The Locker Room: Wales v England
Match: Wales v England
Date: 25th February 2023
Number of attendees: 480
The background:
The Locker Room, was established as a sister brand of Genero in 2016 to provide the best corporate sports hospitality events in Wales. Here at Genero, we pride ourselves in creating unique sporting experiences for those looking to join us with friends or colleagues.
In collaboration with Cardiff Rugby, The Locker Room is hosted within a marquee setting in Cardiff Arms Park.
The Locker Room is now organised by an external party but we still manage and do all the event production in association with the event.
Our experience:
A Wales v England rugby game is always one of the season’s highlights and is sure to draw a crowd in. This meant that The Locker Room grew in size yet again from the previous Wales v Ireland event. As a result, we leant into our event experience and realised that we’d need more table hosts and catering staff to ensure everyone still received an excellent level of service.
Ultimately, our aim was to make sure the event lived up to our guests’ high expectations. We wanted to put on an entertaining event for Welsh and English fans to enjoy the game from the comfort of a hosted marquee with brilliant guest speakers and plenty of atmosphere.
The event itself:
We were at capacity for this event, with 480 guests filling the marquee. The atmosphere in the marquee pre-game was filled with excitement and with a good mix of English fans amongst the Welsh there was a lot of good natured chit-chat amongst the tables.
Our events are famed for their panel Q&A sessions and this event was no exception. Once again led by Genero director and Welsh rugby hero, Tom Shanklin, he was joined on stage by other rugby superstars, including English rugby heroes, Ben Kay and Matt Dawson, and Welsh rugby legend, Adam Jones. Our guests were enthralled with the stories that were told and it was clear to see that the panellists, as well as the audience, were having a great time.
For entertainment, we were delighted that pianist and singer, Richard Harris, joined us again having wowed the crowd at The Locker Room event for the Wales v Ireland game. Richard played throughout the day including whilst guests were enjoying their meal and whilst the Italy v Ireland game was televised.
Impressionist Terry Mynott also joined us for the event. He was hidden out of sight of guests to add to the mystery but in the voice of Alan Partridge and he asked questions to the rugby stars on stage. The act entertained guests brilliantly and everyone was looking around the room trying to find him. Terry rounded off his show with impressions of Morgan Freeman, Sir David Attenborough and Al Pacino.
Food for the event was a delicious selection of breads and Spanish meats with olives, sundried tomatoes and humous to start. That was followed by a sumptuous, braised blade of beef and creamed mashed potato and vegetables with a whiskey and mustard sauce.
Guests with match tickets then made their way to their stadium seats and upon their return to the marquee post-game, they were welcomed not only with their pre-ordered drinks ready and waiting at their tables, but a delicious Katsu curry with jasmine rice, followed by iced ringed donuts.
After the post-match Q&A with our rugby legends, all guests were treated to our star entertainment for the evening which came from Flash! A Tribute to Queen, who really did raise the roof of the marquee, with our guests singing and dancing along to all the Queen classics.
Logistics of the event:
For this large event, we really saw the value in setting-up two bars either end of the marquee and fully utilised this when distributing the table hosts. This worked very well with no crossovers and prevented the table hosts being drawn away to other tables which again, ensured that each table received the best possible service.
The Locker Room branded scarves were once again a big hit with guests and were placed over every seat giving the marquee that pop of Welsh red as guests walked in. Wristbands were provided to guests to be worn which helped take additional pressure off our security team and ensuring we were always compliant within our health & safety guidelines.
The results:
It was fantastic to see this event full, an increase of 12% on the previous numbers who attended The Locker Room. We are thrilled when we see our guests return every season, being quick to book to ensure they’re top of the list for our next event! The Locker Room has truly become a family of like-minded sports fans and through our testimonials we love to read about how everyone had such a good time.
Guest feedback:
“The team and hosts did a great job.”
“Overall great service. A great panel of guests.”
“Panel and host, atmosphere, food was good and the table service excellent.”
“It was a great afternoon. Given that the actual game could have been cancelled, you would have been forgiven if you'd hedged your bets a bit, but it was an excellent event, well run and fun.”
“Great event, all of our guests loved it!”
“We love the informal nature of the Locker Room and that the venue was open for a long time after the game.”
Join us for the next Locker Room:
If you’re interested in hospitality for any of Wales’ pre–World Cup warm-up games in August this year, then please do get in touch and our dedicated team here at Genero will provide you with dates, prices and availability.
We also have some other events planned which might take your fancy! Why not join us for a Sporting & Networking Lunch with special guest, Mike Tindall. More details below!
Email events@genero-group.co.uk or head over to our updates on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
