Retirement announced of Cowdray Park Polo Club’s Communications Manager
Mrs Liz Higgins, known to hundreds of Cowdray Park Polo Club’s patrons, players, social members, sponsors and press contacts both here and overseas will be retiring from her front-line position with the Club at the end of the 2018 season.
Liz first came to Cowdray Park in 1995 as Account Director for a London PR agency employed by champagne house Veuve Clicquot to create a public relations campaign surrounding their newly acquired sponsorship of the Gold Cup. She established her own PR company Blue Inc Communications in 1998, retaining Veuve Clicquot as a client and liaising on their Gold Cup polo sponsorship until the company withdrew after 20 years’ support in 2014.
Having fallen in love with the Midhurst area, Liz and her husband Peter moved to West Sussex in 2001. Following their relocation, Liz took on some PR projects on a freelance basis for the Cowdray Estate. By 2002 she was handling all press affairs for the Polo Club. Gradually her role expanded into marketing and sponsorship and she became the first point of contact for businesses looking for a profile within the world of polo at Cowdray Park. Most weekends of the season Liz could be found on the grandstand writing up an account of the matches to be published in local and polo press and on the club’s website. Supervising each trophy presentation brought her into contact with patrons, players and sponsors alike.
Liz’s reason for retiring is simple: “Peter and I are thrilled to be welcoming our first grandchild in October. We are so much looking forward to it and want to be truly ‘hands-on’. Naturally I shall still be watching as much polo as I can at Cowdray and enjoying the company of members – and most Mondays a match report is still likely to find its way into press and onto the website. However, my very public role is coming to an end. I’ve had the most enormous fun, met truly amazing people, and with this year’s Gold Cup having been the best ever I can say that I am going out on a high!”
Lord Cowdray, the Club’s President, says: “I first met Liz when she came to work on behalf of Veuve Clicquot. The advice I gave her was simple: polo at Cowdray is country-house style, laid-back, relaxed and friendly. Can we keep it that way? She never let us down, always describing us in press articles in exactly the right tone, and welcoming everyone – VIPs, Ambassadors, sponsors, press and guests – in a warm and charming manner. She has done a great deal to enhance the club’s reputation and I sincerely thank her on behalf of Cowdray Park Polo Club’s committee for her support.”
Liz Higgins will return on a part-time basis to assist with press activity, including press accreditation, during 2019.