00:00I'm joined now by Racecourse Director James Crespi. James, thanks for joining us this afternoon.
00:08We are under two weeks away to the start of the 2025 Festival.
00:14But when would planning for this particular event have actually started?
00:19How far in advance do you have to work?
00:22I would say the Monday after the last day of glorious.
00:27Yeah, it really is. I think we had such a good festival last year with such great weather and everything that goes along with it. Amazing racing, entertainment, food.
00:38The whole festival sort of vibe that we put on here.
00:42We were really keen to sort of get on that straight away and we sort of went early with our ticket sales just while it was fresh in everyone's mind.
00:52But it absolutely started the Monday after glorious.
00:57Yeah, absolutely.
00:58Because I suppose if you start then, there's plenty of time to make sure that absolutely every little detail is covered.
01:05And that's important, isn't it?
01:06Yeah, it is.
01:07It's the small details as well as the big things.
01:09Absolutely, absolutely.
01:10I mean, we've been fortunate this year. We've had some new team members.
01:13We've got a new general manager who's came up from Revival and knows good but well.
01:17And she's, as you mentioned, that detail thing, which does make the difference here.
01:22It's at this stage now where we're going through all this sort of everything with a fine tooth comb and making sure everything is as it should be.
01:30And like you said, that level of detail. But, you know, a big thing for us for this year as well was to talk about the race course in a different way.
01:38And, you know, particularly around our marketing campaign to focus a bit more on the actual sport itself and the hard work that goes on behind the scenes.
01:47And the fact that this is, you know, we're standing somewhere that has over 200 years worth of sporting legacy, just sort of remind everyone of the great sporting moments that have been here over the last couple of centuries.
02:01So you have to really do things a little bit differently each year.
02:04You can't, I suppose if you do the same things all the time and stand still, as it were, the interest will drop off.
02:10Yeah, absolutely.
02:11You're always looking for new people to come and things like that.
02:14Yeah, quite. I mean, this year is, I would say it's been a bit of a consolidation year.
02:18And we've seen that certainly in our attendance numbers where I feel like a bit of a back to basics approach has helped us sort of re-engage with people that perhaps haven't been for the last year or two.
02:29We've got a few exciting things up our sleeves for next year and 27, which I can't really say much about at the moment, but if we're all going well, we'd sort of have something to talk about in the not too distant future.
02:43But really, as I said, this year it's been about focusing on, you know, as I said, reminding everyone of the great sport they're going to see here for five days.
02:52And the catering teams are brilliant this year with new offerings around the course, whether it's in hospitality or some of the smaller outlets.
03:00One of my favourites, we started selling espresso martinis, which have gone down very well.
03:06So a lot of sort of little marginal games across the sort of area.
03:11So, yeah, we hope everyone will sort of, you know, recognise that we want everyone to have the best night possible.
03:18Yeah.
03:19And a lot of work around the site, not just now, but over the course of the year, I suppose, to keep it looking at its best.
03:25Absolutely. I mean, I'll make sense manager is, you know, she does an amazing job and a lot of the time because of where we are on the top of the South Downs.
03:32You know, we're very fortunate that it makes this place what it is, but you can't start a lot of that work until much later on in the year when the weather perks up.
03:41So, yeah, it's a 365 day job, making sure this place sort of looks like it does.
03:49And now we're this close to Glorious, what sort of things are happening now?
03:53You know, we're not quite in festival week yet, but what must be ramping up?
03:58Yeah, I mean, I think we're in a good place. It definitely feels, let's say, having a really good general manager has sort of pushed us on this year.
04:05So it definitely feels like we're a bit ahead. A few usual curveballs sort of thrown our way and we're currently sort of figuring out a new stage where the jazz band are going to play,
04:16which is going to be great, actually, because they will be a bit more central to the event than they have been in previous years.
04:23So there's, you know, you put on a big event like this, there's always some sort of last minute changes or what have you.
04:28But now it's just really making sure we're across all the detail, big push on a few, you know, last minute things.
04:36Say ticket sales are looking great. Probably not far away from sort of having to say, hurry up and book because a few of the enclosures on a few of the days.
04:45We're getting close to capacity. So, yeah, that's, it's, yeah, final checks, I guess, at this point.
