project will be announced in the new year. We are all excited about implementing these and changing the ‘experience’ at the Club for the better.

Our fourth step is focused on a ‘Community Refocus’

For this step, we are undertaking a review of our Community Department including our Foundation with the aim to really re-engage with our diverse community. This includes the variety of different backgrounds and local clubs. There is an incredible amount of work to be done and again it will take time but with a deeper and more meaningful relationship with our community should ultimately mean that people can feel closer to our club and contribute to the success. Furthermore, by being closer you will also able to enjoy the successes more. For me and the team this is a great way to meet you and we look forward to meeting you at the upcoming roadshows we are planning.

Lastly is the fifth step and concentrates on ‘Creating a Masterplan’. 

As we all know Grace Road needs development and reinventing. We do need to make sure that the ground can contribute to the long-term sustainability of the Club. Consequently, I am now beginning the process of talking to advisors and our stakeholders as how we can create a ‘Masterplan’ for the future. I am hoping by the summer we should have some more ‘meat on the bones’ and be able to fully inform you our emerging ‘Masterplan’. Why emerging? In simple this is because we must remain flexible and adapt to meet our environment. The plan equally won’t be a quick fix and will take a number of years to implement, however all with the intention to transform Leicestershire for the better.

The above strategy and five steps should give you a flavour of the positive direction of travel our Club is heading. There is a huge of amount of work to be done but if we all start to take this steps, one by one they will add up to a great journey for us all. My message remains clear, these are truly challenging but very exciting times for us but please join us and be part of this exciting trip we are on.

Kindest regards

Sean