Who would have thought this time last year that today’s easing of COVID restrictions would ever become a thing? As a reminder, 24 February 2022 in England* means the lifting of self-isolation restrictions if you test positive – and the rules applicable to the mandatory wearing of face masks was lifted earlier on in the month. In summary, as we shift from a pandemic into an endemic, there’s now a plan in place for UK citizens to live with COVID-19.
Roll the clock back to March 2021 and lockdown; as a business we found ourselves in freefall. Guinness Six Nations at Twickenham Stadium the month beforehand went ahead, but the stadium was free from spectators, and sporting events across the country were slowly but surely cancelled – quite rightly the country’s emphasis was on the population’s health and safety, especially protecting essential, front-line staff – forms of entertainment took a back seat. With the wholehearted support of the rights holders we represent, Keith Prowse quickly developed a transparent ‘money back guarantee badge’, which was accompanied by robust cancellation and refund FAQs. These were uploaded to our website, communicated quickly to our database and every customer – and there were quite a few of them – was contacted by phone to discuss their options, being a full refund, switch to the same event a year’s hence or retain money on account. The fact that Guinness Six Nations fixtures at Twickenham in February and March ’22 sold out weeks in advance is a clear indication that the desire to experience live sport, to mingle with like-minded fans - to just have a good day out – is in high demand (and long may that continue)! We can’t wait to meet and greet our hospitality guests in the coming months and a heartfelt thank you to each and every customer for putting your trust in us to deliver against our official promise:
Enter present day: the COVID badges, alongside supporting FAQs, are still in place, there to provide ongoing customer confidence that if on the advice of government an event is cancelled, or takes place behind closed doors, money is safe and refundable or transferable. To re-emphasise, business as usual, every customer that books with us does so in line with our Terms and Conditions which can be found on our website, and are made clear at the point of purchase; cancellation policies are transparent.
As a provider of official hospitality experiences, we uphold to a booking code-of-practice and this short read should answer any questions you may have as to what this means.
*Slightly different parameters apply in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland.