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instead the great names that have influenced British business always needed support from the managing directors, purchasing managers and ruling bodies that can either throw a lifeline or a millstone. The Ageas Bowl avoided the millstone. “Part of KPMG’s original plan was to create what we are now calling a destination resort, so that, as well as a commercial business hotel, there will be an 18-hole golf course to add more leisure to that offering along with a 15,000-square foot spa and a restaurant. “There is clearly a big leisure market in this region because it is such a lovely part of the world, so this all links together as part of that wider plan and is a key part of our own corporate social responsibility and being a good neighbour to our local communities. “Hilton is an amazing global brand, and one of the things we wanted to attend to was that people should start saying ‘I am going to the Hilton at the Ageas’ or ‘I am going to watch cricket at the Ageas’. From a marketing perspective, it is taking time and I am aware that repetition is reputation and we just need to be consistent at how we deliver this. “We need to support the cross-selling of everything we have here and look at the different touchpoints that people have at the venue. It makes absolute sense to cross-
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“As we have seen with Twenty20, cricket can’t just stand alone anymore.”
reference each different side of the business and co-ordinate them rather than have disparate businesses, while delivering a hotel with Hilton as the first and foremost aim.” If such an enlightened approach starts to rub off on the rest of the region then there will no limit to how much support and investment the Ageas effect could attract. Robertson summarises it as “a thriving region”. “I had a meeting with the airport just before this interview and we were both talking about some real optimism,” he says. “They had just had more visitors than ever and it feels like a vibrant place and even when I first came down here I wasn’t aware of the friendly rivalry between Portsmouth and Southampton, which is a really good thing because there are cities vying for attention while we are surrounded by a leisure tourism market with the New Forest and South Downs on our doorstep. “Then, among all that, there are the speciality areas like maritime, aerospace and technology that will always remain here. It is a good place to be right now and we will play our part in that wherever we can.” There hardly needs to be more evidence of Robertson’s innovations, but just in case, let’s
look at Cage Cricket. This is a “street” version of the game, played inside a small fenced area on a pitch marked with coloured squares and targets on the walls. Everybody gets time in each position for this solo game, with points being gathered for targets hit or balls caught. “It was the brainchild of former Hampshire player Lawrence Prittipaul and Trevor McArdle, who had been talking about cricketing opportunities in the inner cities and was born as an opportunity to utilise existing play spaces,” he explains. “We were mentoring them a bit in the early days and I just loved the idea and was happy to lend my support where I could. As we have seen with Twenty20, cricket can’t just stand alone anymore.” He plays himself, but just for the wonderfully-named “Nomansland” village in the Hampshire Regional Division One South, on a pitch with four oak trees and a war memorial, where you can hit a six from one county into the next. That’s many people’s idea of perfect cricket, and it has its place at the heart of the game. But it – and UK plc – needs innovators like Robertson to see beyond the four oaks. n