FEBRUARY | SECTOR FOCUS
BARS
Bar Nation shares industry expertise and cashless bars are examined
BAR NATION TOAST TO THE
FUTURE
Dale Bowers, senior project
manager, Bar Nation and Access
Next Generation award winner
There have been some
massive changes over the past
12 and 24 months. I think the
one that is at the forefront of
everyone’s mind and lips is
around environmental. It is no
secret that bars can produce a
huge amount of waste on sites
with cups, packaging etc, and
this year has set a real precedent
going forward about tackling
this but not just tackling it,
making sure that it is known to
be tackled.
Half of the environmental
battle is making sure that people
are aware of what you are doing
and the reasons for it, not just
assuming. Secondly a massive
change we have seen this year
is the increased knowledge and
expectations of the customer.
Everyone now expects festivals
to produce a vaster array of
drinks, including ales, cocktails
etc, a real premiumisation. You
46
can see festivals and companies
that are not willing to move
forward with this trend are
dropping off like flies.
In the festival industry
everyone knows everyone and
everyone goes to everyone else’s
festival.
With the production at
shows like All Points East
and Houghton clear to see,
organisers are wanting to re-
create, re-invent and ultimately
out produce other shows, which
does also sell tickets. As a bar
operator, we have really had
to (happily) up the feel and
offerings on our bars.
Be it custom-made frontages
from the likes of Fables or
bringing in local craft breweries
with shire horses and truck,
aesthetics and the offering are
paramount for organisers and
the customer experience. But
as a positive spin from this, the
customer experience has really
increased at festivals and so
have the revenues alongside this.
We have changed our
technique massively over the
last year or two. Previously all
business had come through
word of mouth (and a lot still
does), but we are now much
more proactive in seeking new
business and potential shows
we would like to work alongside.
Without giving too much away,
we have a very simple three-part
process which is identify, access
and convert.
CASHLESS BARS
Olly Goddard, formerly head of
ticketing, touring and festivals
at Broadwick Live/Global, has
joined Weezevent as country
manager for the UK, and he’s
already championing the use of
cashless at bars and festivals.
Goddard will spearhead
Weezevent’s push into the
British market, as the French
RFID/cashless payments
provider continues to grow
internationally. He said: “I
am delighted to be joining
Weezevent and look forward to
working with this innovative
company to help futureproof
the UK festival scene. Cashless
technology is emerging as a
feature of everyday life, from
paying for tube journeys to
buying a sandwich, and its
importance will only grow.
“With high turnovers amassed
in relatively short periods of
time, festivals can benefit greatly
from a switch to cashless, and
indeed a number of events have
already done so. Our technology
can improve the customer
experience, save festivals time
and money, and give organisers
access to data-driven event
management tools.
“Starting immediately, I am
looking forward to working with
a wide variety of festivals in the
UK to help them benefit from
Weezevent’s system to operate
leaner, more dynamic events,
replicating the success that we
have already seen in France.”