Open For Entries – The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2020
The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2020 have launched today, with 14 categories now open for entries. The awards aim to recognise and reward best practice activities shown by the catering, operations, conference and events teams at football and rugby stadia across the UK and Ireland.
The 14 award categories for 2020, include:
Visiting Football Directors Award (Voted for by visiting directors) – Sponsored by FC Business
Visiting Rugby Directors Award (Voted for by visiting directors)
Chef Team of the Year Award (Judged by Salon Culinaire) – Sponsored by Chef Works
Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award (Judged by HGEM)
Shining Star Award (Judged by panel of industry experts) – Sponsored by Taste Coffee
Operations Team of the Year Award (Judged by panel of industry experts) – Sponsored by Braehead Foods
Matchday Sales Team of the Year Award (Judged by panel of industry experts)
Non-Matchday Sales Team of the Year Award (Judged by panel of industry experts)
Best Stadium Events Venue Award (Judged by panel of industry experts) – Sponsored by Hi-Impact Media
NEW – Best Retail Catering Award (Judged by panel of industry experts)
Matchday Hospitality Awards (Judged by specialist chef & hospitality judges) – Sponsored by Verteda
Small (up to 1000 hospitality seats)
Medium (1001 – 2000 hospitality seats)
Large (2001+ hospitality seats)
Overall Matchday Hospitality Award (Judged by specialist chef & hospitality judges)
The majority of award categories will close for entry on Monday 30th March 2020. The Winners, Silver and Bronze Awards for each category will be announced by the category sponsors at the prestigious awards evening on Thursday 21st May 2020 at Anfield, home of Premier League club, Liverpool Football Club.
Over 450 guests will be welcomed including decision-makers from teams such as sales, conference and events, matchday hospitality, chef teams, public catering teams, operational departments and senior management attending to share the celebrations and network. Tickets start from £95 each (discounted member rate) and are available to purchase now – Please click here for ticket information.
Independently Judged
All categories in The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards are judged completely independently from Stadium Experience.
This year sees the return of HGEM, judging the Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award, along with a team of expert hospitality and chef judges ‘grilling’ entrants for both the Chef Team of the Year Award and the Matchday Hospitality Awards.
Andrew Bennett is the new Head Judge for the Matchday Hospitality Awards with over 40 years of experience in the industry, working most recently at the Sheraton Grand Hotel London Piccadilly as the Director of Food & Beverage. He commented: “It is a great privilege to be given the task of becoming Head Judge for the Matchday Hospitality Awards after the great work over many years by John Retallick. This is an amazing opportunity for all the clubs up and down the country to show how Stadiums have risen to the very top of their game in producing excellent food and service from the moment you arrive until the final whistle.
“The team of judges for this season includes some new faces and are all highly experienced individuals from various sectors of the Hospitality industry. They will provide a balanced and fair assessment of their day at your stadium and will also give constructive feedback where applicable to enhance the guests journey going forward.”
A separate expert panel of judges will also be returning to each vote for their top 3 in 6 different categories in 2020. The panel has increased from 6 to 8 judges this year, and welcomes some exciting fresh faces to the team. The 2020 judges include:
- Juliet Price, Executive Director at HBAA
- Kevin Howland, Head of Partnerships at FC Business
- Craig Prentice, Founder, Mum
- Shirley Wynne-Jones, Managing Director at Venue Smart
- *NEW* Martin Fullard, Editor at Conference News
- *NEW* Mia Butler, Managing Director at Pistachio View
- *NEW* Karen Guile, Director at tobook & online platform Search4Venues
- *NEW* Neil Thompson, Managing Director at The Delegate Wranglers
Mia Butler is the Managing Director at video email app Pistachio View™, and previously worked as Sales Director at the Meeting Industry Association (MIA). She commented: “I am proud to be associated with The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2020. I’m really looking forward to recognising the new and innovative ways Stadia are delivering above and beyond across the industry.”
Karen Guile is a Director of tobook & online platform Search4Venues. She said: “I am thrilled to be a part of these Awards. Stadiums offer so much versatility to the industry and recognising their talents is incredibly important.”
Neil Thompson created The Delegate Wranglers group in 2014 – Now the go-to place for those working in the events industry and developing rapidly for 2020 and beyond. He added: “I’m very much looking forward to being on the judging panel for the 2020 awards – there are so many exciting venues offering great opportunities to the industry, it’s going to be a difficult task!”
Debbie Rigney, Marketing & PR Manager for Stadium Experience, and awards organiser, commented: “2020 will be the 15th annual awards organised by Stadium Experience, and promises to be a fabulous evening celebrating the very best stadium venues across the UK and Ireland. We have new categories for 2020, and very experienced judges from across the industry. It’s truly fantastic to see so many stadium venues sharing their activities and best practice examples, which continues to drive up standards across the industry – We’re really looking forward to seeing what 2020 brings!”
Interested in getting your brand in front of 450 guests from stadia across the UK and Ireland? Find out more about sponsorship opportunities.
See more news about the 2020 Awards:
Host Venue Announced – September 2019
Carlsberg UK announced as Headline Sponsor – March 2020
2020 Awards Cancelled – May 2020
See the latest updates on The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards.
