'Customer experience is an obsessional focus, I want the festival to be the best' - new Cheltenham boss promises change

New Cheltenham boss Guy Lavender insists an improved customer experience is top of his priority list as he shared his ambitions to establish the festival as the world's best race meeting.

He oversaw his first fixture on Saturday after Ian Renton ended his 12-year stint on New Year's Day and said he would look to draw on his experience as chief executive of Marylebone Cricket Club, which owns Lord's, as well as leading sailing events at the London Olympics in 2012.

Lavender is looking to reinvigorate the Cheltenham Festival after an attendance drop of more than 50,000 across the four days in the last two years. Uncompetitive racing, pricing of food and drink, as well as local accommodation, and smaller field sizes were among criticisms made after last year's crowd drop.

What Cheltenham Festival racegoers were saying last year:

• 'I feel for the people who earn a decent wage but still can't afford it' 

"We use the word festival and it’s important; it should feel like a celebration,"  Lavender said "When you get that bit right, it’s amazing. There’s a commonality between everyone there from all walks of life. 

"There are always things you look at: getting into the racecourse, getting a beer, and the price point and the service. We’re going to have well over 200,000 here for the festival, and I want to look at it through a customer’s lens to ensure it’s the greatest race meeting in the world.

"There needs to be enthusiasm for sales and having full meetings, but also delivering the highest level of customer experience as we can. That’s an obsessional focus of mine. You need to address every aspect, and there’s some work that we can do in that regard. I want people to come here and feel like they belong and have brilliant days out watching some fantastic racing."

The winner L'Homme Presse (far) jumps the last fence with Stage Star in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham on SaturdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Lavender served in the army for almost two decades before moving into sports venue management, with 13 years involved in cricket, firstly at Somerset Cricket Club. He has been a lifetime racing fan with his grandfather fuelling his interest in the sport.

He is also aware of the wider industry challenge posed by affordability checks and added: "It’s early days for me and I’m working these issues through. It’s an important issue for the industry and sport more broadly. How it’s going to pan out, how significant it is, and whether the regulations are in the right place, I can’t say, but it’s something I’ll engage with in the next few months.

"One of the lessons I’ve learnt in life is that every sport feels it's in crisis. Cricket has its own issues, as does every sport. My approach to getting it right is to engage with people and get them to come and experience one of the greatest sporting occasions in the world and do all we can to make sure they feel valued.

"When I saw this opportunity, I just couldn’t miss it. I'm keen to make a difference. I want to deliver the best festival possible, and over the summer we can look at what we’ve learnt and more broadly over the rest of the season."

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