Customer Service Results 2013
“You Said, We Did!”
Forty Hall & Estate reopened its doors to the public in the summer of 2012, following a
major development programme funded by Enfield Council and the Heritage Lottery fund.
Since reopening, we have welcomed over 50,000 visitors to the Hall. We have endeavoured
to collect your thoughts and comments about the Hall and the services we offer here, with a
view to improving your overall visitor experience. We have outlined below the most common
feedback from you and what we have done, or are planning, to do to answer your thoughts.
We would like to thank all of you who have taken the time to complete our evaluation forms,
given us feedback via our website or spoken to us in person. We encourage all of our
customers to continue to tell us how we are doing – your opinions are both welcome and
valued!
*Please note that this report looks at the overall visitor experience and offer at the Hall. We
conduct separate evaluation for individual events and workshops, which are analysed to
improve our public programme.
You loved…

The costumes in the Great Chamber allowing you (and the kids) to dress up!
We like the fact that you enjoy the opportunity to act out parts of the Pageant in
costume and have offered more opportunities for dressing-up in Jacobean costume as
part of our event programme. Our annual Rainton Pageant and participation in the
Lord Mayor’s Show are just two of the ways that our customers can get involved with
our events whilst wearing C17th costume. Contact us if you would like to be involved
in any of our events.

The mobility
them.

The refurbishment project and the work that has been undertaken on the
Hall to restore it to its former glory. You can find out more about the project in this
FREE resource and we will also be publishing a book about the history of the Hall in
2014. We have also started work on the Heritage Lottery funded Parks for People
project to restore the park. You can find out more about the project here.

The FREE bike
Greenway.
scooters!
Great! We hope you enjoy exploring the estate in
hire! We hope you make great use of them and explore the new
You recommended…

That we use cloves and other spices in the rooms to scent the Hall and add
an air of authenticity. What a brilliant idea! We did just that in the kitchen to add a
sense of living history. We also lit scented candles around the Hall over the festive
period and throughout the candlelit tours.

That jewellery is sold in the shop at more affordable prices. We took this on
board and two more jewellers were brought in the shop who offered products at a
lower price. We will continue to monitor the prices on jewellery in the shop.

A family friendly space. We provided one! Upstairs on the second floor by the
Withdrawing Chamber we now have a family room with books you can read, a
computer to play on and toys to play with.
You wanted…

More information about the
Forty Hall
Development
Project. In 2013 we
staged an exhibition about
the project entitled ‘Changing
Landscapes: A New Era in
Forty Hall & Estate’s History’.
A PDF of the exhibition is
now available to download
from the website as a free
resource here.

Forty Hall branded merchandise in the shop. We now sell in the shop a
selection of five Forty Hall & Estate postcards, branded mugs, pencils, pens, thermal
flasks, erasers and ponchos.

A bar at public events and hires serving alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. We
now have a portable bar which is made available at events and for private hires. We
will continue to talk to you to find out what beverages you would like to be stocked at
the bar.

More stock in the shop for children. We now provide an
extensive range of toys which are seasonal and practical. Products include compass
key ring, anoraks, umbrellas, bouncy balls, colouring-in books and products which
are more educational (for example; Kings & Queens activity pack).

A
craft market featuring products made by local makers. We thought
this was a great idea and put two on in 2013! Our market on the day of the Pageant
and our Christmas market were extremely popular with traders and customers alike
with our Christmas marketing drawing over 400 participants. Following this success,
we will now programme seasonal craft and handicraft markets. We will also look to
work with more local makers and encourage them to become suppliers.

A travelling historic exhibition. We liked this one so in 2014 we will be hosting a
touring exhibition called ‘Mummer, Maypoles and Milkmaids: Journey through the
English Ritual Year’ from A Horniman Museum. The exhibition comprises of
photographs by Sara Hannant that will take the visitor on a journey through English
country rituals. These photographs are an important documentary of folklore, myth,
and traditional merry making and include Medieval Jack in the Green, Summer
Solstice at Stonehenge, milkmaids decked out in silverware, fire rituals, mysterious
costumes on parade, dancers, and mumming plays.

A leaflet to pick up on arrival to help you navigate your way around the Hall. We
produced our hugely popular visitor information leaflet in spring 2013. The leaflet is
given to all visitors on reception and includes a map and additional facts about the
Hall to those in the exhibition.

To see some more artefacts and paintings in the Hall. We have worked with
artists throughout 2013 and looking ahead to 2014 to adorn the rooms with artefacts.
In January 2014 we welcome artist Rob Kesseler to the Hall who will transform the
building with a number of hung photographs, silk hangings and other interventions.
Artist Elaine Wilson joined us in 2013 to display her haunting ceramic sculptures
around the Hall, providing new and engaging ways for audiences to enjoy the Hall.
We will be staging another exhibition in 2014 with the Crafts Council and are
currently in talks with the British Council and National Portrait Gallery to bring
artworks of national interest to the Hall.
You had concerns about…

The shop prices and felt they were too high. We made efforts to increase the
range of stock in the shop and particularly the range of stock at affordable prices (i.e.
£5 & £3). We also improved the layout of the shop and put in more signage to help
people find what they are looking for at the price they want. We will continue to look
for more mainstream suppliers to get the very best in wholesale prices.

Signage to the Hall. Not only did we review the brown signs on the roads around
the Hall directing visitors to the Hall but we also improved signage in and around the
Hall making your visit easy to navigate.

The Café, particularly the menu offered. We are pleased to announce that
management of the café has now changed and Nice Green Café took over in the
autumn of 2013. Come and sample a new menu or take part in one of the activities
programmed in the new
café! More information on
the new café here.

The lack of seating.
Customers are allowed to
sit on all of the replica
Jacobean furniture and we
have also provided a new
seating area in the Long
Gallery for you to relax and
unwind after your visit.