Enter Now – The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2024
The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2024 are now open for entry. The awards recognise and reward the efforts and dedication shown by the catering, hospitality and events teams at UK stadium venues (football, rugby and cricket). There are 14 different categories available to enter, including two new.
The awards will close for entry on Wednesday 27th March 2024, with the results announced at the prestigious awards evening on Thursday 4th July 2024. The 17th annual awards will be hosted at Elland Road, home of Leeds United Football Club. Over 400 guests from stadium venues across the UK will be welcomed to experience fine dining, awards ceremony, followed by onsite after party until 4am. Tickets for the event are now on sale, and start from just £110 each – Book Tickets.
The 2024 Categories
*NEW* Above & Beyond Recognition Award
Sponsored by Taste Beverages
This award recognises those individuals or teams who are simply outstanding at what they do, and continuously shine. This can be something as part of their regular duties, or perhaps focusing on supporting the local community or business recovery from challenging times – Judged by independent panel of judges
*NEW* Stadium Event of the Year Award
Sponsored by Rational UK
This award recognises the very best stadium event held in the last year. Judges are specifically looking for a stadium venue which has displayed exceptional venue facilities and outstanding guest experiences – Judged by independent panel of judges
Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award
Sponsored by Chefs & Events Staffing
This award is based on a mystery shopper corporate/business event sales enquiry call and follow up correspondence, which will be made during Spring 2024 – Judged by VCA Consulting UK
Matchday Sales Team of the Year Award
Sponsored by iVvy Venues
This award recognises the very best matchday sales team in UK stadium venues. Entries will demonstrate strategies for growth, brave new ideas, and overcoming challenges – Judged by independent panel of judges
Non-Matchday Sales Team of the Year Award
Sponsored by Special Occasion Linen
This award recognises the very best non-matchday sales team in UK stadium venues. Entries will demonstrate strategies for growth, new ideas for unique and different events, creative use of their spaces, and overcoming challenges – Judged by independent panel of judges
Best Retail Catering Award
Sponsored by Rollover Hotdogs
This award recognises the best retail catering teams at stadia across the UK. This team will demonstrate commercial growth, high quality food offerings or proactive sustainability improvements – Judged by independent panel of judges
Operations Team of the Year Award
Sponsored by Braehead Foods
This award recognises the often unseen behind-the-scenes teams that make stadium events run so smoothly, going above and beyond the call of duty to provide the very best service to customers – Judged by independent panel of judges
Chef Team of the Year Award
Sponsored by Chef Works & Bragard
A live theatre chef competition at the HRC Event. Chef teams have one hour to prepare, cook and present a three-course menu suitable for their Club Chairman to entertain the Head of the FA or RFU to dinner – Judged by Salon Culinaire
Visiting Rugby Directors Award
This award is voted for by Directors at each rugby club. They are asked to consider the welcome, service and catering when casting their votes – Judged by Rugby Club Directors
Visiting Football Directors Award
Sponsored by FC Business
This award is voted for by Directors at each football club. They are asked to consider the welcome, service and catering when casting their votes – Judged by Football Club Directors
Matchday Hospitality Awards
Small Stadium – Sponsor TBC
Medium Stadium – Sponsor TBC
Large Stadium – Sponsored by ACME
Experienced chef and hospitality experts attend your venue to try out your matchday offering. Each element is carefully considered and scored against strict criteria. This category is split into 3 (small, medium and large) based on the number of hospitality seats on a matchday – Judged by industry experts with over 20 years experience in the chef and hospitality industries.
Overall Matchday Hospitality Award
By entering the Matchday Hospitality Award, your venue will also be submitted into the Overall Matchday Hospitality Award, which competes all venues against all, regardless of size.
Independent Awards Judging
Each category is independently judged by experienced industry experts. Some categories are voted for by stadium directors, VCA Consulting UK will judge the Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award, and others are decided by teams of experts with many years of experience in their fields.
The majority of categories are judged by a panel of experts who submit their first, second and third placed votes in each category using strict criteria. The votes convert to scores, with the highest scoring venues winning the top awards. The judging panel for 2024 includes:
- Juliet Price, Executive Director at Beam
- Kevin Howland, Head of Partnerships at FC Business
- Andrew Perolls, Chief Executive at Greengage Solutions
- Kerrin MacPhie, Chief Executive at MIA
- Craig Prentice, Founder at mum
- Karen Guile, Director at tobook and Search4Venues
- Shirley Wynne-Jones, Event Director at SWJ Events
- Andy Lakin, Venue Sales Manager at venuedirectory.com
The Matchday Hospitality Awards are judged separately, lead by Head Judge, Rod Bowker. As Head Judge, Rod creates an expert team of judges, each with over 20 years of experience in the chef and hospitality industries. The judges attend matchday hospitality experiences and complete a full and comprehensive report on every aspect of their visit.
Debbie Rigney, Marketing & PR Manager for Stadium Experience and awards organiser, commented: “We are thrilled to be officially launching The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards for 2024! The awards recognise and reward the very best in the stadium industry. We have listened to the feedback and added two great new categories, as well as some new faces in the judging teams. We’re really looking forward to celebrating in Leeds for the first time ever next summer!”
Find out more about The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2024.
See more about awards sponsorship opportunities for 2024.
Related News:
- Nominations for The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2024
- Global Payments to headline sponsor The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2024
- The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2024 – Meet The Judges
- Stadium Experience Teams Up With VCA Consulting UK
- The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2024 to be hosted in Leeds
