StandOut Magazine February 2025

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FEBRUARY 2025

am writing this letter to you after a blustery winter walk with my eight-year-old golden Labrador called Bruno. This morning, the wind was blowing a hooley, and it felt like minus four. I didn’t mind it. I needed the fresh air and the headspace and that’s why I have always loved the Christmas break so much. It’s the beauty of being able to go for a walk without having to watch a clock. No deadline. Just allowing your brain and feet to wander.

Unfortunately, we all had to return to work because… that’s life. I know deadlines are looming already and I bet you’re hard at work finalising purchase orders, tweaking site plans, and sourcing crew and freelancers for the busy season ahead.

I have a feeling that 2025 is going to be the year of getting your head down. I don’t mean to sound negative – I should be optimistic and full of the joys of spring – but the general cost of living continues to rise and sadly, events continue to cancel. Therefore, I think we’ll all find more and more event professionals working quietly in the background, more determined to turn a profit with scalable production budgets and diversified portfolios.

This January, thousands took to the streets to celebrate Chinese New Year, the year of the wood snake. This creature is said to symbolise calmness, creativity, wisdom and transformation. Personally, no other animal could sum up the events industry more perfectly right now. Why? We’re always drawing on lessons learned from past events and we’re going to need to adapt and grow to manage what this season brings. Whether that’s more unpredictable weather, more price hikes, more events cancelling, or more opportunities to get involved with a plethora of event launches, who knows?

But we’re a resilient bunch. Post-COVID, we said it would take a few years for things to settle down. Perhaps now is the year where we just “be” for a bit. No pressure. No surprises. Just a year of letting go of what no longer works, shedding that snake skin, learning from it and quietly cracking on so we can embrace the new. And, if we can enjoy a few peaceful dog walks in between, I’ll take that.

Happy reading,

Caroline

Cover image: Sunbelt Rentals I

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API integration with ticketing platforms

Pre-book vehicles

Virtual hangers

Complement existing stewards’ role

On the day payments

Permits

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Full Reporting

Improved ESG

Always the right choice

10 EVENT TENDERS

Check out the latest event tenders and news of contract wins

12 INTRODUCING EPN…

An exclusive networking club for event production companies has launched. Find out how you can get involved

14

BY ‘ECK BRADFORD

Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture will produce 3,500 days’ worth of events and activities over the next 12 months. Ben Pugh, its head of production, talks to StandOut

18

GOOD MOVES

Does welfare have its own line on your budget sheet? StandOut looks at what is being done to improve audience, team and crew welfare and why good welfare practices need to rise up the agenda

22

HELLO 2025

The Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks is more than a “show”. Identity’s Hannah Clark talks about operational changes, collaboration and how a change in mindset resulted in a smoother event

29

FULL OF ENERGY

More and more organisers are turning to greener energy sources and choosing to power events with battery and solar solutions. StandOut chats with event professionals and talks about temporary power, including best practices and new products

38

RIDE ON

Action Medical Research’s RIDE Castle event will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025. The charity’s Zoe Westerman and Sarah Stevenson reflect on the fundraising event

41 UNDER COVER

Marquees and stretch tents can enhance the look and feel of an event. Marquee experts discuss what you should ask of your marquee provider and, despite budget constraints, why price should not be a factor when choosing which supplier to work with

52 CRUISING TO SUCCESS

How one huge Liverpool fan and musician is transforming event experiences for Norwegian football fans and developing Norway’s cultural scene…

12 INTRODUCING EPN…

22 HELLO 2025

38 RIDE ON

52 CRUISING TO SUCCESS

14 BY ‘ECK BRADFORD

CONTRIBUTORS: This month’s

ZOE WESTERMAN

Zoe has more than 10 years’ experience in delivering cycling events, including sportives, corporate days, multi-day cycle rides, charity challenges and velodrome events, along with being a qualified British Cycling coach and ride leader.

Having previously worked on a variety of cycling projects, including mental health and social prescribing projects to supporting community groups and grassroots organisations, Zoe manages and delivers the RIDE sportive series for children’s charity, Action Medical Research. This month, Zoe talks to StandOut about RIDE Castle, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary this year.

BEN PUGH

With more than 25 years in cultural and creative industries, Ben has worked in areas that include managing projects, productions, festivals, and events across theatre, music, visual arts, and education. Notable contributions include the Bradford Mela and Festival, Illuminating York, and the PRSF New Music Biennale, alongside unique projects like an international puppetry festival and a site-specific theatre production recreating historical acoustics.

In recent years, Ben has lectured on management at the University of Leeds and many other universities, blending real-world insights with theory. Ben holds a technical theatre arts degree and an MBA and is the production director at Bradford 2025. In this latest edition, Ben talks about his current role and RISE, the opening event of Bradford UK City of Culture 2025.

HANNAH CLARK

Hannah works at Identity and has been the project director for the London New Year’s celebrations since 2022. With more than 20 years of event experience, Hannah thrives on creating amazing event experiences that are an integral element of her client’s strategic objectives. Hannah has overseen a wide variety of major high-profile events, including the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles II and the London 2012 Olympic Games road events. In this issue, Hannah talks candidly about operational improvements at the recent Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks, which included longer build periods and more robust ticketing and entry systems.

Size | Strength | Style

25 or 30 metre wide structure

Suspended load up to 2250kg per arch Curved Roof

Caroline Davis has been promoted to the head of operations at the Invictus Games Foundation.

Tom Davis is the new head of events of the Time Attack Championship.

Mia Wakeling has been promoted to operations manager of Goodwood Revival.

Emiliana Killeen has joined The Chameleon Agency as client services manager.

Sam Pagett is operations coordinator at Boomtown Festival.

Adam Café is the new head of sales at Creativ8.

Aura Group has appointed Rich Neville as event director.

Phil Batty has been appointed chief executive officer of Glasgow 2026

Emma Powis is now head of production at Ear to the Ground

Richie Gage is now managing partner of Bearded Kitten

Bill Wootten has been appointed director of sales and business development at Water Direct

Sarah Slater is now senior vice president of music and festivals at Ticketmaster UK

The Boat Race Company has appointed Iain Edmondson as a non-exec director.

Yorkshire Air Ambulance (YAA) marked its 25th-anniversary celebrations with a spectacular drone show. The show was designed and produced by SKYMAGIC free of charge, to mark the YAA’s milestone year. It featured a 200ft paramedic walking through the sky before transforming into an exact replica of the charity’s iconic yellow H145 D3 helicopter with moving rotors and blades. The show concluded with a powerful thank you message recognising the vital public support that keeps YAA’s life-saving missions possible and is just one of a year-long series of events and initiatives that will mark the charity’s anniversary.

LINKEDIN POST OF THE MONTH

“It wasn’t my fault - I didn’t have all the information.” I hear this often in leadership conversations. But what if we flipped that mindset? What if instead of saying “I didn’t have the information”, we said, “I didn’t go find the information”?

Over my career, I’ve learned that true leadership means taking accountability for everything that touches your world. Not just when things go well, but especially when they don’t. If my team messes up? That’s on me. Did I give them the right resources? The right training? The right people? It’s my job to get what I need, not wait for it to arrive.

Even when one of my team members does something outside of work, I still look inward. Did I fail to create the right culture? Did our “why we do this” conversations miss the mark? Yes, this mindset creates pressure. But I’ve learned to thrive on that pressure. It pushes me to fix problems immediately rather than look for excuses.

True accountability isn’t about taking blame – it’s about taking control of outcomes. When you own everything in your world, you’re never a victim. You’re always in a position to make things better.

NEWS IN BRIEF

The Medical Chapter within the Purple Guide has been reviewed and updated.

The Events Industry Forum is developing a simpler version of the Purple Guide for community-type events.

The National Counter Terrorism Security Office has shut down its ProtectUK App. All resources and content can now only be accessed from the ProtectUK website.

A UK Festivals Data Map has been launched, mapping more than 850 festivals that took place in England, Wales and Scotland in 2024.

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Pitch and win

Looking for new business? Discover the latest event tenders and business development opportunities up for grabs. Plus, news of contract wins

London Stadium is looking to create a framework for stewards for events. This tender is divided into lots: Crowd safety services, hospitality, stewarding dog teams and traffic management. The closing date for this tender is 12am on March 31. Email procurement@londonstadium185.com

SkillBuild, delivered by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), is the largest multi-trade competition in the UK for construction trainees/apprentices. CITB requires event management expertise to manage and co-ordinate all the various requirements for SkillBuild. The deadline for this £750,000 tender is 5pm on February 20. Email citb-procurement@gov.sscl.com

The Local Government Association requires AV, staging and technical production services for its annual conference. Interested? Email nicky.cox@local.gov.uk – the deadline is 12am on February 2.

