7 minute read
CARFEST
Joy ride
CarFest South’s Neil Levene and Andrew Hunter talk supply issues, managing challenges and the joy of watching families have fun
It’s been an emotional year and tricky at times, explains Neil Levene, operations director at Brand Events. Levene is about to jump on site to deliver another sellout Pub in the Park, but first he is talking to Stand Out about CarFest South.
The last few months have been a rollercoaster for Levene and the Brand Events team, organiser of CarFest. Together, they have had to plan for a variety of scenarios, develop several solutions and communicate their decisions to both suppliers and visitors.
“It’s been trying and challenging,” says Levene. “We organised a number of successful Pub in the Park shows under Step 3 regulations, so we have not been nervous about running anything in COVID times.”
But uncertainty, reopening roadmaps and the reality of the responsibility that comes with making money for children’s charities has influenced Brand Events’ decision making this year.
SENSIBLE DECISION
In November 2020, Brand Events launched Retro CarFest, a three-day event that was set to take over Bicester Heritage in June 2021. In March 2021 that date was moved to August, but the event was eventually cancelled. “We were excited about Retro CarFest,” comments Levene. “People were excited about Retro CarFest, and we had huge ticket sales, but we had to make a sensible decision and focus on the core events [CarFest North and CarFest South] that raise huge amounts of money for charity.”
CarFest North took place just days after COVID-19 restrictions were lifted on July 19. Lessons learned at CarFest North influenced operational measures at CarFest South. Furthermore, the decision was also made to co-locate Chris Evans’ running event, RunFestRun, at Laverstoke Park Farm alongside CarFest South. Sharing site services and event control, the events took place and were a big hit with audiences. But there were challenges.
YEAR LIKE NO OTHER
Andrew Hunter, CarFest’s operations manager, and Jasmine Hill, operations manager at Brand Events, assisted Levene on the build. CarFest South had a smaller capacity, roughly 26,000 people. This number was bolstered when 3,500 RunFestRun participants joined the CarFest audience in the evening to watch McFly and Nile Rodgers and Chic.
“Myself and John Tomlinson of Micromap Events sweated over 46 versions of the site plan,” comments Hunter, from the comfort of crew catering. “We looked at every moment and every scenario.”
The up and down nature of the 2021 events calendar meant that Hunter and the CarFest team had to remain flexible. Many elements had to be replanned and then, there were supply chain issues.
“We’ve been fighting for fencing and then finding someone to transport kit at a sensible cost has been a massive challenge,” confirms Hunter. “You don’t want too many infrastructure changes in one hit, in one year, but 2021 has been like no other.
“Budgets have been cut across the board because if your capacity is reduced so is your income. The real challenge has been to put on what we planned to put on for less money whilst also facing supply problems. We’ve been trying to circle a square.”
UPFRONT AND HONEST
Several changes welcomed CarFest visitors. Co-locating CarFest with RunFestRun meant that the team had to create a new campervan and caravan field, which was further north of the site than the team would have liked. Also, visitors were allocated larger camping pitches [55sqm compared to 45sqm], the area in front of the main stage was zoned to give people more space – a measure that worked well – and extra sanitation staff were deployed.
Hunter continues: “We had a special response team that would go into an area and give it an extra clean if we felt that it was becoming overly congested. Also, we put less activities in marquees and enclosed areas.”
These were just some of the measures that Brand Events implemented to build consumer confidence. Messaging and communication were important.
“I think there have been times in the last few months where it would have been very easy to lose your sense of humour,” explains Hunter. “But we remembered what we were trying to do; trying to create a lovely experience and raise money for charity. Yes, there’s a serious business behind CarFest but you do need a sense of humour and relationships have been the most important thing. The extent of your relationships with people that you have worked with over the years have come into play. It’s been important to be upfront and honest.”
Levene concurs. The summer has thrown up challenges around the reliability of transport and staff and he believes that the festival industry is fragile, as COVID has knocked the sector for six. “It hasn’t been a surprise,” Levene adds. “It’s just been another problem to solve. But we’ve done it to bring joy to the faces of all the families that walk through our gates.
“Bringing families back out for the first time for the best part of two years has really kept us going. It sounds soppy but it really has been joyful to see people at our event again.”
Hill agrees and concludes: “Being open again and saying: ‘We’ve done it’ is amazing.”
MCFLY
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The heat is on
Arcotherm, the UK’s leading portable heating specialist, has added additional product ranges to its portfolio and launched Biemmedue UK
BIEMMEDUE UK HEADQUARTERS
After more than 30 years of importing and distributing portable space heaters from Italian manufacturer Biemmedue Spa, Arcotherm is adding additional products to its portfolio as Biemmedue UK.
This is an exciting step for the UK’s leading portable heating specialist. The move will ensure that Arcotherm can continue to support its loyal and long-standing customers and develop its product offering to the UK market across multiple new industry sectors.
Arcotherm is synonymous with supplying high quality portable heating solutions to predominantly the UK construction and events industries. As it moves forward with its growth plan, it will look to introduce a much wider range of heaters provided by Biemmedue and develop markets within the industrial and agriculture sectors along with professional cleaning cleaning equipment from Biemmedue’s Arcomat range and drying machines from Biemmedue’s Arcodry range.
For example, Biemmedue UK Arcomat will offer a range of cleaners, nebulisers, professional wet and dry vacuums, sweepers, and scrubber driers and Biemmedue UK Arcodry will offer a full range of dehumidification products for both domestic and professional use.
The new Biemmedue UK website – www.biemmedue.co.uk – will showcase the Arcomat and Arcodry ranges. The new easy to navigate website will give customers an enhanced user experience, including updated blogs, testimonials, product launches and seasonal offers. All products and accessories will be available to purchase through the website and each model will be supported with the features and benefits, basic user information, along with detailed technical data to allow the user to easily select the product and accessories most suited to their requirements.
Biemmedue is a global business, which manufactures high quality products. Jim Bush, head of Arcotherm and Biemmedue UK, commented on the launch: “We recognise the strength of the Arcotherm brand in the UK market. We will trade as Arcotherm and Biemmedue UK. It is important that we do not lose sight of our heritage, but we also know how respected Biemmedue products are.
“We have reached a very exciting milestone in our company’s history, and we look forward to bringing new Biemmedue products to the UK market. We will maintain the same commitment to delivering a first-class level of customer service and satisfaction, helping us to keep our position as one of the leading suppliers of portable heating solutions in the UK,” Bush concluded.
For more details, call 01773 836999, email sales@biemmedueuk.com or visit the website www.biemmedue.co.uk
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