The hiatus in normal Hall activity during the pandemic provided us with an opportunity to prepare ourselves to take advantage of future opportunities, and to make improvements to the Hall itself. With most people now searching for venues online, we upgraded our website and put in place an online booking system so that potential hirers can see when the Hall is available and make a reservation. As site visits were impossible, local media studies student Will Fleming made a promotional video of the Hall which includes drone footage and a walk-through of the Hall’s facilities. This has proved very popular and has been a big help in securing party bookings.
To help would-be hall hirers find us, we improved our positioning on Google and on numerous wedding and venue search sites. We launched a modest paid-for advertising programme with Google, focusing on weddings and children’s parties. This is paying off very well; more than 40% of our wedding and party sales now come from Google, with most of the balance being from recommendations or people who know the Hall already.
Inside the Hall, the new oven, taps and cupboards were fitted in the kitchen. New, brighter LED lights were installed in the Main Hall. We purchased a new point of sale system to allow us to take card payments; this is also giving us helpful sales data and is making stock management much easier.
We installed a prototype digital noticeboard in the Hall, replacing a fairly chaotic set of hard-copy notices with a smart screen containing information about clubs, classes, future social events, village news and pictures. After the end of the financial year, we replaced this with a new 65in screen inside an elegant frame made from Thedden Oak. This can be taken over by hirers to show family photographs or a welcome to their guests.