Portsmouth City Council is looking for operators to provide various food and drink catering units/stands for outdoor events in 2025. The closing date for this tender is 12pm on February 14. Email procurement@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

The University of Glasgow has issued a tender for marquees that will predominantly be used for summer and winter graduations. Email rhona.wilson@glasgow.ac.uk for more details– the deadline for this tender is 12pm on February 17.

ADI is looking for suppliers to work with it on a number of upcoming events. Structure companies, branding specialists, and furniture companies should email thomas.taylor@adi.tv

Tents and Events has won a contract, worth more than £200,000, to provide marquees to Bangor University.

LONDON STADIUM

Image: © Miru

Time to collaborate

An exclusive networking club for event production companies has launched. Find out how you can get involved

Event Production Network (EPN), an exclusive and inclusive networking club open solely to event production companies, has launched.

The private network encourages event production companies to meet in person and to talk openly and respectfully to assist in creating better industry standards.

The first EPN meeting was held at Event Buyers Live in November and was attended by nine event production companies – We Group, Proud Events, The Zoo, Slammin Events, Heartwood Events, Eye of the Storm Events, Go For, We Organise Chaos and Sound Channel UK/New Citizens – which are now founding members.

“The EPN meeting in November allowed like-minded production companies to come together and discuss our challenges, our predictions for the coming year, and our current experiences of the event climate,” said Clare Goodchild, project director at We Organise Chaos. “As busy event professionals, the opportunities to sit down with one another in a supportive and collaborative space do not happen very often, so this was an unmissable chance for us to learn, grow, and examine how we can make things better for the industry, focusing on collaboration and not competition.”

INCLUSIVE GROUP

Event production companies wishing to join EPN can not only meet face-to-face four times a year, but they can also liaise regularly via a private LinkedIn group.

What’s essential to the network’s success is that everyone communicates confidentially

and regularly, values each other’s input and recognises EPN as a valuable resource where everyone can discuss key matters – including challenges, budgets and rates –that massively impact live event delivery and management.

Ben Whur, co-founder of Proud Events and another founding member of EPN, said: “I co-founded Proud Events ten years ago and have seen how the live events industry has changed. To be able to discuss these changes and how we react as an industry is priceless, so when the idea for EPN came about, being involved was a no-brainer.

“To echo Clare’s words, the key to EPN is collaboration, not competition. We don’t want people to think they are sharing their trade secrets or USPs with the ‘competition’. EPN is more than that. It’s an opportunity to raise standards, share insight and experiences – good and bad – and collectively support one another.”

Neil Fagg, managing director of StandOut Multimedia, concurred. He said: “How many times a day do you hear people talking about how communication and collaboration are key in business today? But how many people walk the talk?

“I believe the event production companies who serve so many live events are the instrumental link between promoter and supply chain, yet do not get the headlines or airtime

they deserve and need. Hence, why I thought EPN was needed after gathering feedback from industry.

“It’s an inclusive group where everyone is equal. It’s a level playing field where everyone’s opinions are respected and valid, and I believe it’s an opportunity for everyone to talk with honesty and integrity. The chance to sit with your perceived competition and have a proper conversation is scarce, so I hope people recognise the power of sharing information to create a stronger sector.”

The next private EPN meeting will be held at the AIF’s Festival Congress on February 5.

• If you’d like to understand the group further or have any suggestions or input, please call 01795 509113, email neil@standoutmagazine.co.uk or request to join the LinkedIn group.

BEN WHUR (he/him) and CLARE GOODCHILD (she/her)

By ‘eck Bradford

BRADFORD 2025 UK CITY OF CULTURE

Images: © Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture/David Levene/Ian Hodgson/Andy Garbutt

The organising team behind Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture will produce 3,500 days’ worth of events and activities over the next 12 months. Ben Pugh, head of production at Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, chats

t’s a frosty day and most of the UK is gripped by a cold snap. Regardless of the freezing temperatures, Ben Pugh is making the final preparations for RISE, the opening event of Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, and it’s taking place outside! As head of production, Pugh and his team are busy installing vital infrastructure – taking all precautions as they go – because the show must go on, despite the wintery blast.

“Doing outdoor events at this time of year is always a challenge,” explains Pugh as he takes a welcome break from loading in. “It’s hard enough anyway, but then you have a blizzard, which is going nowhere.”

Work has continued despite the rubbish conditions. The positive energy from everyone involved has been phenomenal, says Pugh. It’s a prime example of the determination that keeps so many events on track.

When StandOut chats with Pugh, there are just a few days to go before RISE takes place at Bradford’s City Park and Centenary Square. Bradford’s year as UK City of Culture will be opened by the open-air spectacular, which is taking place on two nights (January 10 and 11). It is comprised of acrobatics, aerial artists, music, lighting and projection and will welcome more than 10,000 spectators to the city centre each night.

HIGH ENERGY

A creative team has been assembled to produce the 40-minute show with local people, voices and stories at its heart. Performers include a community choir led by the Friendship Choir, the Airedale Symphony Orchestra, and a multigenerational community ensemble of Bradford residents aged from 12 to 65. Moreover, the event is a collaboration with creative lead Steven Frayne, the Bradfordborn magician formerly known as Dynamo, and he is joined by Jean Chan, production designer, Matt Daw, lighting designer,

Sponsored by Olympus Crew

Gareth Fry, sound designer, and Nina Dunn, projection designer.

According to Pugh, it’s a quick-moving and high-energy show that will keep ticketholders entertained and transfixed on a cold night in Bradford city centre.

Two enormous scrim-clad structures made by Acorn from scaffolding (one of them is six stories high) are a focal point. Initially, the creative team looked at putting lots of performers on the top of buildings, but this idea was discounted when it was felt the event’s community performers also deserved to be “seen” and a focus of the opening spectacular. Instead, the structures will be projected onto and have lighting inside them, and whilst the “odd” performer will appear on a rooftop, there is so much activity planned for the main space that spectators won’t know where to look.

EXCITEMENT AND ENTHUSIASM

In May 2022, the UK Government revealed that Bradford – selected from 20 bids – would become the fourth city to be named UK City of Culture. Bradford 2025 takes place across the Bradford District. Throughout 2025, West Yorkshire will welcome performances, exhibitions, events and activities inspired by the extraordinary variety of the local landscape, from the city’s historic centre to the sweeping hills and countryside that surround it.

“We’ve got a whole load of things happening across the year,” explains Pugh. “For example, we’re creating a project called Wild Uplands, where we’ve commissioned four international artists to come and do major sculpture works up on the hills outside Haworth and we’re reviving a production of The Railway Children, which I worked on 15 years ago at the National Railway Museum in York.

“It’ll be really nice to bring The Railway Children project back to life in what feels like the real sort of heritage home of that story,” continues Pugh, who says that tickets are flying off the shelf for a range of events and activities, as more details about the Bradford 2025 programme are announced.

“We’re doing 3,500 days’ worth of activity over the next 12 months and whilst RISE is a big event, it’s just the start. Obviously, there’s a lot of focus on this event because it’s at the start of the year, but our events will take place over 144 square miles. That’s a lot.

“As director of production, I want to make sure that the work we’re doing is tapping into wherever and whoever we can to support local infrastructure and resources, making sure we’re creating opportunities for people to build a viable career in the events

industry, in the north of England and the Bradford district.”

But what is Pugh looking forward to the most? Apart from December 31, 2025. Pugh laughs. “I’ve been working in this industry for 30-odd years now and I love the festival atmosphere,” he concludes. “I love seeing people coming together and celebrating creativity. I enjoy being on-site, seeing stuff happen and getting involved. So, actually, it’s really hard for me to pin down one specific moment.

“I know there are going to be highlights where I am going to get a real buzz out of being involved. It’s easy to take stuff for granted, but what I’ve already found in this job is that I’m surprised by the energy and the excitement and the enthusiasm for what’s going on, and I know that I am going to feel that a lot this year so I’m looking forward to that.”

