Ashton Gate: Without fans we had to adapt quickly
STAYING positive in 2020 is no mean feat, especially when the sector you work in has been decimated by the Covid19 pandemic.
But for Mark Kelly, managing director of Bristol’s historic Ashton Gate Stadium, there is no other option.
“Yes, there are a huge amount of challenges. And, yes, it has been difficult. But if you’re not positive, then what’s the alternative?”
He has a point.
The past six months has shaken the hospitality industry to its core, with sports stadiums, which rely heavily on income from events, seeing revenue streams dry up almost overnight.
And Ashton Gate, the base for Bristol Sport – the organisation overseeing the commercial and operational interests of Bristol City, Bristol Bears Rugby Club, Bristol Flyers Basketball, Bristol City Women’s Football and Bristol Bears Women – is no exception.
Pre-pandemic, Mr Kelly was managing a permanent team of 150 Bristol Sport employees, 600 contract staff and a payroll across the group of £3 million.
In February, the stadium, which is owned by billionaire businessman Steve Lansdown, unveiled its revised plans for a £100 million sports and conference venue, including a 4,000-capacity indoor venue, a 230-bedroom hotel and a 30,000 sq ft office building.
Like many other businesses, Bristol Sport started running remotely, but as cancellations for events grew, things became “more worrying”, says Mr Kelly.
Between March and May the stadium lost £1.82 million in revenue just through events.
“It had a huge financial impact and we were worried what it would mean for the summer events and for the employees,” he said.
“But luckily we didn’t knee-jerk, and were extremely grateful when the Government announced its furlough scheme.”
Bristol Sport furloughed 80 per cent of its full-time staff during lockdown. But by July, as the stadium began to see the impact from a lack of events, it was forced to go through a restructure.
“The reality really started to kick in. We realised there wouldn’t be big sporting events or big concerts in the summer and we had to make the disappointing decision to make redundancies.”
Bristol Sport reduced its full-time team from 150 to 102, but managed to save 18 jobs during the process, according to Mr Kelly, by getting employees involved.
“I was really proud of that,” he said. “We offered people sabbaticals of six and nine months, and also a number of job shares. People were willing to cut their hours so others didn’t lose their job.”
However, Kelly is concerned the Government’s new job support scheme doesn’t go far enough for hospitality businesses that are operating well below capacity due to restrictions and are struggling to keep their workforce employed.
Under current restrictions no spectators are allowed at sports events for the immediate future – a move Kelly says is “frustrating”.
Ashton Gate was planning to open its doors last month to a small number of sports fans, but this can no longer happen under Government rules.
Mr Kelly believes the decision, which was taken late in September, should have been an “objective, local one” rather than a blanket ban.
He is now urging the Government to involve UK stadiums in any decisions about fans returning.
“I would never allow an event to happen that would put anybody at risk. This is the business we are in – keeping people safe while entertaining through sport or events,” he said.
“We have been engaging with Bristol City Council, local safety advisory groups and the mayor,
Marvin Rees, over the last few months who at the time were all comfortable with our reopening plan on reduced crowds.”
While Ashton Gate is not allowed to host sports matches, it is able to run other events including outdoor cinema sessions and indoor comedy nights. Before Covid, it was able to cater for 2,500 people for hospitality – but now it’s just 200. With far fewer numbers, it means there is plenty of space to socially distance inside – and feel safe.
Visitors have to register on the NHS track and trace app before they enter the building and are also only offered table service. Each table has a handy laminated sign to alert the bar staff too; green means you want a drink while red indicates you don’t.
“It is bonkers that I can host comedy gigs, outdoor cinemas and even match day hospitality in one of our restaurants but cannot host fans socially distanced outside,” said Mr Kelly, who is also concerned about the impact on local supply chains.
“A lot of our key suppliers are from the South West – wine, butchers, vegetables, coffee – and the negative local economic impact of no sport or events creates a domino effect past Ashton Gate.”
Although fans can’t currently watch sport at the stadium, Mr Kelly and his team have worked on ways for people to still view football.
Rugby, which is streamed on BT Sport, is not so easy to share with fans, however.
“We wanted to bring Bristol City into living rooms so we very quickly set up a streaming network (Robins TV) that allows fans to purchase a stream and to watch all home games.
“Season ticket holders could choose a refund or to get a code to access Robins TV. Whilst this has helped soften the blow, the Government should not underestimate the impact of having no live sport on within our communities.”
Despite the challenges of the past six months, Mr Kelly has not been resting on his laurels. He has been determined, he says, to stay relevant in the community.
During the summer, Ashton Gate’s whole concourse area became a hub for charities, while Bristol Sport started its own food parcel delivery in April to vulnerable children, which ran until schools reopened in September. Aside from that, a number of the stadium’s corporate boxes are also being rented out as clinics for nonevasive treatments, such as knee consultations.
Ashton Gate has also teamed up with a local pizzeria and is now selling pizza in the Sports Bar, while its banquet suites have been operating as restaurants for live-match streaming.
And, according to Mr Kelly, there are some “exciting plans” in the pipeline in the lead-up to Christmas, too.
“Ashton Gate has very much adapted to the current restrictions and I am pleased to see innovative uses of the stadium come to fruition. Without fans we had to very quickly adapt and innovate.”
But he admits the handful of small events the stadium has hosted this year are not actually commercially viable. The idea behind them, he says, is to show confidence to Bristol and to “keep the staff focused”.
But there are contingency plans if there is a lockdown in the South West. He said: “Everyone can work from home [but] It would have a big impact on our business because our business is events.
“[Before Covid] we were extremely happy and passionate about the way the business was evolving, and giving jobs to young people. But this is beyond our control.”
While fans may not be able to currently watch matches, the pandemic has also not stopped him planning for the future.
His team, he says, is continuing to work on the proposals for the £100 million conference and events development that was unveiled earlier this year. The design has been adapted in the wake of Covid – but the timeline for the plans has not shifted, he says. Changes have been made to the proposals regarding access and scale – although exactly what is not yet clear.
“We feel very confident that
Season ticket holders could choose a refund or to get a code to access Robins TV. Whilst this has helped .... the Government should not underestimate the impact of having no live sport on within our communities Mark Kelly, MD, Ashton Gate Stadium
through the design we can facilitate sports, events and a hotel safely,” said Mr Kelly.
“Accessibility is huge so we want to get people in and out as quickly as possible. It is a long-term project and we are confident about it moving forward.”
Owner Steve Lansdown has supported the company financially during the pandemic, but Mr Kelly admits the money “can’t go on forever”.
He added: “My current forecast is that cash is turned off until January and gradually starts to improve in the spring of next year.”
Mr Kelly says he tries to stay positive, to create confidence, and as a leader believes communicating with his employees is critical.
And his advice to other business leaders struggling during the pandemic? To innovate and have fluidity in financial planning.
“If we do go through a lockdown our business is comfortable for five or six months without having to make any changes,” he said.
“It’s keeping focused until we know more. Don’t knee-jerk because if we had done that back in March it would have been a completely different result.”