Within days of going live, the new ticketing system at Lord's, "the Home of Cricket", sold over £1 million of new-style tickets for the 2004 season. Members of Marylebone Cricket Club (the ground's owner) and members of the public alike have been surprised and delighted to receive their tickets for some of next year's major matches within a couple of days of sending in their application forms. In the past, applicants often had to wait months before they received their tickets.

Such is the demand for tickets at Lord's that MCC tries to give as many people as possible the chance to see a major match there. To that end, MCC operates a sophisticated combination of postal and internet ballots, followed by telephone, internet and over-the-counter sales. This unusual and complex mixture of sales channels led the Club, under the project management of Stephen Wilder (a partner of GPW Consultancy), to develop its new bespoke ticketing system - using the latest state-of-the-art database and development tools from Microsoft and the "One Touch" philosophy devised by GPW. The "Net" effect was a tailor-made ticketing system installed on time and on budget - as well as a lot of happy customers.

Following completion of the ballots, the remaining tickets to next season's major matches at Lord's will be available from Tuesday 13th January. Orders can then be placed - 24 hours a day, 7 days a week - via www.lords.org.

"One Touch" is also about to be applied in the battle to protect children in sport.  A leading National Governing Body in English sport has asked GPW Consultancy to project manage the introduction of these concepts to the management of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checking process.  This NGB is keen to ensure that anyone involved in their sport who is working with children should be cleared by the CRB.  This is a delicate process that must be thorough, accurate, secure and efficient.  Hence the "One Touch" approach.

For a more comprehensive report on our "One Touch" approach and the benefits we have delivered to our clients in the sports world and retail industry please give us a call or send us an email.