Playing the long game: an interview with Chapel Down CEO Frazer Thompson and the UK Investor Show’s Nigel Wray October 16, 2017 Back in 2004, England was considered rather better at playing rugby than it was at producing wine, basking in the afterglow of the national team’s world cup win six months earlier. It was around this time that a mutual contact put Nigel Wray, the owner of Saracens rugby club, in touch with Frazer Thompson, a [...]
Record number of tourists flock to the UK and spend more than ever thanks to the 2015 Rugby World Cup December 19, 2015 The tourism boom to the UK shows no signs of letting up, with a record number of international visits to the country recorded in October. The Rugby World Cup drove tourism figures sky high, with fresh figures from VisitBritain showing that a new record was set in October, not just for the number of visits [...]
Over 70m tickets sold to UK sport events in 2015 thanks to Rugby World Cup boost December 16, 2015 More than 70m tickets to sports events in the UK were sold in 2015, representing a five per cent increase on last year, according to research from Deloitte's Sports Business Group. Only in 2012, when 75m tickets were sold as London hosted the Olympic Games, has the UK recorded higher sports attendances in a calendar [...]
Spectre and the Rugby World Cup boost leisure spending in Britain to £5.4bn in October November 25, 2015 British households spent an average of £206 each on leisure activities in October, up nine per cent, or £18, from this time last year, but down one per cent from September 2015. That equates to a total spend on leisure activities of £5.4bn in Britain last month. Wetter weather in October held back monthly spending slightly, although [...]
UK hotels score at Rugby World Cup October 1, 2015 Wales wasn’t the only victor last weekend. Hotels also shared in the Rugby World Cup fever and enjoyed a surge in demand as fans flocked to host cities around the UK. Online searches for hotel rooms in London between 24 and 28 September – when England played Wales at Twickenham stadium – surged by [...]
Business lessons from the Rugby World Cup 2015 October 6, 2015 Rugby is a thug’s game, played by gentlemen”. So goes the adage, but it’s not the only tough game in town. England’s premature exit from the World Cup has demonstrated how uncompromising rugby can be, but the world of business is just as rough. Smaller companies and startups must be prepared to take a few [...]
Big pub companies have plenty to toast as turnover bubbles up 11 per cent in last year November 14, 2016 As many as 29 pubs close each week but the turnover of the UK's top 100 pubs and bars has increased by 30 per cent since 2008/09. According to Ortus Secured Finance, the turnover of the top 100 pub and bar companies reached £11.7bn in 2015/16, up from £8.9bn in 2008/09 and that figure has grown [...]
Alibaba’s sports arm invests $100m into rugby in China and sets ambitious targets for growth October 26, 2016 Alibaba will invest $100m (£82m) into Chinese rugby over the next 10 years as part of a joint initiative with World Rugby to grow the game in the world's most populous country. Alisports, the sporting arm of e-commerce giant Alibaba, says it wants to bring 1m new players into the " great Olympic team sport" within the next [...]
Restaurants and bars get their appetite back following Rugby World Cup 2015 boost October 26, 2015 The Rugby World Cup and greater consumer spending power thanks to falling food and petrol prices provided a much needed boost to UK bars and restaurants during the third quarter of the year. According to Begbies Traynor’s latest Red Flag update, which monitors the health of UK companies, the number of restaurants and bars experiencing “significant” [...]
New Zealand Rugby World Cup triumph boosts All Blacks brand value by £25m November 6, 2015 New Zealand's show of sporting supremacy at the Rugby World Cup boosted the All Blacks brand value by $37m (£24.6m), according to brand valuation and consultancy firm Brand Finance. The All Blacks brand, the most valuable in rugby, is now estimated to be worth $169m following a successful campaign in which the iconic rugby team [...]