Hannah Grosvenor has spent 20 years at the sharp end of British sports hospitality, working her way from sales consultant roles at Newmarket Racecourses and The Jockey Club to one of the most coveted positions in the industry. As Sales Director at Silverstone, she leads the commercial charge for a venue that welcomes over 1.5 million visitors every year and operates 365 days a year across Formula 1, MotoGP, live music, drive experiences, and corporate events. It is a role that demands equal parts strategic thinking and instinctive understanding of what people truly want from a premium experience.
Silverstone is in the midst of an exciting new chapter. The circuit’s Escapade hotel, with its 60 trackside residences, clubhouse, and the UK’s only trackside pool, has already set a new standard for on-circuit stays. Now, the launch of The Vale for the 2026 British Grand Prix takes that ambition even further. With fewer than 400 spaces on race day, guestlist-only access, Michelin-curated menus from three-time Michelin star winner Jonny Lake, and intimate access to current Formula 1 drivers and team leaders, The Vale is unlike anything the sport has seen before. The Executive Magazine is proud to be hosting at The Vale this year, and in this interview, Hannah tells us exactly what guests can expect.
You have spent 20 years working across some of Britain’s finest sporting venues, from Newmarket Racecourses and The Jockey Club to your current role as Sales Director at Silverstone. What has that journey taught you about what makes a truly great hospitality experience?
“Twenty years across racing, sport and live events teaches you one thing above everything else: people remember how something made them feel, not what it cost. You can have the most spectacular setting in the world, but if the detail isn’t right, if the welcome feels transactional, if the food is forgettable, if the flow of the day isn’t considered, the magic evaporates.
“What I’ve taken from every venue I’ve worked at is that great hospitality is built on obsessive attention to detail and a genuine understanding of your guest. You have to know what they want before they do. That instinct only comes from experience, and after two decades in this industry, it’s the foundation of everything I bring to Silverstone.”
Silverstone operates every day of the year, welcoming over 1.5 million visitors annually across Formula 1, MotoGP, entertainment, driving experiences and corporate events. As the person leading sales across that entire portfolio, what does it mean to you personally to represent a venue of this magnitude?
“It’s a privilege I don’t take lightly. Silverstone isn’t just a venue; it’s a piece of British sporting history that belongs to the national story. Every single day, someone is having a life experience here, whether that’s a child driving a kart for the first time or a CEO watching the British Grand Prix from the most exclusive seat in motorsport.
“Leading sales across all of that means you’re not just selling packages, you’re selling moments. That responsibility sharpens you. It demands that everything you put your name to is worthy of what this place represents.”
The Vale is Silverstone’s most exclusive British Grand Prix experience, with fewer than 400 spaces available on race day and access by guestlist only. The Executive Magazine will itself be hosting at The Vale this year, providing exclusive access to some of its most elite VIP members. What makes The Vale different from anything else available in the world of Formula 1 hospitality right now?
“The Vale is genuinely unlike anything else in sporting hospitality, and I say that with complete conviction. It wasn’t designed by a committee, ticking boxes. It was built by people who know this world deeply, who have spent years understanding what the most discerning guests actually want and what is consistently missing at the top of the market. Fewer than 400 people on race day.
“The Vale has been built with deliberate architectural precision that protects the intimacy and the atmosphere. When you walk into The Vale, you’re not in a hospitality facility. You’re in a room where everyone belongs there. The genuine sense of exclusivity is extraordinarily rare in sport, and it’s what sets The Vale completely apart.”
The Vale features Michelin-curated menus from three-time Michelin star winner Jonny Lake, a sommelier-led drinks programme, invitation-only evenings, and access to current Formula 1 drivers and team leaders. High quality food and drink clearly play a big part in the premium experience. How important is that culinary offering to the overall experience you are creating?
“It’s not a nice-to-have, it’s load bearing. When you’re selling to people who can go anywhere, the food and drink cannot be an afterthought. Bringing in Jonny Lake wasn’t a branding exercise. It was a statement of intent. Three Michelin stars means a chef who is obsessed with perfection, who brings the same level of craft to a race weekend menu as they would to their own kitchen. Pair that with a sommelier-led programme and suddenly the entire experience is elevated, because the quality communicates something. It tells every guest from the moment they sit down that this was built with genuine care and deep expertise. That’s the through-line of everything at The Vale. Passion and precision in every single detail.”
Escapade, the trackside hotel with 60 residences, a clubhouse, and the UK’s only trackside pool, with some residences sitting just 12 metres from the crash barrier, can be paired with The Vale to create a full residential race weekend experience. Prestigious racing events attract founders, investors, and major global brands alongside their traditional fanbase. For that kind of client, what does staying on-circuit and having access to exclusive areas give them that a standard hospitality package cannot?
“For founders and senior executives, time and access are the two most valuable currencies they have. A standard hospitality package gives you a day. Escapade paired with The Vale gives you a weekend, and not just any weekend. You wake up 12 metres from the track. You hear the cars before you see them. You move between your residence, The Gallery, the pool, and The Vale without ever stepping outside the bubble.
“The conversations that happen in that environment, the relationships that form, the deals that get done, that’s what this clientele is really investing in. You can’t manufacture that kind of proximity and intimacy. It has to be designed for it. Silverstone is one of the very few places in the world where it genuinely exists.”
Silverstone’s live entertainment programme has already featured headline performances from Stormzy, RAYE, Calvin Harris, Kings of Leon, and Sam Fender, and the circuit has ambitious plans to expand that even further. How does that side of the venue strengthen the proposition you bring to your clients?
“It transforms the conversation entirely. The moment you can tell a client that their weekend includes a world-class Grand Prix Racing and a headline concert, that their guests aren’t just motorsport fans, they’re music fans, culture fans, people who want to be at the centre of something, the proposition becomes almost impossible to resist. Live entertainment extends the emotional arc of the weekend. The race is the heartbeat, but the music is what keeps people talking about it for years.
“For corporate clients especially, it means they’re not hosting at a racetrack. They’re hosting at an unmissable event. That’s a completely different conversation, and it opens doors that pure motorsport hospitality simply can’t.”
For someone who has not yet experienced Silverstone as a hospitality destination, whether through The Vale, Escapade, or any part of the wider programme, what would you most want them to know about what awaits them?
“I’d want them to know that whatever they’re imagining, the reality is better. Silverstone carries this iconic weight; people assume they know what it is. But what we’ve built here goes so far beyond a race day out. The Vale, Escapade, the entertainment programme, these weren’t assembled quickly or carelessly. They were built from years of passion, deep market knowledge, and an uncompromising commitment to getting every detail right.
“The guests who come here for the first time and experience The Vale, or who stay at Escapade, who watch the sun go down over the circuit after a concert, they don’t just come back. They bring everyone they know. That’s the truest measure of what we’ve created.”