Corporate hospitality packages hit for six at new Edgbaston stand

EDGBASTON cricket ground’s new £32m facilities have proved an immediate hit with businesses, with the venue’s hospitality provider announcing record sales of corporate hospitality packages in the run-up to the new stand’s Test Match debut.

The new stand will be officially opened next month and its first big event will be the 3rd npower Test Match between England and India, which takes place between August 10 and 14.

Hospitality provider Keith Prowse said more packages for the Friday of the match – August 12 – have been sold than for the third day of any fixture in the history of the ground.

The firm said it was seeing a clamour for places as firms competed to be the first to hold corporate events within the new facilities, which have been developed over the last two years.

England’s on-field success and the strong support for the game within the Asian community, plus the likelihood of star batsman Sachin Tendulkar playing his last Test Match in England had all added to the occasion, it added.

Popular entertaining options taken up by firms from the Midlands – as well as further afield – include the new Jaguar Club and Superboxes, which will provide guests with a champagne reception, four-course lunch and expert analysis from cricket celebrity guest speakers throughout the day.

Keith Prowse, together with Warwickshire County Cricket Club, is aiming to establish the venue as a corporate entertainment hub for Birmingham and the surrounding area.

Ted Walker, head of marketing for the firm, said: “We are very pleased with the response to the new range of entertaining options now on offer at Edgbaston. We aim to demonstrate to local businesses the benefits of face-to-face time in an environment which offers the exhilaration of world class sport and hospitality.”