South Lanarkshire’s premier sporting venue, Hamilton Park Racecourse has posted record sales success after increasing its conference and events business by almost a third. The venue, which offers meeting space and hospitality via its partner Sodexo increased sales by 26.7% in its 2017/18 financial year.
The success is attributed to a number of improvements, including an extensive £800k refurbishment project completed in early 2017, which saw the venue’s suites, event spaces and meeting rooms updated to provide modern, elegant facilities.
The renovation work also provided a brand new event space -The Hill - for private celebrations and corporate dinners. This new offering, which includes an outdoor serving area, plus the light and airy nature of the updated meeting rooms, has led corporate event bookings to soar by 117% this year compared to last.
Sodexo has also expanded its Sales & Events team at Hamilton Park, introducing extra admin resource and has focused its marketing activity on increasing its corporate business.
Georgia McKay, Sales Manager for Sodexo Prestige Venues & Events, said, “The renovation project enhanced our offering for corporate events and with the addition of ‘The Hill’, this enhanced our facilities and created a brand new opportunity to market to different audiences.
“Our corporate clients enjoy the unique experience on offer here and feel we provide something different to the usual hotel environment. The Racecourse’s meeting rooms boast floor to ceiling windows giving views of the expansive grounds, while our bespoke and flexible approach allows us to fully meet the needs of guests.”
The venue is hoping to improve on its success next year with a range of special Christmas events, including a shopping afternoon tea planned for the festive season and fresh DDR packages set to be introduced in the New Year.