The John Smith’s Stadium – Huddersfield Giants Rugby Club / Huddersfield Town Football Club nominated in the Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2023
The John Smith’s Stadium – Huddersfield Giants Rugby Club / Huddersfield Town Football Club nominated in the Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2023
Stadium Experience is pleased to announce that The John Smith’s Stadium – Huddersfield Giants Rugby Club / Huddersfield Town Football Club has been nominated for the following awards in The Stadium Events & Hospitality Awards 2023:
- Visiting Football Directors Award
- Visiting Rugby Directors Award
- Matchday Hospitality Award – Small Stadium
- Overall Matchday Hospitality Award
The awards, sponsored by Global Payments Inc. and Hungrrr, will take place at St. Mary’s Stadium, home to Southampton FC on Thursday 8th June 2023. Around 350 guests from 40+ clubs will experience a fine dining three course menu, awards ceremony, followed by an exclusive onsite after party until 4am. 2023 will be the 16th annual awards event organized by Stadium Experience.
The prestigious event aims to recognise the efforts and dedication shown by the catering, conference andevents teams at every football and rugby stadium across the UK. There will be a total of 14 different award categories presented on the evening, including:
Outstanding Contribution Award – Sponsored by Taste Beverages
This award recognises those individuals or teams that are simply outstanding at what they do, and
continuously shine. This may be someone at the start of their career, making great strides in their roles, or someone in a more senior role leading the way in excellence.
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.
Matchday Sales Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by iVvy Venues
This award recognises the best matchday sales team in stadium venues across the UK. Judges are
specifically looking for teams demonstrating consistent growth and using new ideas to drive sales and cross-selling.
Non-Matchday Sales Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Special Occasion Linen
This award recognises the best non-matchday sales team in stadium venues across the UK. Judges are specifically looking for teams demonstrating consistent growth, using new ideas to create unique and different events, whilst also providing value for money and overcoming any challenges.
Non-Matchday Mystery Shopper Award – Sponsored by Hi-Impact Media
Judged by HGEM, this is based on a mystery shopper corporate/business event sales enquiry call and follow up email correspondence made to participating venues.
Best Stadium Events Venue Award – Sponsored by Rational
This award recognises the very best stadium events venue within the UK. Judges are specifically looking for a stadium venue which consistently displays exceptional venue facilities and outstanding guest experiences.
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. Judges are looking for teams which go above and beyond the call of duty to provide the very best service to customers.
Chef Team of the Year Award – Sponsored by Chef Works UK & Bragard
This award is judged by Salon Culinaire chefs as part of the live kitchen event at the HRC Event at ExCel in London. Chefs teams had 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.
Visiting Directors Awards – Football & Rugby – Sponsored by FC Business & Conference News
The Visiting Directors Award categories are voted for by Directors at each club. They are asked to nominate the club where they had the best away experience when travelling with their team. They are specifically asked to consider the welcome, service and catering when casting their votes. There will be an award for both rugby and football venues.
Matchday Hospitality Award – Sponsored by Chefs & Events Staffing
Reported by professional Salon Culinaire chef judges who experience hospitality at UK clubs this season using strict criteria. This is divided by size of hospitality offering with an award for:
- Matchday Hospitality Award – Small Stadium (up to 1000 hospitality seats)
- Matchday Hospitality Award – Medium Stadium (1001 – 2000 hospitality seats)
- Matchday Hospitality Award – Large Stadium (2001+ hospitality seats)
- Overall Matchday Hospitality Award – Presented by Global Payments Inc. and Hungrrr.
This award pitches all sized clubs against all, to announce the overall winning UK stadium.
Stadium Experience Chair Person, Collette Salmon, commented: “Stadium teams work tirelessly, striving to bring excellence in their venues for both matchday hospitality and non-matchday events. These awards aim to recognise and celebrate all of this hard work and commitment. Congratulations and best of luck to all of this year’s award nominees – We look forward to announcing the results at Southampton FC on 8th June!”
More information on the awards, and tickets for the event are available online at –
