Event Plan 2019 – Jersey Battle of Flowers (Events) Limited
Introduction
The Jersey Battle of Flowers (‘Battle’) has been taking place for 117 years. The event is world famous for its colour and spectacle. Battle is a glorious carnival around two parades, which includes a competition between imaginative florally decorated floats built by members of the Island community from all walks of life. Battle has and continues to form the centrepiece of the Island’s tourist season taking place in the second week of August each year, as well as being a fantastic community event. Battle is supported by other events to maximise summer entertainment for visitors and residents alike, including a 2 week funfair on People’s Park.
Overview of 2018
Overall 2018 was successful with the parades continuing to receive positive acclamations in the UK and various European countries as the market develops in this sector. We have been able to measure some of our success by the early and repeat bookings, which have been based on the enjoyment and recommendations of those attending in 2017.
Feedback about Battle is consistent either via the media or through direct contact, however we not been complacent and continue to strive to make changes and grow from 2018.
We continued with the different starting formats for the day parade (floats entering the arena from each end) and the Moonlight parade (floats starting in the arena, turning on their lights and music simultaneously), which created the dramatic effects and wow effect we were aiming for. In 2018, we introduced Little Gig in Lower Park to provide post-day parade and pre-Moonlight parade entertainment.
Some key statistics from the 2018 survey attendees at the parades:
— 97% rated the floats as excellent or good
— 75% rated the arena entertainment as excellent or good
— 82% rated the carnival atmosphere as excellent or good
— 91% rated the Aerosparx gliders and fireworks as excellent or good
— 65% rated the Little Gig as excellent or good.
Despite close to expected ticket sales in 2018, a £14,000 loss was incurred due to lower than expected ticket sales and increased arena costs.
Aims and Objectives
Our aims and objectives for the current year remain similar to previous years and they are as follows:
— To deliver a colourful, spectacular and unique community based carnival that will attract a significant number of visitors and local residents.
— To support the States objectives for economic growth in the tourism industry by making Battle the centre piece of its event based tourism strategy.
— To continue to be a major community based event, which brings together the local and parochial communities across the Island.
— To make Battle a critical success through great execution of the parades and well managed public relations.
— To widen the appeal of Battle to a greater number of Islanders and visitors.
— To manage with the level of financial support from the States of £130,000 (plus £15,000 from the Fete du Noue parade, if held).
— To achieve ticket income of £270k by promoting the event and appropriate pricing.
— To try to break even in 2019.
— To engage with any person or group who can assist in the further enhancement of the aims of Battle to ensure its continuance for another 100 years.
Details of the Association
The Battle of Flowers Association is owned by its members, which includes a number of exhibitors. It operates on a ‘not for profit’ basis and is registered as such with the Jersey Financial Services Commission. It owns two limited liability companies:
— The Jersey Battle of Flowers (Property) Limited (JBOFPL) which owns Battle headquarters at Meadow Bank and
— The Jersey Battle of Flowers (Events) Limited (JBOFEL) which organises and operates the carnival.
The Association has gained exemption under GST Direction 2008/11, which will enable flowers to be imported without attracting GST. JBOFEL will have turnover under £300,000 and therefore will not be registering for GST. It is therefore not able to recover the tax on local supplies but does not have to charge the tax on ticket sales.
The Board is committed to investigating options to improve and enhance the event, within the limited budget, whilst maintaining the spirit of Battle. This will not be achieved overnight and may take several years to implement changes.
The Board of Association (and JBOFPL and JBOFEL) consists of:
- Mo Le Var Chairman
- Margaret Fitzgerald Vice Chairman and responsible for Bands and Carnivals
- Jackie Donald Events Director & Company Secretary
- Chris Lowndes Finance Director
However, the Chairman is due to retire in January 2019 and we are currently looking into modernising the structure of the Association and companies.
Other individuals have volunteered to help, under the direction of the Board, with the organisation and running of the parades. Their assistance and commitment to ensuring the success of event is greatly appreciated.
Event Details
Battle day parade will take place on Thursday 8 August 2019, with the Moonlight parade on Friday 9 August 2019. The event will take place on Victoria Avenue.
25 floats (including Battle Ambassadors float) are expected for the 2019 event. The level of guarantee for each float continues to be under pressure of reduction as the States Grant is not increasing but our event operating costs are increasing (more information below).
Battle expect to provide a total of £134,500 in guarantees to the exhibitors for 2019 (based on expected entries). The entire £130,000 given by the States is therefore allocated to the exhibitors and not to the organisation, infrastructure or other entertainment. This means that the event itself has to rely heavily on the ticket sales to pay for all associated costs with putting on a carnival of this size, and to top up the guarantee. However, with the event costs increasing year on year then it is likely that the guarantee for each float will need to be reduced in 2019 which will impact on the quality of the floats produced, unless additional funding from the States is provided.
There will continue to be a good mix of local and visiting bands as well as some carnival acts to support the floats. In 2019, we will be adding a few new acts to enhance the carnival atmosphere. The objective being to keep the audience entertained throughout.
