In the second part of our look at how Wirral Council is preparing for the return of The Open, we spoke to Assistant Director for Neighbourhood Safety and Transport, Mark Camborne, about what is being done to make sure local businesses benefit.
With 250,000 people expected during the week of The Open, bars, pubs, cafes and restaurants are hoping to do a roaring trade. The 2014 event is estimated to have boosted the north west economy to the tune of £76 million.
Mark told us the council has been working with local traders to help them maximise the opportunities from the event: “We were keen to get out a business toolkit, and information booklet, which we’ve done and it’s been really well received. We’ll be coming back to the businesses with opportunities for window stickers and things like that.
“We’ve held two specific business engagement events in Hoylake and West Kirby, predominantly the night time industry, that side. I’ve been really clear though and I need to be clear and honest in that space with businesses that we’ll try and help them as much as possible, the onus is on them as I don’t know what their business and business model is. They also need to be realistic that this a golf crowd that is coming in.”
With rounds being played from early in the morning until late in the evening, the council lobbied the R&A to make sure visitors to The Open could get on and off the course, to go and have a drink or bite to eat locally. Mark said: “We’ve managed to secure re-admission on to the course, so people will be able to come off the course, a lot of Open championships haven’t got that. We’ve managed to convince them that that’s really, really important for us, and so that gives opportunities for those businesses to advertise and encourage.”
A smartphone app is being developed which local venues can be included on, but Mark readily admits that not every firm will benefit: “The reality is that if you’re running a drainage business then the Open golf crowd is not going to do a lot for your business.”
But he added: “A number of businesses will already be benefiting from having the Open championship here, because there’s probably a thousand or so contractors working on that site as we speak and have been here for at least a couple of months. They will be here until the end of August to get the area back to what it was.”
This year, for the first time, an R&A camping village has been set up on the former municipal golf course, and it is hoped the 2,600 attendees will also help boost local trade.
Mark said: “We know we’re not adorned with massive hotel capacity so the last few years, the R&A have been putting camping villages on, which they pay for in terms of the set up and everything. So what that means for us, we’ve got 2,600 bed spaces literally on the land of the Hoylakre municipal golf course, which will be staying here. It’s not a rave site, it’s a properly controlled camp site with glamping and all the rest of it.
“I visited the camp sites at St Andrews and Birkdale and the feedback I had from the people who were staying there was it’s a bed space and actually it’s fantastic being able to go out and they’d rather be out than in a tent, of course you would. So there’s opportunities there for the businesses and the vibe and having those people there.”
The former municipal course is also The Open practice ground, but has grown in scale. Mark said: “It’s the driving range side of the practice ground but I wouldn’t want people to think about 2014 in its scale. The scale of what they set up now in terms of TV production in terms of staging an open championship has blown me out of the water – it gets bigger every time.
“The practice area is no different, that will be set up as a mini stadium in effect. Those people who know about the Sky zone, golfers who follow that sort of stuff, that’s set up here. So there’s a whole TV production side on this side of Meols Drive as well as on the other side.
“In addition you’ve got the camping village going in here, so the vibe that takes place here on the off course side of the open golf championship, will be far greater than it has been before and will add to the enjoyment of an Open championship here.”
The Open takes place at Royal Liverpool Golf Course from 16 – 23 July.
- The latest information from Wirral Council relating to The Open can be found at https://www.wirral.gov.uk/open-2023-wirral
- The toolkit for businesses can be downloaded at https://www.wirral.gov.uk/files/open-toolkit-businesses.pdf/download?inline
- A drop-in information office has been set up at the office at the Municipal golf course on Carr Lane in Hoylake. It is open Monday to Friday, 9am – 12 midday and 1pm – 4:30pm throughout June and July.
- Read our guide to changes to services for the The Open at https://westkirby.todaynews.co.uk/2023/05/01/news/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-open/