SUPPLIERS LIST

Cameras and screens – AV Matrix

Projection equipment – Blue i

Rigging – Lights Control Rigging and Citrus Art

PA – Tube UK

Traffic management – Event Traffic Control

Structures – Acorn Event Structures

Security – Controlled Space and Gough and Kelly

Medical – Event Medical Services

Fencing – Yorkshire Fence Hire

Toilets – G&S Toilet Hire

Comms – Digitall Comms and Lighten Up

HVM – Crowdguard

Crew – Raven Staging and Olympus Crew

BEN PUGH (he/him)

Good moves

Does welfare have its own line on your budget sheet? StandOut looks at what is being done to improve audience, team and crew welfare and why welfare should be on the agenda

When you look at the many different services that event welfare suppliers provide, it’s easy to understand why the phrase means different things to different people, and why it can be confusing. From mental health support to crisis intervention and to lost and found children services to chill-out zones, substance use support and even lost property, the expertise being asked of welfare teams is vast, and the skill sets required are varied, too.

Often, an event’s welfare policies and procedures are packaged up with safeguarding measures. In the past, organisers have been guilty of thinking that medical and/or security teams can handle any welfare/safeguarding cases. But times are changing, and there is an increased appetite for more welfare-based services to be run as standalone functions on-site.

Ryan Soper, group director at Medirek, says that organisers are now more aware of the need to have separate medical and welfare teams/services. He says there is a correlation between a lot of “welfare” cases that initially present as extreme intoxication and then develop to be instances that are safeguarding or mental health-related. It could be that the “simple” case of an over-intoxicated person could see the disclosure of domestic abuse or a previously unreported sexual offence, something that is not event-related, yet the

reporting happens on-site. Therefore, the need for dedicated welfare and safeguarding facilities alongside robust procedures has never been greater.

“We are seeing more venue managers and organisers want increased welfare capability as they recognise that having such dedicated services reduces the impact on their management team,” said Soper. “It also frees up security to continue with security taskings instead of ‘babysitting’ a scenario they are not equipped for.”

BUDGETS

James Dean, director at TLC Welfare, acknowledges the full breadth of scenarios that welfare teams face and the support they are called on to provide. “It’s where something’s gone wrong and someone needs a bit of help,” he said.

But it all comes down to budgets. What can organisers afford? Does welfare have its own line on the budget spreadsheet?

Some organisers are more aware than others. In December, at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, TLC Welfare supported Location Medical Services with welfare and in 2024, it provided safeguarding and welfare to BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend, the Royal Highland Show (providing support to young farmers), and Tramlines. For 2025, TLC Welfare is confirmed for Camp Bestival and is in

conversation with TRNSMT and Tramlines, which are taking proactive steps to ensure its younger audiences can access the right help and welfare support when needed.

“Organisers should ask themselves what kind of welfare support they have in place,” Dean explained. “If they are allowing people on site, do you have the right support? Sadly, it just takes one death and you’re under scrutiny.”

INCREASING TREND

At Boardmasters 2024, the organising team introduced a joint medical/welfare facility and triage centre. A medical professional assessed festivalgoers as they entered, and depending on what the outcome was, they would be referred to welfare for support and rest or see a member of the festival’s medical team for treatment. This new set-up provided more comprehensive and efficient care onsite, a growing trend at events and festivals across the UK.

Even marquee suppliers such as Field and Lawn are noticing a growing trend for welfare facilities. It is receiving more requests from organisers to supply simple structures that can be used as calm and quiet spaces, enabling guests to take a moment away from the sights and sounds of a busy event site.

Dean concurred. At the Royal Highland Show, BBC Radio 1 Big Weekend in Luton,

BRADSHAW EVENT VEHICLES

and BBC Radio 2 in the Park, TLC Welfare created calm and quiet spaces behind the events’ welfare tents so attendees could receive the appropriate support. Everything from a non-judgemental listening ear to being pointed in the right direction of additional resources post-event.

EventWell will soon launch the SensorySafe Accreditation Scheme, which will empower organisers to showcase their commitment to neuroinclusion. The scheme will assess and certify events based on a range of criteria, such as the availability of well-equipped quiet and sensory spaces, inclusive design, and ensuring staff are equipped with mental health first aid training and awareness of neuroinclusive practices.

TEAM AND CREW WELFARE

Boardmasters worked with Diverse UK, a charity that works with people who identify as autistic, to create a sensory calm space for people to rest and recover and IThink provided welfare support. But eventgoers are not the only demographic that organisers need to think about.

Team welfare and crew welfare are just as central to the event mix. For example, freelance event producer Yolanda Iseley has introduced a few basic measures in the last year to improve crew and artist welfare, including fans on stage for dancers when it’s hot, heaters in dressing rooms for when it’s cold, and microwaves and fridges in crew rooms so crew can save their food for later if their schedules do not align with crew catering times. Small touches can make a big difference to crew morale.

Crew catering specialist Kate Packham, director of The Old Skool Bus and Kitchen, agreed. Having studied nutrition, she is keen to provide crews with balanced and slowreleasing energy meals over carb-heavy dinners that have been the norm on event sites for years. Such is Packham’s desire to

lead by example, she is ensuring her team eats nutritious meals, and for 2025, will be limiting hours worked in a week and enforcing rest days.

Similarly, The Occasionall Group has taken team welfare and wellbeing (mental, physical and emotional) one step further and has recently introduced the Wellbeing Card. It’s a card that any team member can produce when they are not feeling their best and the team instantly rallies. No questions asked.

SMALL MEASURE – BIG DIFFERENCE

TLC Welfare provides crew welfare support to Boomtown over four weeks, giving staff and contractors coming on-site access to trained welfare professionals. Whilst Events Bars and Catering contract Dean and his team to base themselves within the staff campsite at Glastonbury and be there for 800 bar staff working at the event.

Dean would love to see welfare placed higher up the pecking order. Safeguarding and welfare professional Dawn Grant, director of Emmaus Events, concurred. She believes that procedures within welfare facilities should be tightened up, with people running welfare facilities knowing exactly who they have in their care. Furthermore, she would love to plug a gap and train more security teams on welfare and safeguarding so they are “more aware” of best practices.

EDUCATE FUTURE FESTIVALGOERS

Guidance that helps organisers plan and deliver events that meet the needs of children and teenagers has recently been published by Oxford Brookes University. The research aims to provide organisers with advice that safeguards the needs of children and teenagers on an event site. The thought is that it will have a positive impact as children are ticket buyers of the future.

This concept that younger demographics and their early event/festival experiences

should be nurtured is not something that has gone unnoticed.

Julia Pinkney, founder of Street Eats N Beats, believes that organisers can educate children and teenagers about what to expect at a festival and smaller, family-friendly events can act as a stepping stone.

“I have been running my festival for ten years,” she said. “We’re not a family festival but we are family-friendly. We have an area that only allows DJs under the age of 18 to play. It’s really popular and has begun to attract families and parents.

“What I’ve found is that parents do worry about their kids going to a festival and some kids have questions about what to expect at a bigger festival and what they should do. For example, what do they do if they fall out with their friends and they bugger off with the tent? It happens.

“Street Eats N Beats has become this natural step on the ladder before kids and teenagers take their next big leap and so I want to introduce workshops at this year’s event that would act like a drop-in centre for people to ask questions. It’s the perfect place to catch kids at an earlier age and educate them, which helps with the wider welfare piece.”

Both Grant and Dean agree. In fact, Grant has authored a festival safety report as a guide for parents and children on what to expect at a festival and Dean would like to start educational sessions in schools – perhaps in areas where large “right of passage” festivals take place – to teach young people festival basics. It is hoped this would have a positive impact and help young people navigate a world of unknowns. Arming them with a little information could have a massive influence on event welfare and event operations and the smooth and safe running of a site.

At the end of the day, welfare is all about communication, concluded Grant, and asking someone if they need a bit of help.

Images: Dominic Hampton/Lukas Eggers

Europe’s largest annual firework display, incorporating lighting and animation

Pylon One as a leading designer and installer of mission-critical, enterprise-grade, event communications systems, were priviledged once again to be appointed by Identity to deliver a fully integrated communications infrastructure for London New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Whilst all the action takes place around the London Eye, the network covered a total distance of 23Km

To achieve this yearly spectacular the installation included:

◦ 50 x Edge Switches

◦ 46 x Pairs of Point-to-Point links

◦ 46 x High specification PTZ CCTV cameras

◦ 1400 x multiple channel digital radios

We’re ready to support your next event...