The format of the parades will remain the same as 2018, with the floats entering the arena from both ends for the day parade and the floats starting in the arena with a simultaneous lighting up of the floats for the Moonlight parade. These different approaches generate a great spectacle and add to the wow-factor.
Battle Ambassadors
In 2018, we replaced Miss Battle and Miss Junior Battle of Flowers with Jersey Battle of Flowers Ambassador and Jersey Junior Battle of Flowers Ambassador. This was well received for bringing in diversity and equality. The competition will be held in June 2019 and will be open to anyone to enter, with the winners representing Battle for the next year.
A decision has been taken to not have a celebrity Mr Battle in 2019 due to escalating costs.
Opening and Finale
For the Moonlight parade finale, we will continue to have the gliders with fireworks along with a small traditional firework display – this is only possible due to the kind sponsorship of the Ports of Jersey.
Ticketing
Our working target is that the total attendance this year for the day parade will be approximately 9,500 with the seating capacity of 6,800 being virtually sold out. The ticket prices are as follows:
| 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 |
| £ | £ | £ | £ | £ |
Day Parade |
Executive Covered Stand | 35 | 34 | 34 | 34 | 34 |
Grandstand | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
Pavement Chair | 17/16* & 10/9* | 16/15* & 8/7.50* | 15 & 7 | 15 & 7 | 15 & 7 |
Adult Standing | 7/8** | 7/8** | 7/8** | 7/8** | 7 |
Night parade |
Executive Covered Stand | 32 | 30 | 28 | 28 | 28 |
Grandstand | 23 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 21 |
Pavement Chair | 17/16* & 10/9* | 16/15* & 8/7.50* | 15 & 7 | 14 & 7 | 14 & 7 |
Adult Standing | 7/8** | 7/8** | 7/8** | 7/8** | 7 |
Combined Grandstand Ticket | 42 | 40 | 40 | 39 | 39 |
* Adult £17/Child £10 for front row seats; Adult £16/Child £9 for rear row seats
** £7 if purchased in advance; £8 if purchased on the day
This year tickets can again be purchased online, with the option for people to choose their seat and printing their ticket at home. Tickets will also be available from an outlet in a town outlet for one week preceding Battle Day.
We have also had to increase the ticket prices in 2019 due to the increasing costs of installing the stands (see below).
Overall the maximum potential income for ticket sales is £350,000 (based on all places being sold and paid for) and we are budgeting sales of £270,000 (2018 – Actual sales of £264,000), which takes account of unsold seats and any complimentary tickets. Ticket sales are clearly vital to the financial viability of Battle and a key variable which effects ticket sales is the weather during Battle week.
Marketing and Promotion Strategy
It will be important to generate as much awareness of Battle as possible before the event to stimulate increased ticket sales. We need to encompass the expertise of Visit Jersey to assist with this, and request that specific advertising is targeting at this event.
A key to these increased sales will be attracting more local attendees to the day parade. Many companies (but not as many as in previous years) give staff the afternoon off and it will be one of our objectives to promote the day as a great family outing.
PR activities on the island
The Chairman and the Events Director will undertake relevant PR activities to generate positive stories throughout the year and manage any potential negative stories.
Commercial Advertising
We will continue to advertise locally in the last two weeks before the parade. The objective is to persuade the ‘walk in /casual guest to pre book stand seats. The advertising will be via the radio, general media and social media. We also have assured the Normans Building site for our large banner/clock advertising commencing mid-July.
Social media, website and branding
Whilst our website went through a minor look and feel upgrade a few years ago, we have received feedback that a major investment should be made to make it more user friendly with respect to navigating around the site, booking tickets and to sell the story of Battle through its tourism heritage and massive community impact. We also need to increase our marketing expenditure to promote the benefits of Battle locally. Unfortunately, Battle do not have the resources in terms of man-power, knowledge and financial to undertake the investment required. Hence, we would like to request a £10,000 one-off States Grant to utilise for such an investment.
We continue to make greater use of Facebook, Instagram etc to raise the profile of Battle to local residents and visitors. We are also helping exhibitors with their fundraising events by sharing their posts.
Event Programme/DVD/Merchandise
We have outsourced the programme to Image Matters. We pay the print costs and they sell the advertising space and keep any profits, if any. This arrangement keeps the costs down and we are able to budget out the outset. Also, during the parades, representatives of our chosen charity sell the programmes to whom we make a contribution based on sales.
We have made arrangements for a DVD to be made and this is a much appreciated souvenir of the event, as well as acting as a way of promoting Battle to new guests. We also have to consider the VAT costs in relation to the posting of DVDs to the UK; each DVD going to the UK costs £12.99 including P&P.
We are also going to continue to sell Jersey Battle of Flowers branded tea towels and calendars from our ticket sales outlets and online.
