Leicestershire Monthly Report - January 2022

You’d be forgiven to think that there is nothing going on in the close season, but you couldn’t be farther from the truth. Here at the Uptonsteel County Ground there is plenty to report on this month. I’ll start with Cricket.

A sprinkling of our players are on overseas duty at the moment including Colin Ackermann and Rahmanullah Gurbaz who came face-to-face for their respective countries. I am not sure our captain will appreciate me mentioning the score but both put in impressive performances and acquired much needed crease time. That bodes well for us. Speaking of impressive performances, a shout out must go to Rehan Ahmed for his contribution for England U19’s in the World Cup. It’s great to see and I know everyone at the Club is incredibly proud of him. Naturally, we wish him every success in the semi-final and hopefully final. It’s also great to see Paul Nixon back at the Club after his spell in Bangladesh and I know from his short time back he has been impressed with the strength and conditioning work our players have undertaken.

Sticking with cricket, it’s finally great to see the fixtures released. I know everyone in the camp is excited about that first game at home versus Worcestershire on April 7. Bring it on

If you have been following us on social media, hopefully you will have noticed a superb initiative we have launched called the ‘Future Fox Fund’. Already we have had several people donate and we will look to use this fund to support those children who maybe cannot afford equipment but have a real passion for cricket. It is also great to see our Volunteer Scouting Network launched too. I know we have had 11 people approach us and this should help us identify some talented players for the Club in the future.

Finally on Cricket, this time the Women’s game. Having done some recent number crunching we have witnessed a growth in our numbers by over 80% over the past five years… and more recently our Under 11’s numbers growing by 42%, Under 13’s by 78%, Under 15’s by 77%, Under 18’s by 52% and open age by 62%. It is great to see the women’s game flourishing here at the Running Foxes.

Onto the Cash Pillar. This one is short and simple. Our Annual Report has just been finalised and should be ready for the AGM. Whilst I can’t say too much at this stage, it does make for encouraging reading and demonstrates the direction of the Club. When it is published, we will ensure the website carries a story on the figures too, so please ensure you follow our social media channels to get the latest news as it happens.

Like all businesses, having good robust infrastructures is important. The staff in our Company Pillar are continuing to evolve our Club. The latest policies we have introduced are to improve the health and wellbeing at work. And whilst we are developing our internal systems, we are also working hard and within our budgets to try and improve the ‘customer experience’ at Grace Road. You may have seen the new entrance project we are working on. In simple, there will be a new feel to the ground when you next visit us. There will be a main reception which we have been lacking for years, along with a ticket office and a new shop, as well as commercial and community offices. Combined with this, through our recent commercial partnership with Johnstone’s Paint we are also beginning to give the ground a new lease of life with a bit of a paint makeover. Certainly, Grace Road is getting some ‘TLC’ at the moment. We are also working with the City Council to try and improve the signage around the ground, and we should have some news in the coming weeks.

Commercially, we still need the support of our businesses, but I am please to report we are continuing to see some very positive signs. It has been an incredibly busy first month of the new year including the launch of our hospitality packages which feature some exciting new offerings. If you are considering upgrading at one of the games then please take a look, we have great variety within our packages this season. What has been really pleasing for us is the speed at which both the new President's Pre-Season Lunch and inaugural Running Foxes Golf Classic both sold out. Both reached the sell-out point in just seven days. A winning sign. We also have another event which has just been launched and is selling well, it’s our Cheltenham Gold Cup Lunch. I guess the best way to describe it is the next best thing to being there, and at a fraction of the price! Please check the website for more details.

I mentioned fixtures earlier and am pleased the commercial team have this year produced a fixture poster. We will be circulating it to a lot of businesses in the area to try and raise our profile and attract new audiences to our games.

Speaking of attracting new supporters, we have seen an encouraging couple of stats. In the first quarter of the year our membership is 21% ahead of where we budgeted. What’s more our Junior Membership has reached record numbers in the history of the Club. There is still much more work to be done and we still need more members to join our journey, but these are again the winning signs we are looking for.  

At a recent meeting with the Cricket society, we took some questions on our retail operation. I am pleased to report that during March we should have a new look retail operation both online and here at the ground. Furthermore, I have just agreed a contract with a supplier that should see us expand our retail offering. I recognise that previously it hasn’t been up to scratch but now with the changes coming in this should improve. 

Finally on commercial, it is great to see our Indoor school buzzing again. During January, the Winter Foxes Training Programme has really taken off and it was really pleasing to see so many faces enjoying the programme. I understand we are also now working on our half term programmes, so please keep your eyes peeled.

To finish of my January monthly report, Community like the other Pillars has been equally busy. Last month they have been returning to schools delivering coaching courses and are encouraged by the enthusiasm shown by the children. As a Community Pillar we also attended the recent Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket League AGM, delivering a presentation on what the strategy for our Cricket Club is, as well as launching our Club Partnership Programme. Finally, we are beginning to see post COVID activity and our Community team are currently developing stronger and deeper links with Leicester Caribbean Cricket Club and the Office of the Police Crime and Commissioner.

That’s it for now but hopefully as an update you can see what is going on at the Club and the foundations we are laying. 

Come on the #RunningFoxes.

Sean