Wired and Wireless Connectivity for:

◦ back-of-house

◦ event production

◦ event leadership team

◦ ticket offices

Integrated Communication and CCTV:

◦ Full Matrix Communication systems

◦ Multi-site / Multi-timeslot radio system

◦ High-specification PTZ cameras

Image Credit: Kois Miah

Hello 2025

The Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks is more than a “show” watched by millions at home. It’s a large-scale live event that needs to run smoothly for thousands of spectators. Here, Hannah Clark, Identity’s project director, talks about operational changes and how a change in mindset ensured the collaboration of all stakeholders

LONDON NYE FIREWORKS

n December 31, almost 100,000 ticketholders patiently waited for hours on the banks of the River Thames to watch London’s highly-anticipated fireworks display. New Year’s revellers watched the 12-minute show – featuring more than 12,000 fireworks, 420 lights and holographic technology – and welcomed 2025 with a humungous bang.

For a third year, Identity, the live events agency, worked alongside the Greater London Authority (GLA), the London Eye, BBC Studios Events, and numerous agencies to deliver the revered spectacle, which featured creative elements to bring iconic moments from the last 12 months to life.

AMBITIOUS PRODUCTION

This year’s event was the largest annual firework display in Europe, meticulously designed and executed by a crew of 32 firework, sound, and lighting specialists with Titanium Fireworks, On the Sly, Pixel Artworks, and Delta Live playing key roles.

Hannah Clark, Identity’s project director, was at the helm, working alongside a huge crew of experienced event professionals and overseeing the large-scale event’s numerous operational and technical elements that combined to “wow” an audience of millions.

A TWIST ON PROJECTION

“Every year, we get a brief from the GLA to create an amazing event that puts London on the global stage, but it needs to work for live and broadcast,” explained Clark. “Everyone expects pyrotechnics and lighting. That’s what most people come to see; the challenge is, how do you keep London innovating and coming up with new, creative solutions that can also tell the story that the Mayor wants to get across?

“The highlights of the year and the positive messaging as we look forward to 2025, are key, and we can do that via the soundtrack and sound clips, but enhancing it with visuals is different, and that’s why people loved the drones last year. But what could we

do that was different that might get people talking? Hence, going down the route of using Hologauze.”

Hologauze is a hologram effect projection fabric. It is a patented gauze coated with a reflective silver metallic layer. The design allows the gauze to effectively reflect projected images or animations while simultaneously allowing the visibility of objects behind it. This year, Hologauze was deployed for the first time.

Clark continued: “When we first took on the event for the GLA, we pitched in some cool things, but they were keen that we didn’t do something that wasn’t essentially ‘real’.”

Identity opted for Hologauze. It wanted an effect that was “authentic” and in situ. It wasn’t “clever TV” and delivered a nice “twist” on projection.

NEW AND DYNAMIC

The Hologauze product – supplied by Holotronica – was used to create the camera video effects. Blackout built a structure to

Images: © Ben Broomfield Photography/Kois Miah

support the fabric, which was set a short distance in front of the camera covering the full frame of the desired shot. Then, custom video content – created and delivered by Pixel Artworks – was projected on the Hologauze and the environment behind it.

“We spent a lot of time looking at how we could keep the show dynamic by telling our story with Hologauze, but that not being the focal point,” Clark added. “So actually, although it appeared throughout the show, the actual time that we used it wasn’t huge. It was just the right amount of time to create something new and dynamic, tell our story, and put in some fun visuals.”

NOT A POP-UP

Planning for the event began in July. On the Sly worked on soundtrack curation to create a complex “musical narrative”. More than 100 different show section iterations and 61 different overall full show mixes were needed to get to the final broadcast soundtrack. This was followed

by pyrotechnic design and concluded with lighting programming. Final preparations on December 31 included rigging lighting and fireworks on the London Eye just hours before the famous midnight moment.

But whilst the “show” is a significant piece of work, there is also the small matter of approx. 100,000 ticketholders – who have waited in designated viewing areas – that are expecting a great live experience and a safe event. Operationally, that in itself is a huge piece of work too.

“No one in our industry perhaps anticipated the change in public behaviour and crowd behaviour, post-COVID,” Clark said. “In 2022, it was a bit of an eye-opener. We took away a lot of learnings and applied them to last year’s event, which solved some of the issues but not everything. We used this year’s event as a real opportunity to go back to the start and revisit everything, not taking anything for granted. We were quite aware that some of the things we plugged in 2023 fixed some problems, but then probably pushed the

problem elsewhere where we hadn’t had a problem before.”

Clark and her team knew these were issues that Identity – working in collaboration with other stakeholders – needed to tackle. They wished to find ways to deal with “known areas” and non-ticketed crowds that gathered around the event footprint. The approach was to make a more “robust and solid” event.

Clark commented: “By year three, you should know what you’re dealing with, whether that’s an element of the show, operations, crowds or suppliers, but one of the key things for us, as we sat down in our first meeting with the GLA, was that this event is not like going to Wembley, a lovely purpose-built venue with all the infrastructure there. We have a blank canvas city footprint, which doesn’t have any perfect areas for gathering people, has so much street furniture, and there are so many businesses and residents, so our core message was that we [the show] can’t be treated as a pop-up event.”

HOLOGAUZE

Clark continued: “We needed time to put in the right measures so that we were properly prepared to welcome our ticketed spectators and give them an amazing experience. But also make people aware that London is really busy on the night and we have got to adapt to that. That message was hammered home and changed the direction of what we did this year to make things better.”

BUILD SCHEDULE

A key lesson from last year’s event was building resilience into the build schedule. Stormy weather conditions in 2023 meant that it was important for Identity to give suppliers the right conditions to work in. Installing high hoarding is tricky without high winds and huge swathes of pedestrians in and around your footprint.

Clark explained: “We looked at how to give everyone enough time to be able to get ahead and build in more resilience to that build piece.

“In 2023, we had one overnight build and a longer daytime build period. Our core infrastructure went in overnight, the night before and on the day of the event, which, in principle, should work, but when you have storm winds, it doesn’t. There’s not much resilience in that. So, this year, we started three full nights before and had staggered closures across our footprints. We needed to be mindful that we couldn’t massively disrupt business as usual London.”

The event’s “heavy” infrastructure was put in place over three nights before the final pieces of the jigsaw were loaded in on December 31. Clark said that this demonstrated that Identity had listened to its supply chain, giving valued and experienced suppliers and contractors more time and confidence to deliver key infrastructure and services, delivering them safely and in the correct way.

“That was a key thing for us,” commented Clark. “The idea that this is not a pop-up event came into it. You can’t expect anyone to create this event within 24 hours so our comms with stakeholders, residents and businesses was a big win. They bought into that earlier, longer build period and it did make a lot of difference to getting infrastructure in place. “

ENTRY POINTS

As well as changes to the build schedule, more CCTV and an enhanced fibre system – supplied by Pylon One – were installed across the site, giving the operations and safety teams more eyes on the event footprint. This subsequently increased resilience. In addition, for the first time, ELT and the event control room were located within one large, dedicated comms environment, a pan-London liaison facility. Furthermore, the entrances at each of the event’s viewing areas had a facelift, creating a more robust entry process, comprised of visual checks, ticket scanning and bag checks. Every ticket gate featured a large “defined” gantry, “lit up like a Christmas tree”, making it clear which viewing area you were at. This enabled ticketholders to know exactly where they were. However, despite clear signage, there will always be a few people who end up in the wrong location.

The new entry system reinforced to nonticketholders that beyond a certain point, there would be no access to viewing areas, and those people who did have tickets but had taken a wrong turn, were directed to where they were supposed to be. Instead of four security and stewarding suppliers contracted to make sure ticketholders were safe, this number was increased to six. In 2023, MJ Events, Provide, JAR and Showsec worked on the event. This time, they were joined by Vespasian and Responsec.

Showsec alone deployed 1,100 staff, who ensured smooth crowd flow within the viewing areas, aided by additional infrastructure like upgraded gates that acted as a deterrent to potential intruders. The increased presence of police also ensured a swift response to potential issues, providing peace of mind to both staff and attendees.

“This three-stage entry process was much more like a permanent venue and moved away from this mindset of getting your infrastructure in quickly and getting people in,” Clark continued. “Last year, we had a few problems with fake tickets, so it was key that we addressed this. People were also blocking access, so making our ticket entry points more obvious, having additional resilience around ticket checks, and partnering with Ticketmaster to go fully digital with our tickets all helped to make the event a lot smoother.

“We also made it clear in all our comms that the only place you could get tickets was Ticketmaster. No other tickets would be valid. And, for the first time, we offered fan-to-fan resale before the event, again via Ticketmaster’s platform and not at elevated prices. It really was very black and white. If you were turning up with a ticket that didn’t say Ticketmaster on it, you weren’t getting it. That made a big difference too.

