Preparations for The Championships start directly after the preceding tournament. Improvements are considered and implemented by the Committee of Management.

Between Championships, the Club has regular meetings with officials from the local council, the London Borough of Merton and other interested parties to consider problems experienced during the fortnight and to monitor progress on remedies recommended.

Maintenance of Courts
Grass renovation to the Centre and No.1 Courts starts immediately after The Championships and on the other courts during August and September.

The Centre Court and No.1 Court are re-sown each year, where necessary, as soon as possible after The Championships. Contrary to popular belief they are not re-turfed. The outside courts, although used considerably more throughout the year, are also oversown.

Merchandising
The Wimbledon Merchandising programme was started by The All England Lawn Tennis Club in 1979 and has three objectives:

• to increase awareness of Wimbledon throughout the world
• to further enhance the image of The Championships
• to provide additional funds for the development of lawn tennis

The All England Lawn Tennis Club has 24 licensees in seven countries. The principal products licensed are tennis and casual wear, footwear, tennis rackets, bags and balls. In addition, the Club licenses a select range of luxury products such as towels, fine leather goods, sunglasses, crystal, jewellery and luxury food products.

In the UK, there is a Wimbledon ‘Shop in Shop’ in Harrods as well as duty free outlets at Heathrow and Gatwick airports. The Club now has 20 Wimbledon shops in China under franchise. The trademarks of the Wimbledon crossed rackets and flying ‘W’ are registered in some 42 countries.

Wimbledon merchandise is available on the Website.

 Wimbledon Shop

More than 6,000 people work on The Championships. These include a temporary staff of several hundred who are directly employed by the AELTC and others who are provided by firms, contractors, voluntary bodies and public services as well as representatives of the media.

In short, during the fortnight at the end of June and the beginning of July, the Club is a hive of activity, squarely in the eye of the sporting world.

Referee's office
The Referee (Andrew Jarrett) is the arbiter on any question involving interpretation of the rules of the game. He also runs the Qualifying Competition.

Mr Jarrett and his assistants are responsible for putting matches onto court, recording and displaying results, allocating the duties of umpires and line judges, and undertaking a variety of other duties connected with the programme of matches.

Crowd management
The Association of Wimbledon Honorary Stewards is responsible for crowd management and acts as ‘host’ to the public, directing, advising and giving help and guidance to visitors.

The members marshal the queues (inside and outside the grounds) and supervise the seating of spectators with the assistance of volunteer Service personnel on leave and a contingent provided by the London Fire Brigade.

The presence of Honorary Stewards at Wimbledon originated in 1927, but it was not until June 1950 that the Association was formed. The present membership is approximately 150. Service personnel were first used in 1946 and members of the London Fire Brigade in 1965.

Consultants
The Club engages the International Management Group (IMG), which assists with a number of on-site agreements. They are responsible for television rights, the official film of The Championships and matters relating to merchandising.

Fast Track are retained to advise on and assist with all matters relating to communications with the press and public.