Novus: Olympics another Christmas

Tiger Tiger operator Novus Leisure believes the London Olympics can be "another Christmas" and has targeted an extra £20m worth of sales over a six week period — translating to around a £7.5m profit boost.

Speaking at the M&C Report and Morning Advertiser's Getting in Shape for 2012, sales director Rupert Macfarlane said the Olympics would form a "pivotal" part of its business strategy in 2012 as it expects its bookings to treble across its 27 London venues.

It is also in talks to acquire the 19 Balls Brothers​ sites from administration.

"We get a 20% uplift in sales at Christmas," he said. "I expect the Olympics will be similar to that. It is another Christmas for us in the middle of the year when we are at our quietest — and it can't snow."

Relationships​

Novus has been planning for the Olympics for over 12 months by building up relationships with booking agents, tourist organisations, event management companies and working with existing suppliers who are involved in the Olympics, such as Coca-Cola.

It has also held talks with Westminster Council over licensing and involved itself in Business Improvement Districts (BIDs)

Novus views the Olympics as an opportunity to target a new customer base who may not have otherwise used their venues. That is why it also wants to achieve a 85% customer advocacy score to ensure a high number of repeat visits.

New customers​

It will offer a range of 10 different price points on food and drink deals as well as corporate hospitality packages and full venue hire. It will launch the packages on its pre-booking website latenightlondon.co.uk​ this week. "The hope is we create a legacy and we open out to a new type of customer — for example the corprorate and tourist market."

However, Macfarlane stressed there would be many challenges ahead such as if the new customers will be enough to replace the expected exodus of London regulars and recruitment and wage expectations of staff.