“We’ve got a responsibility to make our events as safe as possible for our ticketholders so they have this amazing experience. We need to create an event and a footprint that can be prepared for them [non-ticketholders] and discourage them,” Clark commented further. “This meant we needed to identify where they might want to gather because they think they might get a great view from there. So, did we need to keep the same footprint? We looked at whether we needed to expand. Should we add in additional managed areas and how

do we work with our wider stakeholders as well? They each have their own ways of dealing with certain locations, so we needed to make sure that we were all joined up.”

LOOKING AHEAD

The Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve Fireworks Display is a huge collaborative piece. The event footprint is in the heart of the capital and each year, the landscape changes. New buildings and residential spaces pop up, which means more stakeholder and community engagement is required. No doubt, next year’s event footprint will change. Therefore, is it too soon to talk about December 31, 2025?

“We’re always looking ahead,” Clark concluded. “We have started the debrief process already and we have six full weeks of solid debriefing. That whole period is all about what worked well against our lessons learned. How did we develop it? What can we do better for next year? So it’s definitely not too soon to be thinking about how we move forward and take the event in the right direction.”

SUPPLIERS LIST

Fireworks – Titanium Fireworks

Lighting – Lights Control Rigging, Pharos and The Technical Department

Audio/Sound – On the Sly and Delta Live Event control – Controlled Events

Security – Showsec, Provide Security, MJ Events, JAR, Vespasian, and Responsec

Health and safety – JPC Safety

CCTV and comms – Pylon One

Wayfinding – Massive

Portable buildings – Qdos

Power – Power Logistics

Toilets – PTL and Revolootion

Traffic management – Tracsis Events and Chevron

Barriers and fencing – Entertee and Sunbelt Rentals

Crew – Five Star

Emergency PA – RG Jones

Gantries and towers – Overlay Events

Marquees – Casablanca, Key Structures and City B

Waste management – A1 Cleaning

Medical – St John Ambulance

Trucking – KB Event

Full of energy

More and more organisers are turning to greener energy sources and choosing to power events with battery and solar solutions. StandOut chats with event professionals and talks about temporary event power

n 2024, WOMAD festival powered its Charlie Gillett stage with 100 per cent green energy from Ecotricity x Grid Faeries batteries. The same batteries powered Arcadia’s Dragonfly installation at Glastonbury in June and Massive Attack’s Act 1.5 Climate Action Accelerator in August. A 3MWh battery was used at the event held on Clifton Downs, which was transported to the site using Volta’s electric trucks.

This year, sadly, WOMAD will not be taking place after the organising team revealed that the festival will be moving to a new home in 2026. To ensure it will thrive for years to come in its new location, it is taking a fallow year before returning “fully charged”.

Rupert Bassadone, head of operations at WOMAD, and managing director of Ops People, recently did some digging into cost increases across festival production, in general. He concluded that festival budgets are spiralling out of control. Why? Because site production costs have increased by 56 per cent. That’s a staggering amount and is just one reason why organisers are striving to be more efficient.

According to Tim Benson, founder of Smart Power, technical director at ZAP Concepts

and chief technical officer at Showpower Global, new wins in efficiency are growing more difficult to achieve year after year. Benson believes that organisers should focus on two things. Firstly, how a power contractor undertakes their power advancing to ensure generation capacity is matched to the actual on-site demand, and secondly to review examples of monitoring reports and the recommendations made in light of the monitoring data that was collected.

He explains: “With the former, I would suggest asking questions about what advancing information is required and then how this will be used to calculate peak power requirements for the different power nodes. If your contractor does not get a handle on this, then you know they will not be able to specify the optimal use of grid connections or the integration of battery systems and/or renewables. In terms of the energy monitoring piece, you need to be confident that the data your power company is supplying is relevant and will lead to real improvements. Sadly, I still see examples of telemetry that is simply a box-ticking exercise and focuses on metrics that mean little to organisers. Be sure to discuss with your

production team and other stakeholders what they want and need to know. For example, variances between show and base loads in kW and kWhs and fuel efficiency expressed in terms of litres of fuel consumed vs energy exported.”

EFFICIENT APPROACH

James Gunson, technical director at Energy Management Solutions (Energy MS), says that an increasing number of clients are keen to pursue hybrid and battery technology to power their projects throughout 2025 and beyond. In fact, 30 per cent more are asking for batteries, accurate monitoring and data reporting, coupled with smart distro. This reduces the number of generators and amount of fuel used and improves efficiencies. He suggests that organisers should ask their power provider a series of simple questions to spark a conversation that leads to efficiencies and greener solutions. Such as do I need all of these generators and can we have a central power area and use more distribution?

Reducing generator use and improving site distribution have been key areas of focus for Flow Power Solutions, the temporary power

division of GL events UK. Its approach to power efficiency is centred around creating “generator farms” that are set within a dedicated area that is designed to work in synchronisation. Historically, generators have been scattered around event sites as it’s quicker to drop a generator where it’s needed with less cabling. However, this is not the most efficient and sustainable approach. Whilst it requires more upfront design, the results (and cost savings) are a compelling reason to invest time early with a complete review, says Charlie Russell, Flow Power Solutions’ commercial manager.

Benson argues that energy and power quality monitoring is fast becoming an exact science and says it’s no longer adequate to simply report on power generation at a generator or power farm level. What organisers are interested in is exactly where, how and when power and energy are being used further down the distribution chain, he says. This necessitates more distribution

level monitoring hardware, sampling at a minimum rate of once per second but with the option of upping this to more like six samples per second.

CLEANER ENERGY SOURCES

“Every event has unique constraints in terms of site layout, access, patterns of power usage and budget,” explains Jim Brown, general manager at Pearce Hire. “Our constant challenge is to advise people what the best system for their circumstances is. What works well for one site would fail miserably at another. It’s one thing seeing a cool piece of tech but you do need to put the work in to make sure it’s genuinely an improvement.

“We’ve had some heartening conversations regarding making significant changes to how some events are powered. We’re looking at maximising the use of mains and using batteries to up-rate the peak load this can supply. We’re going to be deploying more battery systems than ever to make synced

generator systems as efficient as possible. We’ll continue to supply short-duration events with pure battery solutions. Lastly, we’re looking to continue the use of hydrogen-fuelled systems that we first deployed in 2024.”

Last year, Pearce Hire and GeoPura worked together at Big Church to power the festival’s main stage [20m x 44m] and surrounding services – including a bar area –entirely from hydrogen.

As well as expanding battery storage systems across the Christian music festival’s site, Pearce Hire and GeoPura’s hydrogen system saved approx. 5.8 tonnes of CO2 compared to previous events, demonstrating that large-scale events can transition to cleaner energy sources.

LEADING THE WAY

Festival promoter Rebellion Live has contracted GeoPura to power Monmouth Rising, a new 45,000-cap festival taking place this August, entirely with green hydrogen.

JAMES GUNSON (he/him)

SOLAR POWER AT ON THE BEACH

LOST VILLAGE

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James Kenny, director of Rebellion Live, explains: “GeoPura has already worked wonders with small-scale hydrogen solutions at other events, but we wanted to take it further. If we’re going to start a festival, let’s start as we mean to go on – going big, being bold, and setting a new standard for what festivals can achieve.”

Monmouth Rising plans to power everything from the main stage to the dance tent with clean, green energy. Kenny continues: “Sustainability shouldn’t be a compromise – it should be built in from the start. Monmouth Rising is proof that festivals can deliver incredible experiences without leaving a lasting environmental cost. It’s about showing what’s possible when innovation leads the way and creating a space where people can enjoy themselves, knowing they’re part of something meaningful.”

MAINS POWER

Having previously supported Boardmasters for the last three years, Project Power is currently tendering for the festival’s power contract. If successful, there are big plans for more sustainable power at the five-day event. Furthermore, the power provider is working with GMC Events, which has taken over site and operations management of all Brockwell Live shows, to ensure they are as sustainable and efficient as possible.

Ryan Wilmott, director of GMC Events, says that power will be a key focus but the details are currently being worked through, as are plans for Y Not, which thanks to a small substation being installed near Y Not’s site, could draw much of its power off mains this year.

Wilmott is working with Pearce Hire on Y Not 2025. At the moment, plans are being drawn up as though the sub-station will not be finished in time, but it’s hoped that the festival’s production village and all campsites could tap into mains power if the sub-station is completed. This would have a significant impact on the festival’s fuel bill.

