Bio
The BHF Priory Centre is a multi-purpose venue; a true asset to the local community of Barnsley.
Now known for its stellar event spaces and catering, it’s a place that transforms any gathering into a memorable experience.
Whether you’re celebrating a milestone for the family or business, brainstorming the next big idea in the co-working pods, or hosting events for local groups in the area.
The venue hosts nine meeting rooms and event spaces, has an onsite kitchen to accommodate all of your catering requirements, and an award-winning events team.
Ensuring it’s a local venue you can trust for the local community and people of Barnsley.
What was the scenario before you started working together (what were they feeling/struggling with)
The BHF Priory Centre was at a crossroads in their marketing and events strategy for the federation as a whole.
We needed to increase profitability, and we simply had preconceptions to what the venue was due to the impact of the pandemic, and we had just under-taken a refurbishment, to bring the facility into the 21st century.
But we simply needed to know how to fill the space and how to increase footfall into the BHF Priory Centre.
We had tried the employment route of BDM and Sales support, but this simply did not bring in the results we needed, as we needed to find a level of support that could offer us a comprehensive strategy based on market research, to identify our ideal target audience and groups to market more effectively too, to increase footfall and capacity of the event space.
What were your goals?
Our main goal was a need to understand the potential of the building under meeting rooms and events, what can be done, who is the audience and how you reach them.
To gain a deeper understanding of pricing and how to maximise return on each event to increase revenue and become known as a local events space for the local community and people of Barnsley.
On a financial basis we wanted to increase our turnover, as the BHF was made up on five key elements and we wished to generate a further 100,000 in revenue from our event spaces and increase in revenue.
Why did they choose to work with you?
We chose to work with Ask Zoe, due to the support she provided our BDM and Sales Team, out in the local network. She was trusted, well experienced and took the time to understand the bigger picture. Including the impact this would have on a holistic level for our team.
Zoe became an extension of our team, and we feel we made the right choice, not just due to the results created by Ask Zoe but because of what Zoe is like as a person.
How was the process?
The process was easy to follow, after knowing Zoe through our local network.
We had already built-up trust for a couple of months before engaging in conversations around support and we knew we wanted to work with Zoe on this area of the business.
As footfall and events are niche industries that Ask Zoe support, and as a multipurpose venue and business model, this was a perfect fit.
By allowing us to look at how events can increase foot fall and capacity into our venue, and in turn grow our revenue, brand awareness and visibility.
Ask Zoe also brought a local supply chain into help the venue in multiple areas, whether this be for advice or supply.
Some key examples of this, were BAW Creative, Slice Solutions Ltd, Barnsley Hospice, Barnsley and Rotherham Chamber of Commerce, IMUK and so much more.
To illustrate some key milestones this support has produced would be:
- £10-12,000 PCM in Events Revenue
- Keep It Local in Partnership with Barnsley Hospice
- Brand Positioning and 4 New Websites with New Brand Identities
- IMUK Hub Launch
- 4N Barnsley Business Expo
- Ask Zoe Small Business Awards
Overall, would you recommend the Ask Zoe? …
The simple answer would be Yes, but honestly, we cannot sing Zoe’s praises enough for making the impossible, possible.
As we are no longer known for, being the Medical Centre in the pandemic or a medical centre in general.
We are simply known as The Priory Centre in partnership with the Barnsley Healthcare Federation, and we are a multipurpose venue; a true asset to the local community of Barnsley.