There has been a re-organisation of the Brentford FC off-field staff over the summer as the Club prepares to say Farewell Griffin Park. Brentford will be leaving Griffin Park after 116 years at the end of the 2019/20 season – which starts on Saturday when Birmingham City are the visitors – and everything is prepared for the last year in our historic home. Before The Bees move to Brentford Community Stadium next summer there have been some changes to the off-field team.
Brentford FC Chief Executive Jon Varney – who started in the post in March – has created a Fan and Community Relations department to ensure the best services for our current and future supporters and will also put more focus on the sales function of the Club as well as non-football communication and content. A Diversity and Inclusion Officer has started, and the Club are also recruiting a HR Partner having added technology expertise earlier in 2019. Jobs in a newly created telesales team and in partnerships and communications are being filled.
The off-field team will also be changing location. The Club is set to move to an office close to our new home and will be moving many staff there in early September. Griffin Park will remain as a base for some staff for the next ten months and as the Club’s official offices in the short term but the staff will be within a very short walk of Brentford Community Stadium on a daily basis as the finishing touches are added to our new home.
Jon said: “Over the next 12 months we will be moving in to our new stadium and that means there will be a great deal of change off the field. I have been impressed with the quality of staff we have within the Club and have been working in my first five months to get to know them and put in place a structure and strategy that will move Brentford FC forward. We will continue to recruit and evolve over the comings months and years as we move in to our new home and also get as ready as we can to be a Premier League club, which is our aim.
“The off-field staff have outgrown Griffin Park. The number of people needed by a Club setting up to be in the Premier League is greater than the space we have available. We have found a space that I hope will inspire the staff and provide them with an eviornmemt that will help everyone achieve their goals. They will see the stadium develop in front of their eyes and we can bring potential commercial partners up to see the stadium as well. This also allows us to plan with certainty where the staff will be in the medium term.
“In our final season at Griffin Park, I believe we will grow attendances and our collective aim has to be to make it a fortress. We must also increase our profile with the growing business community in West London and significantly increase revenues from commercial partnerships. We can only grow with the support of our current fans as our ambassadors. We want to provide the best services we can for supporters and help them share our message. I believe that once we get people in to Griffin Park, the performance on the pitch and the welcome off it will get people coming back.
“The Board have agreed with my strategy to increase the size of our off-field team and there will be a focus on growing revenues and improving our relationships with our fans. Over the coming months we will be contacting fans that have been to Griffin Park before but are not coming now, for whatever reason. Our Fan Relations team will be in touch with our Season Ticket Holders and Club Members to ensure they have everything they need and also work closely with our award-winning Community Sports Trust to engage in the local area.
“In order to support this, we will also be growing the Communications team to make sure we are telling our compelling story to different audiences, be they existing supporters, new supporters, current and future commercial partners and community organisations. Fans will, I’m sure, notice some changes over the coming months but I believe these will be positive. We want to make sure we are providing as much revenue as we can that can be spent supporting our Premier League ambitions and looking after our current fans as well as engaging new ones. I am sure the work we will be doing off the pitch, coupled with the performances on the pitch, will continue to make us a Club to be proud of.”