DEPLOYMENT OPTIONS

Energy MS continues to support NW Live in its efforts to reduce impacts at On The Beach, Brighton. On The Beach 2024 was a big first for Energy MS, using a battery to power the whole site. Energy MS invested in a 275kVA battery with 500 kWh of storage, which powered the bars, traders, merchandise, production and dressing rooms. Gunson designed a solution whereby the battery unit was connected to a 300kVA generator to charge and support the load during peak times. In between show weekends and during production build, the 500 kWh battery ran everything on the stage in between the show days, saving six days of generator run time. Energy MS is currently looking at new battery technology and assessing what it can use to improve on last year’s results. For example, it’s looking to introduce flexible solar panels – which improve deployment options around the sites.

BIG BATTERIES

Big batteries are certainly a big focus for 2025. Aside from new Stage V generators joining its fleet, Project Power is bringing the first of BGG’s new Enerpack Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) units to the UK. Tom Wild, director of Project Power, says: “We’ve spent a lot of time working with BGG on these units, customising them to our spec – the exciting thing about this is the larger 130kwh battery storage package, combined with the new Powertronix inverter system allows us to get a lot more out of the product and give more silent power for our clients. In addition, we’ve invested in solar to complement the BESS units in 2025 and increased our datalogging equipment stock three-fold.”

With the success of Showpower Global’s SmartGrid system powering all 33 of Coldplay’s European tour shows in 2024 and a collaboration between ZAP Concepts, CES Power and Atlas Copco in powering

PROJECT POWER

GEOPURA AT LATITUDE

the main stage at Lollapalooza in Chicago, Showpower is now receiving more enquiries about deploying BESS’ for stage power at major events.

Benson comments that “the penny has finally dropped” with stage and tour managers, who now understand that inverters are far more suited to managing difficult and variable stage load profiles than their generator counterparts. He describes using large-scale batteries as a “no-brainer” as they reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Plus, he argues it will soon be what audiences want and expect to see organisers and promoters deploying.

Russell concurs. Battery technology is a big theme heading into 2025. Flow Power Solutions – which worked with Lost Village in 2024 – is working with several major festivals and event agencies to increase battery and hybrid power provision. The power supplier already has hydrogen, solar and battery kit, and capability available. Therefore, it plans to support organisers who are set on making cost-effective and sustainable efficiencies.

Russell explains: “We are encouraging clients to stop and review their power plans because it is likely there is a much more efficient way of doing things. Copying and pasting the same model year on year is not the most sustainable and cost-effective way of working. With our expertise, we can engineer a bespoke, efficient and sustainable power solution from the ground up.”

PLANNING PROCESS

The Royal International Air Tattoo’s (RIAT) power plan has changed considerably in the last year. It is now moving to a zoned plan with strategically placed generators and batteries to improve efficiency. It adapts the solution it needs depending on the structure and surroundings. The aviation event’s

largest structure, the Chalet Line, has its own centralised bank of generators and a large Greener Projects battery, which has seen remarkable fuel savings.

James Francis, RIAT’s ground operations manager, explains: “Each year Power Electrics has provided us with detailed fuel usage for each generator. This has enabled us to pinpoint areas that may need a battery implementing to make it a hybrid system so that in quiet hours, only the battery is needed and we reduce fuel usage and emissions. Across the show, we more than tripled the number of hybrid systems from 2023 to 2024 with plans to further increase in the upcoming show.

RIAT works with Power Electrics and Impression One and has started the planning process earlier with the aim of improving efficiency and therefore, sustainability. For 2025, it is exploring the practicality of solar power and whether it would be viable for RIAT. It is keen to incorporate solar solutions and intends to trial solar-powered office cabins and welfare units this year.

Rob Mason, project and solution manager at Power Electrics, adds: “Recently, we have had some great wins with RIAT. By using BES during the day, a smaller generator can be chosen with the BES unit contributing power for peaks of high demand. At night, when the event is closed and the power requirement is far lower, the BES unit can cover the load silently and with no emissions. At RIAT24, this reduced fuel usage to around 36,000 litres, a 16 per cent reduction compared with the show in 2023 and a 36 per cent reduction from 2022.

“Power plays a fundamental part when it comes to reducing the impact of an event, yet it is crucial to maintain its reliability. If the power drops, the event fails, so reliability

is incredibly important. As sustainability increasingly becomes a key factor for customers, we must ensure one factor isn’t achieved at the detriment of the other – the two must go hand in hand.”

Matt Barney, chief hydrogen development officer at GeoPura, which supported Latitude in 2024, says that temporary power can be transformational when it’s done right, but it requires organisers to think beyond just powering the event; organisers must consider the experience being powered and create cleaner, quieter and safer environments for attendees. But this can only be done by prioritising solutions and early planning. So what’s the most pertinent question that an organiser should be asking of their power provider? “Would you mind awfully if I sent you full details of the power requirements six months ahead of the event and before I’ve set my budget?” Brown concludes. Something to think about, perhaps!

JAMES FRANCIS (he/him)

POWER ELECTRICS AT ROYAL INTERNATIONAL AIR TATTOO

LEADING PROVIDER WITH OVER 35 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE

We specialise in supplying:

 Diesel generators

 Distribution

 Cabling

 Auxiliary equipment

 Eco solutions

We can meet all your event power

Powering your event

ith an increasing number of organisations pledging to reach netzero emissions by 2050, the need to find sustainable solutions to power the events sector has never been more important.

Aimee Miller, head of strategic projects for energy at Sunbelt Rentals, brings more than 20 years of experience in helping customers power their events. Her expertise has played an important role in powering renowned festivals, including Glastonbury, and supporting major customers, such as Festival Republic and Live Nation.

If there’s one piece of advice she would offer, it is the importance of breaking away from traditional practices. To make a difference and contribute to the development of sustainable energy solutions, it’s essential to plan early, gather as much information as possible about the power load profile of a site and embrace sustainable energy sources.

THE SWEET SPOT FOR SUSTAINABLE POWER

Reducing carbon emissions and minimising fuel consumption are important goals that align with government regulations aimed at promoting sustainable energy. To successfully achieve these goals, early collaboration between organisers and suppliers is essential. A clear understanding of the equipment and its specific power requirements is important to effectively understand the power of a site. By investing time in gathering equipment specifications, organisers can hit the energy sweet spot – ensuring that generators and batteries operate in the most sustainable and cost-effective way.

Sunbelt Rentals takes a proactive, collaborative approach to help its customers gather the necessary information early with the support of knowing to ask the right questions. This proactive approach not only enhances sustainability but also leads to long-term benefits for everyone involved.

FUTURE TECHNOLOGY AND TRENDS

In recent years, sustainable equipment and technologies have advanced significantly, offering more options, greater capabilities, and improved reliability than ever before. Keep an eye out for the availability of equipment with solid-state lithium batteries and flexible solar panels, which harness natural resources to provide efficient, renewable power.

Lithium-glass batteries are emerging as a groundbreaking advancement in energy storage, offering a next-generation alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries. These batteries promise major gains in energy density, safety, and lifespan, leading the way for more efficient and sustainable power solutions.

Meanwhile, hydrogen generators are providing a glimpse of what’s to come. The widespread adoption of hydrogen could play a key role in advancing the shift toward a net-zero future, particularly in industries like events, where reducing carbon emissions is becoming increasingly critical.

Pump it up

Developments

in temperature control technology will significantly enhance the guest experience and reduce the industry’s impact on

the environment

As StandOut writes, the UK has just come out the other side of a cold snap and there are rumours that an Arctic blast is on its way. The sub-zero temperatures are in stark contrast to the latest Met Office figures, which state that eight of the last 12 months have seen above-average temperatures.

Unseasonable warm months and incredibly wet summers are indications of how our climate continues to change. But what does it mean for event organisers and operations teams who must deliver comfortable conditions for event guests, and grapple with soaring temperatures or freezing conditions?

Temperature control specialists say that the UK’s recent weather extremes are evidence that organisers need to make heating and cooling solutions a priority. Thankfully, savvy event professionals are getting ahead and ensuring they are working with reputable heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) suppliers that are happy to advise on the most efficient systems for an event.

GAME-CHANGING SOLUTIONS

Cooling and Heating Solutions is currently working with Arena to provide temporary heating at Cheltenham Festival, and this year, it is launching a range of heat pump chillers for heating and cooling, which include the latest technology to reduce electrical consumption.

