Golf is the fifth largest sport in England and approximately 1.15m people play golf at least once a month. England Golf, the governing body for golf in England, supports clubs to encourage membership and promote accessibility. The sport has recognised that it needs to diversify in order to appeal to a wider audience. To support this goal, LCMB analysed socio-demographic data to identify the type of facilities that customers need, mapping this information against existing facilities to target future Facilities Management investments.
England Golf facilities strategy
Summary
Situations
Golf club membership is in decline and the sport needs to re-align the facilities on offer to appeal to a wider range of customers. The governing body for the sport in England, England Golf, needed to take stock of existing services across the country and then compare those against the facilities required at a local level. This gap analysis would then be used to identify the key priorities for investment in new and improved golf club facilities, satisfying golfers’ needs, growing the game and creating a more sustainable network of clubs.
Actions
- LCMB engaged with a diverse range of stakeholders from across the game to research the existing ‘state of play’.
- Customer segmentation research and socio-demographic data were analysed to develop an understanding of the supply and demand profile at a national, regional and club level.
- The required and desired facilities mix was established and mapped against existing services.
- The on-line mapping tool was ‘sense checked’ in a regional trial.
- Clubs were provided with key considerations for facilities seeking to cater to different customer requirements.
Benefits
- An interactive online mapping tool which allows England Golf and clubs to analyse the golfing landscape and identify the likely demand within a catchment area to support informed investment, development and marketing decisions.
- Customer focus is key and in conjunction with the mapping tool, golfer profiles were created illustrating what each customer is looking for in terms of facilities. This allows clubs to define and analyse their place in the market, review their offering and adapt their approach and initiatives.
- Essential facilities were reviewed to identify the facilities needed to grow the game, develop better players and offer the right levels of competitive golf.
Challenges and Achievements
Collaborative Working
LCMB brought in-depth knowledge of the FM sphere to the project and the England Golf team contributed expert understanding of the golfing game and its customers. The result was a close collaboration and exchange of experience that produced a practical approach to identifying the investments needed in facilities, built exclusively around the requirements of the customer.
Multiple levels of detail
Insights required to target facilities investments were required at different levels of detail. At a macro scale to provide a national picture for England Golf and at a regional and local level to inform the provision of new services for individual clubs. The concept of a mapping tool met this requirement for varying degrees of detail and in addition allowed clubs to test out different investment ideas based on their local market and knowledge about what facilities those customers needed.
LCMB really understood the brief and took time and effort to engage a broad number of stakeholders, all of which was essential to ensure the success of the project. Their facility knowledge and understanding the need for a customer focussed approach has given us some excellent tools and resources as well as a strategy”.
Abbie Lench, Head of Club Support
Find out more
LCMB improves the financial and environmental sustainability of buildings and estates, and the productivity and well-being of the people using them. We do this by reducing building operating costs, energy used and improving building space and its’ utilisation. We offer Workplace Performance, Facilities Management, Project Management and Resource optimisation support.
Amongst others our clients include King’s College London, Birmingham Airport, Tata Technologies, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Bouygues Energies & Services.