04:53That's interesting what you say about ticket sales, because there's been a lot of publicity nationally about some racing festivals and some courses really struggling to get people in through the gates.
05:01It can't be easy, but you seem to have, I don't know if it's fair to say you've sort of bucked that trend or you've certainly stayed away from a decline.
05:11I guess it's been, you know, I saw some figures that came out this morning from the industry and as a whole, I think the tendencies, and don't quote me on this, but I think we're about four to five percent up, you know, halfway through the year.
05:21Yeah. There were some festivals that didn't quite get there, but certainly Ascot had a good week.
05:26And our ticket sales are encouraging. As I said, we're ahead of where we were this time last year.
05:32The last couple of days, you know, I wouldn't be surprised at all if we're having to remind people to, to hurry up.
05:39Yeah, there were certain days that do fill up.
05:41Yeah, absolutely. But I think, yeah, we have worked hard.
05:44You know, we're aware that days are expensive now.
05:47So we do a lot to try and sort of provide value and hold our prices, you know, we think is a respectable and sensible sort of, and ultimately not scaling back on the customer experience because we want that to be better each year.
06:03It's a good balance, isn't it? Absolutely. And as I said, I think a lot of the work that we've done with the new marketing team this year,
06:10taken a very different approach to how we, not just with the narrative I mentioned about the message being a lot more about the sport this year,
06:17but actually how we spread that message. And, you know, it absolutely is about the sport, but it's absolutely about the glamour too,
06:24and everything that goes with this completely unique festival. And we've got some good agencies and good teams on board.
06:32We seem to perhaps have been able to cut through a bit more than we have done in previous years, just a slightly different way of marketing what we're doing here in the next few days.
06:42And when the week arrives, I remember you told me once before, I think it was when you were operations manager, it's like being in charge of a small town.
06:51Yeah.
06:52And that doesn't change.
06:53No, absolutely.
06:54There's a lot of responsibility to help every aspect of people once they're in here.
06:58Yeah, it's a big effort. I mean, you know, we were just talking about the Friday nights. I mean, there's a whole team that come in almost to run alongside our home team.
07:08You know, things change, you need to approach things differently. So the sort of number of people we have on site now to run the event and make sure everyone has a really great day is always creeping up.
07:18And it does make you realise when you see that the size of the operation here. And yeah, I mean, we've got 25,000 people a day coming.
07:27So it's, you know, it's a bit of a task to make sure that works seamlessly. It is like a small town. You have everyone from police, doctors, information, you name it, all going to come together.
07:40Thousands of hospitality covers a day and the whole sort of a massive operation that goes in behind that.
07:46And on a personal level, will you get to see any of the racing during the week or will that pass you by?
07:50No, I seem to, I see a bit more these days than I used to for sure. And certainly, you know, the entries look great for this year, look very competitive.
08:00And I mean, you know, I don't think I'll ever do an interview with you where I don't mention Frankel.
08:07But my sort of first year here and being able to see that incredible moment standing here actually and watching, you know, watch them come back in after the Sussex.
08:17Yeah. So you hope for seeing something like that every year. And, you know, racing this year has been really competitive.
08:24And hopefully that carries on over the festival. And yeah, absolutely. This is, you know, the parade ring is the sort of heartbeat of the event.
08:32So I'll be sort of with Ed and, yeah, getting to see as much as I can.
08:36And just finally, a bit of a plug from you. If people are thinking about buying tickets, they should get on and do so perhaps.
08:42Absolutely.
08:43The Sway is online.
08:44Yeah, no, online. We are fully digital this year. So it's an easier experience to buy.
08:49It's all, you download our app and buy tickets and they appear straight, straight in your, on the app on the phone.
08:55And if you're buying for groups of people, it's much easier to share too.
08:59So, you know, no more sort of having to post tickets out or wait for collection or what have you.
09:04So we, you know, it's a much better process.
09:08But as I said, you know, with, I guess with the good weather we've had,
09:11and perhaps everyone, you know, had such a good time last year that, you know, certainly the trajectory we're seeing at the moment.
09:18Yeah.
09:19I would, I would get on a book.
09:20It's going to be busy.
09:21Definitely.
09:22Yeah. Good. Okay. Thanks for your time and good luck for the rest of the program.
