Executive summary
Rendezvous Wins At The Track
Arena Leisure is the UK’s largest operator of UK horse-racing fixtures and a significant player in the corporate hospitality market. The company currently operates six racecourses, including Royal Windsor, Lingfield Park and Wolverhampton. With a heavy schedule of 326 race meetings in one year, the company wanted to centralise its event management.
The company chose Rendezvous, the browser-based events, conference and catering management solution from NFS Technology.
Paul Shrimpton, Director of Business Development at Arena Leisure, says that Arena put a lot of effort into selecting a software partner and package that would drive the company’s hospitality and event bookings. “We needed quick access to key data and intuitive input screens which would prompt the sales staff to offer relevant options to potential customers and capture all valid data,” he comments.
All six racecourses offer a range of hospitality suites and restaurants, with 26 suites at Windsor alone. In addition to corporate hospitality, the racecourses offer a range of conference and exhibition facilities.
Catering options range from buffets and dinners to barbecues and fine dining menus. With the installation of Rendezvous, Arena has gained:
- A streamlined business process at site level
- Centralized sales management with a common client database
- The ability to cross-sell across all Arena locations
- Standardized and speeded up billing
- An interface with accounting to boost accuracy and save time
Paul stresses that flexibility is a key to streamlined operations. “We wanted a system that allowed us flexibility in how we structure our business going forward and opened new sales opportunities. Rendezvous ticked all the boxes and I’m pleased to say that NFS have delivered what was promised. I am confident they will continue to support us to ensure that all benefits envisaged at time of sale are fully realised.”
Luis Desouza, CEO of NFS, says: “Arena Leisure needed a flexible and integrated system to handle such a high volume of race meetings and corporate hospitality. We designed Rendezvous to provide seamless booking and billing with a marketing module to facilitate cross-selling and other marketing efforts. So we are very pleased that Arena has found a solution in Rendezvous.”