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Nils Braude, Managing Director of Twickenham Experience Limited, speaks in this interview about trends in hospitality, the impact of the corona pandemic and the topics of sustainability and digitization in the hospitality areas.
Nils Braude
Stadionwelt: What different hospitality packages do you offer? What services do the individual packages include and what are the prices?
Braude: For an International game we have up to seven different hospitality packages available to purchase, plus the Executive Box offerings. Our hospitality suites each offer a very different atmosphere and surroundings to suit different preferences, such as a more relaxed and informal offering in the British Airways Rose Garden where we offer unreserved seating within the facility, street food including a pizza oven and rotisserie and a live band playing pre and post-game, compared to a more formal atmosphere in The East Wing which offers a premium members club style atmosphere with 5 courses, views overlooking the pitch, Q&A with ex rugby talent and England players fresh from the pitch post-match.
Stadionwelt: Do the hospitality offers differ for the different events at Twickenham Stadium?
Braude: We have to take into consideration different crowds for a variety of events and will adjust our packages accordingly. While we are committed to remaining true to our English influences we also want our food to provide a nod to our opposition – particularly on match days and reflect this within our menus. Within our chophouse style restaurant, The Gate, for example, we have sourced specific cuts of meats, popular in different regions.
Our hospitality offering for an International also varies from the likes of a Metallica concert for example, where we will take into consideration the crowd and what suits them both from a service style and also menu choice.
Stadionwelt: What is the VIP capacity at Twickenham Stadium and how high is the utilization of the individual hospitality areas?
Braude: Across our 34 hospitality suites our cover capacity is just over 13,500 with an additional 2000 in our Executive Boxes. Over a busy International all of our hospitality spaces will be at capacity. On non-match days each of our hospitality suites are available for conferences and events and we have recently opened a business hub within one of our larger suites offering coworking space, so we do see a high rate of utlisation throughout the year.
Stadionwelt: How has the overall “VIP” concept changed in recent years? What has been changed conceptually?
Braude: When the East Stand was redeveloped at Twickenham one of the aims was to change the face of ‘traditional’ hospitality and move in line with some of the more popular ways of consuming dining experiences. One of the ways we have achieved this is by offering more restaurant style and informal dining by moving away from the ‘traditional’ round tables of 10. By no means have we completely steered away from this as it is still a very popular option among our clients, however we have expanded our offer to include a range of different seating options such as tables of 2, 4, 6, and 8’s in our restaurants, such as our chophouse The Gate, and also introduced a more informal standing option with street food in the British Airways Rose Garden which is extremely popular. By offering a variety of table sizes we have seen an increase in the number of consumer bookings.
Stadionwelt: When was the most recent modernization in the hospitality areas? What did they look like?
Braude: In autumn 2018 the East Stand reopened which offered up an additional 9 hospitality suites across 6 different levels. Each of the hospitality suites were designed with very different personalities, from The Gate, our dark and atmospheric chophouse to The Lock, a light and airy space featuring high ceilings and natural daylight, serving a classic English menu. At Twickenham we continue to reinvest in our hospitality areas to ensure they are of the highest possible standards, whether that’s implementing new technology or freshening up with a lick of paint.
Stadionwelt: How important are the topics of sustainability and digitization in the hospitality areas? Can you give specific examples of how these are implemented?
Braude: Sustainability is a key priority throughout hospitality, with a particular focus on food waste. We can serve up to as many as 37,000 dishes of food on one day and it’s absolutely paramount that we do as much as we can to impact the environment as little as we can. We have a food waste strategy which follows a ‘circular economic model’ that maximises every ingredient, reduces food miles and tracks the source, multiple use and outcome of every ingredient used on the menu. The model is based around menu design, which encourages multiple uses of each ingredient, across the stadium’s operations and throughout the day. It also encourages the reusing of wastage items for stocks and sauces so maximum ‘value’ is taken from every ingredient, all of which are sourced locally.
Technology is imperative in the operational running of the hospitality areas and we continue to invest in the digitization of particular areas such as automated fridge temperature recording, online allergen infomation, automated table plan allocations and Quick Service kitchen pass technology.
A current focus is on digital ticketing, which allows the hospitality guest to receive both a match ticket and hospitality ticket seamlessly within the same device. Digital ticketing will reap huge benefits both from a customer experience and security perspective. We have also seen a slight shift in the way in which hospitality is purchased. While the majority of purchasers still wish to buy through an account manager from our principal hospitality partner Keith Prowse, we are starting to see more individual and private bookings transact online, particularly outside of working hours. The key for us is that it’s all about giving the customer choice and making is convenient for them.
Stadionwelt: Generally speaking: What challenges are you currently facing in the hospitality segment?
Braude: Our summer games were all cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19 and the stadium was completely closed down for a period of about 3 months. One of the biggest challenges has been planning for the unknown. Like so many venues and stadia we have had to review and adapt many existing processes and understand how capacities, flow of people and service could operate under social distancing guidelines. Building confidence in the market to start attending events is a key focus over the coming weeks and months while ensuring we can deliver a service and product that provides a wow experience despite adhering to the current guidelines. (17.09.2020, Stadiaworld)
