Peter Salvage was appointed as the club's first Chief Executive Officer at the beginning of February and in this exclusive interview he brings us up to date on the projects he has undertaken and some of the successes in that period.
Salvage has a wealth of sporting and business experience both locally and nationally, which includes a period as a professional footballer with both Chelsea and Wimbledon, as well as various management and board positions in general industry. More recently he held the post of Sales and Marketing Manager with the Atrium Health and Fitness Club in Cambridge.
Following a three month period with the club as a management consultant, Peter was officially appointed as the club's CEO on 1st February, and he recently gave a detailed interview to U's World to bring us up to date with the projects he has worked on since then.
The list of successes so far includes improvements to the administration and accounting methods, better access to the club via extended opening hours for the ticket office and club shop, networking in the Cambridge business community to increase awareness and use of the hospitality facilities, more efficient match day catering, and several new sponsorships for the Youth Development scheme, which he describes as the 'lifeblood' of Cambridge United.
One of the first areas Peter assessed during his consultancy was the club's administration and accounting methods, and his subsequent recommendations have resulted in alterations to the layout of the offices and the telephone system to improve the way the staff relate to each other, the office facilities, and the public.
"It's meant a physical restructuring, in terms of knocking offices around and moving people around within that new structure, and I think the outcome has been positive," he commented.
"In terms of the accounting functions, as a management tool they are far more up to date than they have been for a long time. We now get information through the accounts office of a meaningful nature in a very short period of time, which enables us to respond as and where we need. Things like credit control and purchasing procedures are far more tightly controlled than they have been historically."
Another 'backroom' function has been to assess the stadium management and safety side of the club's operation, working closely with Stadium Manager Ian Darler.
"There are things that I'm sure Ian would confirm have moved forward in a very positive way;" Peter continued. "Things which aren't necessarily very easy to quantify in financial terms, like the stewarding and the FA documentation requirements.
"For instance, if we don't have certain procedures in place in a documented format and updated on a regular basis, the FA would be well within their remit to reduce our capacity, so these things are important.
"We're training stewards on an ongoing basis with some degree of regularity and the issuing of FSQ certificates to stewards, which is important and recognises the contribution the stewards make, is now well and truly up to date, so there are lots of areas within the stadium management that have improved."
Whilst the changes discussed so far have happened mainly in the background, Peter has also tried to improve access to the public face of the club, especially via the club shop, which is now open five days a week and on match days for sales of club merchandise and also tickets.
"By restructuring the office and redirecting the way the telephones are used and answered, we've hopefully made the club more accessible to the supporters," he added.
"The shop is an example. It is now open five days a week - six days including match days - and that has made a difference in terms of revenue. But it's not just about revenue; it's also about being accessible to the people that support us 52 weeks of the year, so from an administration point of view things have moved forward very well in a relatively short period of time."
These changes and improvements have been achieved without taking on more staff, but by reallocating existing resources instead, as he explained.
"The majority of things that needed to be implemented were already in the minds of the managers and people that have been with the club for a long time. There is an enormous depth of experience here. There are people here with ten, fifteen and twenty years experience with the club, and it's really been a case of trying to facilitate a means by which those ideas can be taken forward."
Returning to the subject of ticket sales, Peter acknowledges that making tickets available further in advance was a direct reaction to observations voiced by shareholders at the club's Annual General Meeting in January, when he was first introduced to the supporters.
"We've addressed that and tickets are now available far further in advance than they ever have been at the club, and that's in response to questions that were asked when I was unveiled at the AGM, when Gary (Harwood) described me as not being as expensive as most Chief Executives - which is I think a nice way of saying 'cheap', I think!" he smiled.
In addition to those changes on the administration side, Peter has also spent a great deal of time working with Catering Manager Julie Wright and Head Chef Tom Colding to raise the profile of the catering and functions facilities at the Abbey Stadium.
"I think it's obvious to everybody that we need to maximise the earning potential of the facilities that we have, and one of the biggest earning potentials we have are the hospitality and catering functions - specifically the Ruston Room and the Harris Suite," he commented.
"Part of our business development plan for those areas was to engage ourselves with the Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Small Businesses, and the networking facilities they offer to members.
"The level of enquiries and the number of bookings that we've had as a consequence has exceeded any of our expectations. We've already had more bookings so far this year than we had in the whole of last year, so that gives you some indication of the financial benefits of those efforts."
Peter was pleased to add that the club has secured a very high profile event, which will be hosted at the Abbey Stadium later this month.
"The Chamber of Commerce have a series of networking dinners and they will be holding one here at the club this month," he continued, "when Cambridge United Football Club will have the opportunity of addressing about 150 local businesses and explaining what Cambridge United is all about. That's a really big opportunity for us, and it's also quite a big 'earner' for us in terms of revenue."
Peter hopes this will be just the first of a series of functions to make the most of Cambridge United's unique position in the community, and he is working with Julie Wright to attract individuals, organisations and businesses that may never previously have considered the Abbey Stadium as a venue.
He was pleased to report that Sawston United Football Club of the Kershaw Premier Division are the first local club to host their sporting dinner at the Abbey, with 150 guests dining and listening to speaker Graham Roberts, the ex-Spurs, Chelsea and Rangers defender.
If you would like to learn more about hospitality and functions at the Abbey Stadium, please contact Julie Wright on 01223 729209 or e-mail functions@cambridge-united.co.uk
Still on a catering theme, Peter was delighted to report on a success story with the tea bars. Early in the season there were grumbles from supporters about the length of the queues at some matches, or the lack of food once they reached the head of the queue, but he feels those problems are in the past.