This is a big trend in event HVAC. There is demand for more products that deliver greater efficiency and reduce costs. In turn, these products help organisers to meet sustainability targets. However, according to Faine Jordan, general manager at Cooling and Heating Solutions, this requires clear project briefs so accuracy can be achieved when systems are being designed and specified. She says there are several questions an organiser can

ask their temperature control provider to ensure targets are met. Jordan explained: “What are the minimum and maximum external temperatures that have been used to calculate the capacity of the plant required and what is the desired internal temperature that has been used to calculate the capacity of the plant required? A few degrees of difference in these numbers makes a tremendous difference in the cost and the electricity to power it.”

Ian Wilson, who recently joined Flow Power Solutions as HVAC manager, is looking forward to working with organisers who require more sustainable HVAC solutions.

He said: “As the event industry continues to move toward a greener and more sustainable future, the role of temporary HVAC systems is evolving in ways that directly impact the success and environmental performance of events.

“One of Flow Power Solutions’ commitments is to phase out investments in fossil fuelbased HVAC and power generation products. Instead, we are investing in new and innovative solutions like packaged air source heat pumps. This HVAC solution is not currently widely used in the event industry. However, these new units will replace the need for IDF heaters, coolers and boilers, providing one solution that offers seamless modulation between heating, cooling and ventilation.”

This is particularly beneficial for events that occur during transitional months when the weather can shift dramatically between morning and afternoon. Wilson says that packaged air source heat pumps eliminate the need for on-site engineers to switch modes between heating and cooling as the process is automated through temperature control systems. This very same system can also be used to monitor air quality

throughout an event, which is great because high-density events can quickly lead to stuffy indoor conditions.

Ventilation is an area that should be given more thought. Wilson believes the next “big thing” in event HVAC will be the integration of packaged air source heat pumps because they are not only more sustainable but also enhance the guest experience.

“The best HVAC systems are the ones you don’t notice,” Wilson concluded. “When attendees walk into a space and feel comfortable without being aware of the temperature, that’s when you know you’ve succeeded. Packaged air source heat pumps are game-changers for events. With just one sustainable system on-site, you can provide heating in the morning and cooling in the afternoon, providing a seamless experience for attendees, all while reducing costs, and disruption, and importantly driving down the carbon footprint of your event.”

RIDE On

Action Medical Research’s RIDE Castle event will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2025.

The charity’s Zoe Westerman and Sarah Stevenson reflect on the fundraising event

025 marks the 20th anniversary of RIDE Castle, and to commemorate this milestone, the sporting event will include some new, and old, features celebrating the past 20 years of cycling in Kent.

Setting off from Tonbridge Castle on May 11, cyclists taking part in RIDE Castle can choose from four different routes, each varying in length; a heady mix of rolling terrain and punchy climbs before participants pedal through quiet lanes and past Penshurst Place.

“We’ve planned lots of additional extras for the 20th RIDE Castle event, including things such as finish line cakes, special commemorative finishers medals, and free prize draws to win some amazing kit,” explains Zoe Westerman, cycling fundraiser at Action Medical Research, the charity dedicated to funding vital research to help sick and disabled babies, children and young people.

RIDE Castle is one of several fundraising events organised by Action Medical Research. Westerman manages and delivers the RIDE series, comprised of five one-day sportives, a new event called Track Attaque and the Garmin Ride Out. It’s a role she loves and has enjoyed doing for more than three years. Despite not working on RIDE Castle since its inception, she is keen to develop

the RIDE series and ensure the event’s legacy lives on for another 20.

“Our RIDE series and cycling programme develops year on year with adjustments and improvements to our existing events to keep them interesting,” Westerman explains. “Over the years, RIDE Castle’s routes have evolved. We did consider changing the routes to the original ones for 2025, but we went against that idea in the end. It’s a shame because it would have been a nice bit of nostalgia, but we thought people would be less impressed with the original route.”

HUGE SUCCESS

Sarah Stevenson, head of partnerships at Action Medical Research, has worked at the charity for 25 years. During that time, she says, she has seen the charity cement its position within cycling and sporting events following its first London to Paris bike ride in 2000. Soon after, Action Medical Research rolled out 23 100-mile sportives across the UK, including RIDE Castle.

Stevenson says: “I set up RIDE Castle with a passionate cycling volunteer who loved the idea of riding around Kent with the USP being stops and views of castles along the way. It has always started and finished at Tonbridge Castle but in its first and original years, it also used to take in

five Kent castles along the way. In the last 15 years, we amended the route to be nicer for the customers, which meant taking some of those castles out but the ride has always been a huge success.”

GROWING NUMBERS

Twenty years ago, RIDE Castle had 240 participants. Within two years, that figure grew to 1,000 riders. Post-COVID, the event has attracted more than 500 cyclists each year. But both Westerman and Stevenson would love to grow that number to 1,000 riders once more.

“I see collaboration as key to this moving forward,” comments Westerman. “Forming partnerships with businesses and local groups to widen our existing audience and reach, keeping in mind we must innovate to create enhanced opportunities for brands to connect with their audience.”

According to Westerman, raising funds for the charity has become more challenging over recent years, especially with the cost of living crisis. However, the charity’s event participant numbers have been steadily growing which is a positive sign.

Stevenson concurs: “Certainly, the biggest challenge has been competitors. Twenty years ago, we were pioneers in hosting mass participation sportives for charity, but very

soon this was commonplace in the market. We soon found ourselves competing with commercial operators too. This is still one of our biggest challenges and, of course, the world changed during the pandemic when we had to cancel rides, which was hugely impactful on our income. We were very pleased, however, to resurrect the event after the pandemic and see many of our old customers return.”

SLICK EXPERIENCE

Westerman says that Strava data suggests that 43 per cent of users wish to conquer a big event/challenge in 2025. To keep participant numbers growing and repeat fundraisers coming back, Westerman and Stevenson must keep tweaking and enhancing the event experience for all those involved.

Stevenson comments: “In our first years, we issued printed maps for riders to follow if they got lost. We also used arrows, but GPX was not a thing then! We also used to employ caterers for our lunch stops, but as prices crept up we realised we could manage this more cost-effectively. In the early days, we didn’t have an ‘event close’ time and I remember waiting at the finish line at 9:45pm for one weary rider to come in! Having timing chips and GPX, QR codes

and online check-in has made the whole experience a lot slicker for the riders.”

SUPPORT

Together, Stevenson and Westerman have identified key trends that are influencing how they can attract new participants, market their event portfolio and organise events in the future. For example, they are exploring how Action Medical Research can incorporate team options into its RIDE series because people who enter like to train together. This is motivating and increases fundraising efforts. Furthermore, younger audiences are the big donors of tomorrow. However, they do not have the loyalty of a 45+ demographic. So, how can Action Medical Research appeal to the values and communication preferences of younger audiences as it develops its event series?

Westerman is keen to talk to people, including StandOut readers, who can support the charity, whether that’s through partnerships, sponsorships, collaboration or volunteering. All are vital forms of support that will make a difference in the work that she and Stevenson do.

“I’ve been working in cycling events for more than 10 years now, however, working for Action brings a new dynamic, creating powerful experiences and powerful impact,”

Westerman concludes. “I love that feeling of seeing people sign up for an event, have a great time, achieve new goals and want to come back, that’s an incredible feeling. Seeing the smiles and high fives as our fundraisers cross the finish are just a few of the many reasons why I love organising Action cycling events.”

• RIDE Castle takes place on May 11, 2025.

ZOE WESTERMAN (she/her) AND SARAH STEVENSON (she/her)

Under cover

Marquees and stretch tents can enhance the look and feel of an event. Marquee experts discuss what organisers should ask of a marquee provider and, despite budget constraints, why price should not be a factor when choosing which supplier to work with

I

n July, the 20th edition of the Orkney Island Games will take place, and it will be the biggest event that Orkney has hosted in modern history. The event will welcome more than 2,000 competitors and officials from 24 islands, who will compete over seven days in 12 different sporting disciplines.

Consisting of 70 individual islands, of which only 20 are inhabited, the Orkney Islands can be found roughly 10 miles off the north coast of Scotland. So imagine the meticulous planning and logistics that will be required to deliver the event, which is being principally funded by Orkney Islands Council and EventScotland.

Gordon Deans, chairman of Orkney 2025, confirmed that the logistics of delivering this event are incredibly complex. Hence, where possible, the Games’ organising team is raising vital funds and increasing its efforts to find sponsors to give the sporting occasion the fanfare and spotlight it deserves.

Field and Lawn is just one supplier contracted to provide equipment and services to Orkney Island Games. The marquee provider will supply 55 structures to the event, installing marquees across the island from Stromness Golf Club and Academy to Pickaquoy Centre, Kirkwall, where a 20m x 50m clearspan marquee will be used for an exhibition and Orkney 2025’s closing ceremony.

