By Nigel Gardner, ECB Reporters Network`
Derbyshire are driving the move to make a visit to a county cricket ground an experience that everyone will enjoy.
The transformation of the Incora County Ground in recent years was recognised when Derbyshire was named Best Domestic Spectator Experience for 2022 at the Business of Cricket Awards.
Now the club are looking to build on that by making a visit to their headquarters an even more exciting and inclusive experience.
Derbyshire become the first county to appoint a Disability Liaison Officer when Lily Smith took on the role last year and that has been widely welcomed by people attending matches or events such as concerts.
The club's chief executive Ryan Duckett said: "It's something we introduced towards the end of last season and we are the first county club to do that.
"Lily became our Disability Liaison Officer around August. We were just reviewing the customer experience in July of last year for people coming for cricket and also events and we wanted to make sure it was a good experience for everyone.
"We updated what was on our website, gave contact points, appointed Lily into this role, directed people to speak to her either via email or telephone in advance just to make sure the experience was as good as it should be.
"It's been really positive and we've had really good feedback from our own members, visiting members, visiting supporters, new ticket buyers and also from our non-cricket events business.
"It's having someone there to make sure that when someone does come to the ground, whether it's for cricket or an event, that they get the best experience they can.
"We've increased the number of disabled areas within the ground with better identification of those areas, increased the number of disabled parking spaces we've got, and from our next match on the 29th of May we'll have new toilet facilities with a new disabled toilet and also a changing place area with shower and wash facilities for people who have disabilities or certain needs."
The next stage of the development plan will be to install a facility on the ground floor of the media centre which will include a place where people of all faiths will be able to pray.
"We are in the final phase of signing off family changing facilities and a multi-faith room and that will not just be for our match days but whenever the ground is open," Duckett said.
"Part of the journey we've been on over the last few years is we are looking to grow the business and to do that you need to ensure that people when they come here, either for the first time or if they are returning customers, get a good experience and want to come back.
"Whatever people's faith or whatever their disability it's important they feel welcome. I think we acknowledged some of our facilities needed to be improved and over the last five years we've probably spent as much as around £5m on improved facilities.
"I was recently showing someone around who hadn't been for a few years and he congratulated us on the improvements we've made but there's more work to be done."