Sponsorship Activities
The event does not fit neatly into corporate sponsorship categories such as sport or culture. This makes obtaining corporate sponsorship more challenging. To date, we have obtained sponsorship deals to receive a discount on our fright costs (Condor Ferries), Ports of Jersey for the Aerosparx Gliders, and small contributions from Genesis for musical/lighting equipment and Jersey Italian Community for entertainment assistance.
We are also continuing our efforts to find additional sponsors, which will help us cover some of our costs, and hope to have secured a small donation from the local Italian community.
The funfair makes a vital financial contribution to Battle. For 2019, the funfair will be located in People’s Park; however we pay a fee of approximately £5,000 to the Parish of St Helier for the use of the park for this purpose. Also, a further £2,700 is payable to the Parish of St Helier for the use of Lower Park.
Off island (via Visit Jersey or other agencies)
We attempt to work with Visit Jersey to maximise the promotion of the event off the island and use the www.jersey.com site to publicise the event. We also undertake our own advertising in specific towns in the UK.
The Battle Ambassador is expected to visit Alderney, La Harve later in the year, and with a new possibility of Granville promoting Battle and Jersey.
Financial Summary
Key financial indicators are as follows:
| 2019 – budget £ | 2018 – actual £ | 2017 – actual £ | 2016 – actual £ | 2015 – actual £ |
Ticket income | 270 | 264 | 267 | 272 | 245 |
Event costs (net of other income) | (204) | (203) | (201) | (162) | (149) |
Net profit on event | 66 | 61 | 66 | 110 | 96 |
States grants – inc Fete de Noue | 145 | 145 | 145 | 145 | 145 |
Financial support to exhibitors - inc Fete de Noue | (150) | (152) | (166) | (176) | (157) |
Administration costs | (66) | (68) | (64) | (72) | (81) |
Net profit/(loss) | (5) | (14) | (19) | 7 | 3 |
As noted above, all the financial support from the States is passed onto exhibitors to provide support for the building of floats (25 floats, excluding our own Ambassador float, coming to £134,500 for the summer parade). We understand from exhibitors that this accounts for about half of the cost of creating the floats with the balance coming from their own fundraising. The shortfall between the States grants and the financial support to exhibitors is provided from the profits made on ticket sales, which is subject to many variables. Unfortunately this leaves us with very little surplus to stage an event of a greater size and complexity.
The cost of the stands is expected to increase by approximately £5,000 due to our supplier increasing their rates. The significant increase is due to the cost over several years being stable and the supplier now having to pass on their increased costs. We have investigated alternative suppliers but our current supplier remains the most cost effective available.
Due to the increasing infrastructure costs, in 2019 we will need to reduce the expenditure on other entertainment (e.g. bands and carnival acts). We will also continue to look at areas where costs can be reduced to minimise any loss. However, continuing to incur losses is not sustainable and Battle cannot continue without the support of the States Grant.
Risk Management
A full risk assessment is submitted as part of the submission to the Bailiff’s panel. The key business risks for the event are considered to be:
— The success of the 2019 tourist season will impact on the potential market for the event.
— Both parades are highly sensitive to adverse weather conditions, particularly the night parade where around £42,000 of gate receipts are received on the night (15% of the total income).
— Weather or travel delays such as security or industrial action may impact arrival of bands.
— Permission for the parades to take place and for the appropriate road closures is subject to the permission of the Bailiff (as advised by his panel).
— Not reaching the planned level of ticket sales and financial out-turn.
— Not reaching sufficient levels of sponsorship
— The event clearly relies on the continued support of the States of Jersey.
Battle maintains a comprehensive insurance programme, including public liability insurance, which has recently been reviewed by the UK assessors to ensure its continuing adequacy.
Project Plan & Resource Plan
Critical activities and their timing are as follows:
Critical Activity | Critical Date | Responsibility |
Online ticketing opens | November | JD |
Order grandstands | December | JD |
Agree business plan | January | JD/CCL |
Approve 2019 exhibitor entries | January | All |
Obtain road closure approvals | March | JD |
Agree DVD terms | April | JD |
Select judges | April | MLV |
Secure visiting bands and other entertainment | May | MF |
Submit formal risk assessment | April/May | JD |
Battle Ambassadors Competition | June | JD |
Agree parade format and order | June | All |
Recruitment/Training of marshalls | July | JD |
Sign off Battle Programme | July | JD |
Battle of Flowers | August | All |
Obtaining funding from EDD | August & September | CCL |
Carry out post event review | August/September | All |
Payment to exhibitors | September | JD/CCL |
Success Criteria
The key success criteria for the 2019 event will be:
— The overall number attending the two Battle parades will be consistent with or slightly increased on 2018 numbers.
— The number of paying attendees achieving budgeted ticket sales of £270,000.
— Critical impact assessed by the reaction of the media to both the organisation and attendance of Battle.
— Generally positive feedback from guests at the Battle and exhibitors.
Success Criteria
Specific grants being requested for in this Event Plan:
— £130,000 – Summer parades guarantees grant
— £15,000 – Fete de Noue grant
— £10,000 – Marketing grant
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