Team!

This month our lovely boss David MacCallum did what lovely bosses do best – and opened his wallet. That’s right, the Sales Team ventured outside of the office for their first group outing for a little something we like to call team bonding.

Clearly, this is a 'before' photo.

Crazy Golf

Another crazy day in the office manning the phones whilst clients innundate us with last minute requests and questions about their hospitality at The Open tomorrow. There is a fantastic atmosphere in the office - we have 2 new sales guys and the room is a-buzz with golf-talk, furtive phone calls to the Events Team onsite at St Andrews and bigs whoops of joy as the bookings keep rolling in!

Whilst the actual tournament starts on Thursday 15th, Prestige are kicking things off early with our Sportsman's Dinner tomorrow evening - hosted by none other than past champion and Ryder Cup Captain Tony Jacklin. After mooching about watching the practice rounds, guests are invited to gather and watch past champions compete over 4 holes. Twenty seven of the 32 Open Champions will be playing, including Tiger Woods and Tom Watson. The Champions' Challenge tees off around 3.40pm and finishes at 6pm, then guests descend upon the Links Restaurant for a champagne and canape reception, followed by a sumptuous 4-course feast!

My colleagues David and Stuart are already onsite and I am extremely envious that they are attending the dinner (I love dinner). I tried to be sympathetic when Stuart called today to say he had already crashed his golf buggy - but I just couldn't rise above the jealousy (or fight the hysterical laughter).

Last minute sales have been incredible for the rest of the tournament - the phones have been none stop the past few days. The poor team are running around the site depositing tickets left right and centre, scoping out where the car parks are and generally just getting a handle on things; preparing for everyone's arrival. We have all been waiting for The Open to arrive, and it has finally come around!

The Road Hole Fine Dining Restaurant is a must-visit gourmet destination for all food lovers and with a Private chef cooking breakfast upon arrival they are definitely starting the day as they mean to go on. I also incidentally love breakfast in case you are wondering.

The Hospitality Village looks incredible and will look even better once it is full of people. There are private chalets, hospitality gardens, business centres - its like a little community. A mixture of clubhouse style facilities and a buzzy restaurant area, it is truly first class hospitality.

A Day at the Races

I am missing Ascot already! This year was absolutely stunning - the grass was its greenest, the sun was at its sunniest and hospitality was full to the rafters with beautifully dressed ladies and gentlemen.

Royal Ascot is synonymous with quality, style and excellence in providing unparalleled racing, hospitality and a memorable day out and I had the pleasure of attending as a punter on the Wednesday. I took my housemate Tash and friend of old, Georgie - neither of whom let me down on the dressing up front. No one needed telling twice to wear their very finest and it paid off - photgraphers loved our head-wear and I have been assured I am going to be made very famous in a highly regarded (?) publication in Norway ....

Royal Ascot hospitality provides the ultimate stage for the best racehorses in the world. The quality of the horseracing is simply outstanding, with over £4 million in prize money on offer and a total of seventeen "Group" races over the five days. Royal Ascot runs more group races than any other race meeting in the UK, including 7 Group Ones, the elite level of races, throughout the five days.

We managed to pick up a little something in each race and everything went into a kitty dubbed 'The Champagne Fund'. We were very giggly by the end of the day!

Golf doesn't get better than this

If you’re a golfing nut, there’s one thing you’re not going to want to miss. On the 14^th July, on the eve of The Open Championship at St Andrews, we’re hosting the ultimate in golfing events.

Tiger Woods, Tom Watson, Stewart Cink and Seve Ballesteros are just four of the 28 golfing greats who’ll battle it out across the 1^st, 2^nd, 17^th and 18^th holes on the Old Course.

After watching them play, sit back and enjoy a champagne reception and sumptuous four-course Sportsman’s Dinner, hosted by BBC’s John Inverdale, at The R&A Links Restaurant behind the 1st tee.

And, for the perfect finish to the day, Tony Jacklin, one of the greats of British golf, will be our very special guest speaker.

For more information about the Sportsman’s Dinner at the Champions’ Challenge, click here or call +44(0)844 3710883.

And, if you’re following us on Facebook or Twitter, we’ve got an exclusive offer for this event, so follow us now to keep in the loop. 

The place to be seen daaarling!

Well its been a few weeks since the RHS Chelsea Flower Show and pretty soon I will have to change my tune and talk about another event - but not yet!

As you may or may not know (depending on how many of my blogs you have read - eh hem!), this was the first year that I headed up the sales for the event - adopting Chelsea as my own project from the sales and marketing, fulfilment to some operational support onsite. Happily, I can say that this was our best year yet on the sales front - a testimony to changing times in the economy, the continued focus on hospitality as a indispensible business tool and of course, the phenomenal popularity of the show.

It was great to see so many old faces (not necessarily indicative of the age of my clients) - and I was delighted to welcome many new ones to the village this year. We had a lot of first timers and so this made it even more exciting for me, watching the picture I paint before hand become a reality for those who have never attended before.

For those of you who have not yet had the pleasure of seeing the village yourselves it can best be described as a peaceful haven, away from the hustle and bustle of the show. Pavilions are nestled in a private garden, in an L-shape; scattered with garden furniture and parasols, with wooden decking, water features and local artwork. Typically you will find hospitality guests chatting in the sunshine - Pimm's in hand and the summery tones of the Spanish guitar in the air.

Client feedback was universally glowing with a focus on the fantastic food and attentive service - and having witnessed the hard work of the events team behind the scenes it was my absolute pleasure to forward on the many complimentary and appreciative emails received from clients around the Prestige team.

Lots of early starts and late nights, several laps around the show ground daily - and I confess the odd glass of champers or Pimm's with a client or two - made for a very broken Lorraine by the end of the week; but I loved it. There is nothing better than witnessing first-hand all your plans and hard work come to fruition - and there is a lovely sense of fellowship onsite between us Prestigers that comes with sleep deprivation!

The Open Championship Hospitality gets social

With just a month to go to The Open Championship golf at St Andrews, we’re getting social. So, to keep up with all the latest golfing news, or to have a chat with fellow golf fans, join us on our Open Golf Championship Facebook page and The Open Hospitality Twitter feed.

And, we’ve just announced a very special hospitality deal, only available to our fans on Facebook and Twitter. To find out more, head on over to Facebook or Twitter - but you’ll need to be quick as spaces are limited!

Click here for more information on all of our hospitality packages for The Open Championship.

The best Chelsea Flower Show video we've found

We think this video shows off the exciting nature of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show perfectly.  So sit back, relax, and enjoy the cacophony of sound and colour that only Chelsea can provide.