Sean Jarvis: CEO Monthly Report - January 2023

You could be forgiven to think January is one of those quiet months at The Uptonsteel County Ground. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Every Pillar has continued to be extremely active, all with the same intention of continuing to drive us and the way we operate forwards. In fact, I would say, lots of the hard work undertaken in this first month will be begun to be revealed in the next two months, so I would encourage you to ensure you follow our social media channels!

So, by way of my usual update, I’ll give you a brief synopsis of what’s been going on in the previous month across the Pillars. But bear in mind there's lots more to come!

This month I’ll start with our Communications Pillar.

The team have been beavering away working on improved systems, particularly our ‘Customer Relationship Management’ system that aim to bring you “ our supporters “ news direct to your inbox. It’s a complicated system with lots of elements to establish but will ultimately help us communicate what is going on at the Club much more effectively. Furthermore, if you aren’t subscribed to our regular emails, I would encourage you to do so as it aims to keep our supporters abreast of everything Leicestershire CCC.

We hope you enjoyed the incredibly creative way in which the team revealed our India superstar signing Ajinkya Rahane on ‘deadline day’. Along with a couple of budding actors from our first team, the Comms pillar pulled together to build a buzz worthy of the world-class addition to Leicestershire. We’re hopeful that the promising figures we’re seeing across memberships will only increase with Rahane’s arrival, and that we’ll be able to bring more of our multi-cultural community to the ground as a result.

Foxes TV is also high on this Pillar’s agenda, and they are currently building out the technology for an impressive studio that will see a much-improved format to our visual news. It is something I am very keen on us developing and am certainly excited by what it can do for us.

As we know, primarily, we are a Cricket Club, so Cricket is the main thrust of our news stories, however there is so much going on in different parts of the business. As such it’s now the intention of our team to ensure that we undertake a monthly feature casting a spotlight on the great work we are doing in other parts of the business. Each month, the communications team will publish an article to highlight the great work going on in one part of our business.

We believe cricket is a game for all. And as such we have reflected on the work we have undertaken last season regarding ‘Equity, Diversity and Inclusion’. There is still lots for us to do and we have some great plans but apart from us just reflecting on what we have done, we will, for the first time in the history of the Club, be publishing an annual retrospective EDI (Foxes Family) report. It makes for great reading and sometimes it’s easy to forget everything we do, so it acts as a reminder of what has gone on. The report will be available on our website soon and hopefully we can get some printed for people to read when they are next at the ground.

Finally on our Communications Pillar “ I know they are going to be hectic over the next 6 weeks with even more terrific announcements for the Club, so, as a reminder, why not set our Club website as a favourite site on your phone or computer? You won’t want to miss a thing as we approach the season.

Moving on to Cricket.

Our board challenged the Cricket Pillar to have the toughest and most productive pre-season the Club has ever seen. The team and coaches have responded brilliantly. I have been monitoring their progress and witnessed the training schedules on the walls of the new Players Lounge. I am pretty sure we will be one of, if not the fittest when the season starts.

It was also great to catch up with our new four-day captain Lewis Hill during this month, as he shared with me his vision and the cricket identity we all want to create. I was impressed. It feels like there is a wind of change going through the Club but most definitely one for the better. Speaking of the new Players Lounge, it’s great to see this is being utilised and its evident that there is a great camaraderie between the team. This certainly bodes well for the season ahead. Additionally, it will be great to see how the new Players Lounge will work on matchdays as their families will be encouraged to use these facilities, too.

As mentioned, Rahane’s arrival, plus another international addition we have lined up, will really bolster our squad for the upcoming season. Keep your eyes peeled!

Finally, on the back of the Oakham Festival announcement, it has been brilliant to see the interest in us bringing it back to our calendar. Our phones have been hot with enquiries about tickets and what the festival may look like. Consequently, I would encourage you get your ticket early! These will be on sale very soon in February.

That brings me nicely onto Commercial.

January has been a busy month for the Commercial team too as they are selling lots of commercial properties and memberships as we begin our lead up to the start of the season (which is fast approaching). They’ve also delivered another fantastic signing for the club, as we bring musical icon Sir Tom Jones to play the green, green grass of Grace Road in July. There are incredible hospitality packages available to experience the best we’ve got to offer for what’s set to be a once-in-a-lifetime gig “ do get in touch with the team to find out more.

What is encouraging from our commercial team is the following:

Sponsorships “ up on same period last year

Corporate Memberships “ up on the same period last year

Event sales “ up on the same period last year

Hospitality sales “ up on the same period last year

Ticket sales “ up on the same period last year

Merchandise “ up on the same period last year

Memberships “ up on the same period last year

Indoor school usage “ up on the same period last year

Catering income “ up on the same period last year

So, as you can see at these early stages we are heading in the right direction. However, what is really encouraging is our Commercial team do believe we can go even further.

I guess I would also like to take this opportunity to say thanks to all those that continue to support us and those who are new to our Club. Hopefully, you have also seen some Commercial announcements through our channels including renewals and some new arrivals. If you come to the ground during the season, you will be able to see all our partners on the Partners Drive.

Finally, if you are considering a lunch at the ground, then can I suggest any keen groups out there take a table at our upcoming event on 21^st April. It’s an audience with Three Lions and a Kitten “ the three lions being Jack Birkenshaw, James Taylor and our newest England player Rehan Ahmed (and I am the kitten!). It promises to be a cracking event with lots of amusing stories and insight into their journeys.

With regards to our Community Pillar “ as usual there’s lots going on and the team have once again hit the ground running in 2023. Encouragingly there have been a growing number of programmes around the county being delivered.

What’s also pleasing to see is a couple of areas of our Community team really develop. On the back of the success of our male County Talent Champions (CTC’s) over the past two years, we now have two female CTC’s in place. We welcome Nafeesa Katib and Deejay Thanki to the team. The other part of our business that is also really taking off is our Disability Cricket offering, particularly working with Menphys UK and the Super 1s programme where participants are given the opportunity to experience the benefits of physical activity as well as providing the chance to socialise and compete with peers.

The last month has also seen us undertake a series of meetings that seek to really develop our Community team and create a Foundation that our county can be proud of… but more news of that in coming months.

Finally, it was also excellent to meet with our local recreational league and start to implement positive changes around how we and the league can work together. There is a long way to go but we are making the right strides.

Finally, I’ll finish with the Company Pillar this month. Spare a thought for our facilities and ground staff who are facing the elements in the outdoors. That said, they remain undeterred in ensuring the ground is ready for the start of the season. Not only are the creases and ground developing nicely, but there are also lots of structural changes taking place. For example, to meet the standards set by the ECB we are updating the changing rooms; there’s also a new ‘Grace Space’ (thanks to Bishop Saju for the name) being created (I should be able to bring you news on that next month); a new staff car park being developed to increase the capacity for cars to come to our games; and a lick of paint is being applied around the ground.

Come that first game of the season I am confident that the Uptonsteel County Ground will be improved and looking better than ever.

I want to also take this opportunity to thank Jacqui Dean, our HR and Governance Manager, who joined the Club a couple of years ago and has transformed our systems and procedures. Sadly, Jacqui has now moved on to pastures new (but she tells me she’s bought a membership so will remain a familiar face to the Club). Losing Jacqui has been a blow for us as she did a great job, but we all wish her well in her next chapter.

In signing off this month, hopefully the above gives you a taster of the direction of travel that the Club is on. As we know, we are in a results-based industry and that’s crucial for us, but the feel around the ground is so incredibly positive and we can’t wait for the season to start and to welcome you back… Not long to go now! Bring it on!

Regards,

Sean.