"The tea bars have probably been the biggest success. But that hasn't happened by chance; that's happened because we've looked at the problems we've had with the tea bars, which were principally related to capacity, when we simply ran out of product.
"For the game against Southend on Boxing Day, when we attracted 6,000 people, we set out our stall to ensure that we didn't run out of product in the tea bars, that they didn't close early, that they were staffed adequately, and that people had access to them from the start of the game right through to the end, not just at the prime periods.
"The revenue from the tea bars increased dramatically as a consequence and that trend has continued. If you monitor revenue against the number of people who have come through the turnstiles, there has been an increase in contribution per person in excess of 50% over a three-month period.
"So if we get roughly 4,200 people here for roughly 25 games a season that's a very serious additional contribution, and that's all credit to Julie Wright and her staff implementing the ideas that they had. All I've done is try to facilitate those ideas and move them in the right direction," he added.
As well as working behind the scenes within the club to get things moving more smoothly and efficiently, Peter has set his sights on raising the club's profile in the business community and the Youth Development Department is already reaping the benefits of networking.
A recently-negotiated package means Suzuki will supply three cars for Youth Development for the next two seasons, local companies CBS Communications and Sports Mania have sponsored four of the youth sides for the next two seasons, and the programme printers have agreed a £6,000 package to sponsor the under-19s for the next two seasons.
"The under-19s is pretty much the youth development 'flag ship'," Peter added. "They are our life blood so these additional finances that are going into youth development, partially through some of the work we're doing with the Chamber of Commerce and the Small Business Federation, have a very meaningful contribution to make.
"We've also developed a relationship with Sainsbury's on Coldham's Lane, and we've generated several thousand pounds through their help. In January and February, as you might remember from the website and programme notes, we sent teams to Germany and Denmark, and we generated that money through (bag-packing at) Sainsbury's to fund those trips.
"So that's an indication of how we're using networking to benefit the club in the broadest sense of the word."
Although it is clear from this interview that Peter has been busy during his first four months as CEO, some supporters have asked about his low public profile and he explained that he regards his role as a background one:
"I don't like banging my chest and I don't particularly enjoy standing in front of microphones and cameras, but yes I see my role being in the background," he responded.
"I keep using this word 'facilitate', but I think we have lots of people who are better in the press and on camera than I am and if I can play a part in making things better and making things happen, and giving us a better profile and a more marketable series of facilities through which we can generate finances, then I'm quite happy to sit in the background and let other people take the plaudits. I've got no problems with that concept and in fact I quite enjoy that."
Asked for a brief summary of his current and future projects, Peter concluded, "Some of the projects we're working on in the short-term include initiatives to reduce costs like the telephones - both landlines and mobiles - which will have a fairly significant benefit to the club and will save us several hundreds of pounds a month.
"We're networking the computer systems at the moment, and we're working with several local companies - Tesco for instance, who have been our Family Stand sponsor for some time. We're looking at a package that will ensure that Tesco are part of the future of Cambridge United Football Club for the next two seasons and there are lots of things of that type that are going through the summer.
"But most of all it's about trying to gain the same sort of support that the supporters gave us last summer with season tickets. That's the big push at the moment, and between now and the start of next season it's clearly an important contribution that the supporters can make."
To supplement this interview, which is the first of a regular series of updates from the CEO, Peter has agreed to answer your questions in a Q&A for the website. You can send your questions via the address below, but he would also like to receive your suggestions or comments, as he explained:
"There are so many supporters who know far more of the history of the club and how the club works, and have ideas about how the club can be taken forward. I'm more than happy not just to answer questions but also to take on board the ideas that people may have that might benefit the club, no matter how small or trivial they might be.
"I'm not suggesting I can answer all of them or get them all instigated overnight but I'd certainly welcome any contribution people can make."
E-mail your questions or suggestions for Peter via the usual address before 6th June, and read the answers here. Please write Q&A in the subject line of your message, and include your name (or nickname) and town.
To listen to the full, exclusive interview with Peter, log onto U's World.
Previous Main Features:
28Apr03 - The Moose Unveiled
24Feb03 - An Intro To New Physio Ant Coole
11Jan03 - The Management - One Year On
07Dec02 - The Chairman's Column - An Update
09Sep02 - Abbey Gates At Ten Year High
08Aug02 - What's In Store? A Look At The Season Ahead
12Jul02 - Harwood: There's Good And Bad News
14May02- Summer At The Abbey Stadium
02May02- Family Day A Huge Success
21Apr02 - Fans Groups Call For Direct Action
06Apr02 - League Chairman Thanks Fans For Support
30Mar02 - ITV Digital - Crowd Statistics & Viewing Figures
24Mar02 - LDV Vans Trophy Final Photo Feature
17Mar02 - Follow The U's To Cardiff!
10Mar02 - Away Day Blues
03Mar02 - The Best Of The Best?
24Feb02 - The Future of Football?
17Feb02 - U's Fans On Sky TV's Soccer AM
10Feb02 - U's Fans Feature On ITV Digital Quiz
20Jan02 - U's Players Get Darth Vader Treatment
13Jan02 - Kit Carson Explains His 'Head of Talent Development' Role
05Jan02 - Dale Brooks Enjoying New Role
04Dec01 - U's Players Try Out Premiership Physio Machine
10Nov01 - U's Launch New Away Kit
Make Your Click Count - chat about it on the new look Message Board!
More U's News || Mobile Zone || Q&A || The Main Feature || Newsletter || Abbeybet
You are respectfully reminded that any article, as with all content on this website (unless otherwise stated), is subject to copyright and the Official Cambridge United Website must be acknowledged as the original source.