Like Field and Lawn, many other marquee suppliers are looking ahead to 2025, carefully planning and plotting the next 12 months so that they can develop relationships that add real value.

For example, Evolution Dome has renewed its contract with the Royal International Air Tattoo to provide a 24-metre dome which will be the home of the aviation event’s Inspire Stage. Plus, it is in early discussions with Cambridge Dining Co. and Seventa Events for Christmas in Cambridge 2025, having successfully provided structures for the event in 2024. The festive experience can be hired for private parties or exclusive use.

Ash Austin, director of Evolution Dome, explained: “Christmas in Cambridge 2024 had everything – scale and scope – and it looked amazing.

“Following the success of the 2024 event, Cambridge Dining Co and Seventa are already in meetings with us to look at how we can extend the success into 2025. The party element of the event was so popular and worked so well, it is likely to run for longer this year.”

With collaboration at the heart of planning, Seventa Events, Cambridge Dining Co., and Evolution Dome worked with more than 19 local and independent businesses to create an end-of-year celebration for 3,000

employees. The inflatable event structure specialist supplied a Fluid Scarab, the largest structure within its portfolio, and a 24-metre dome to house the entertainment, including a disco and live bands. In total, more than 14,000 square feet of structures, flooring, carpet, lighting and heating were delivered in just 16 hours.

“We can offer some amazing opportunities to use temporary structures in creative and exciting ways, but designing, planning, and working out the best options for each event takes time,” Austin continued. “I know this has been said before, but there is still some reticence [from organisers] to commit early and a tendency to hold on to budgets until the last minute. It’s completely understandable in a market that remains changeable on a global scale, but the closer to the event, the more the options narrow; exciting, complex, and high-impact events take time and planning. If we can encourage an agency or organiser to commit early, we can add some really serious value.”

RELATIONSHIP BUILDING

Beverley Laurie, senior project manager at Danco, concurred and advised organisers to think about any “gut” feeling they get when choosing a marquee company. She said: “Will they work in partnership with you to

make the event happen? Do they offer you advice on the best solution for a particular requirement, and are they honest with you about what can be done in a specific timeframe? Loyalty, understanding and building a proper relationship between supplier and organiser can go a long way to making the build of an event successful and stress-free for all sides.”

Tom Basnett, managing director of 10 x 15, agreed. He advised organisers and agencies to work with teams you trust and use their expertise. Especially when a last-minute curveball will require the supplier to find a solution. But do they have the experience to manage this? And is there any contingency built into the schedule?

EMPOWER YOUR SUPPLIER

10 x 15 has recently won new marquee contracts. It has extended its contract with How the Light Gets In for another three years and will return to The O2 in March to deliver all structures to the Country 2 Country music event.

Basnett said: “All signs are promising

world. I believe this is being driven because a large number of employees are working from home – what better way to engage with a team than an in-person event?”

Similarly, Ian Few, director of Fews Marquees – which is working with Cheltenham Jazz, Science and Literature Festivals – agreed too. He described the current events marketplace as buoyant and stated that the business is receiving many enquiries for the type of large and high-end events it seeks to target with structures like its PremiumMax or Orangery.

Like Laurie and Austin, Few would love organisers to integrate suppliers more into an event so that they can be their creative selves and actually, “supply the wow” factor. For example, if detailed specifications aren’t available, clients should share a background of the event and their desired outcomes. Organisers should trust their chosen structures provider to come up with suitable solutions that best fit available hire stock and empower them to suggest affordable and practical solutions.

COSTS AND BUDGETS

Lee Dalton, sales director at Roder UK, which recently sold a 30m x 45m structure to Jersey Development Company to cover its annual Jersey on Ice Christmas rink, argued that the market as a whole feels like it is under a lot of pressure to deliver the same, or more, with a reduced budget. Again, Nick Radcliffe, managing director at Field and Lawn, concurred. Organisers and event agencies are looking to their supply chain for support and cost-effectiveness. At the same time, quality and sustainability must be balanced.

“However, the elephant in the room is price and budgets,” commented Radcliffe. They are tighter than ever.

“What we are working towards is providing more multi-year deals with preferential pricing. This is a win-win as it helps us with our forward pipeline, gives us the confidence to invest in sustainable solutions and delivers more reliability and cost certainty for clients.”

SUSTAINABILITY AND RESILIENCE

Sustainability is a hot topic amongst marquee and structure providers. For instance,

“Sustainability is only going to become increasingly important,” Austin added. “Don’t just take product sustainability statements at face value; ask about the company, the warehousing, the materials, the transport requirements – the entire carbon footprint. No one wants to fall foul of greenwashing.”

He explained further: “Plus, the weather is impacting events more and more, so safety factors, such as an appropriate wind rating for the event’s location and considering the time of year, should be high on the list of requirements – always ask for a certified wind rating!”

Radcliffe agreed again. He advised organisers to revisit their weather resilience planning to protect their event from disruptions and to ensure the wellbeing of attendees.

He concluded: “Even at the height of summer, there are more and more examples of unseasonal weather-related issues on site. Revisit your weather resilience planning to protect your event from disruptions and to ensure the wellbeing of attendees. This goes beyond the usual wind loading calculations, incorporating measures like weatherproof flooring and considering adequate drainage and run off around your marquee can help mitigate risks. In today’s unpredictable climate, proactive planning with an experienced supplier is essential. Bad weather has a knock-on effect when it comes to breaking, cleaning, transporting, and building marquees at the next event. To summarise, it’s all about logistics, effective project management and supplier responsiveness to adapt to any situation, so when you are choosing your marquee supplier, you should look for strength in depth of kit, personal and expertise.”

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TWO-WAY RADIO HIRE, SALES AND SERVICE

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Organising any event or general on-site communication requires total dedicated support, and at DCRS, there is always a team on-call or on-site ready to assist you

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call-out, 24/7, if required

Looking to the future

Sunbelt Rentals recently acquired JLL Group. Here, Jack Linaker, the new MD of Broadcast and Events at Sunbelt Rentals UK, reveals all about this exciting step in Sunbelt Rentals evolution and what role tech will play in the future of events

The broadcast and events sector in the UK and Ireland is transitioning towards embracing technology adoption and sustainable solutions. Sunbelt Rentals UK and Ireland’s recent acquisition of the JLL Group, a full-service television, events, and exhibition technical production company, marks an important step in its strategic plans to support this evolving shift. This move is aligned with Sunbelt Rentals’ 4.0 strategy, which focuses on growth and delivering greater value for its customers. By unifying its knowledge, experience and innovative solutions under one single brand, the company is positioning itself to support the industry’s future.

Founded in 2009, the JLL Group, which includes JL Lighting, JL Live, and Digiset, has built a strong reputation for its technical expertise with work including corporate events, festivals and large-scale public events. By integrating its technical production solutions and innovative offerings, it further strengthens Sunbelt Rentals’ already extensive portfolio, allowing the company to meet the future demands of the industry.

THE FUTURE OF EVENTS

Jack Linaker, previously managing director of the JLL Group, is now managing director of Broadcast and Events at Sunbelt Rentals UK and Ireland. He believes that businesses looking to reduce costs and carbon emissions, while improving efficiencies, should adopt meaningful environmental best practices and behaviours that can be sustained. For example, embracing renewable energy, minimising waste and using ecofriendly equipment are all important steps in driving toward a greener future for our planet.

Organisers are increasingly choosing to use renewable energy sources where possible, such as through battery-operated equipment, selecting local suppliers and hosting events at environmentally friendly spaces. This growing commitment to sustainability is transforming

how Sunbelt Rentals operates in the industry. Linaker said: “We’re leading this shift by providing innovative rental solutions that not only lower environmental impact but also offer substantial cost savings.

“Our success is built on our people, what we refer to as our team behind the team, who have the skills, passion and dedication to support our customers. We’re committed to developing new and emerging talent while also supporting industry experts to create an environment of shared knowledge and encouraging fresh perspectives. Additionally, by creating a culture that values diverse voices and inclusive representation in the projects we work on with our customers, we can guarantee that the content resonates and reflects a variety of viewpoints.”

CONNECTIVITY AND ENGAGEMENT

Linaker explains that technology continues to reshape its operations and support its customers. In a post-COVID world, event attendees expect to be wowed by their experiences and have heightened expectations of events. New technology can facilitate this by making sure that both online and in-person events are more engaging than ever before.

“AI-powered tools will build on this by enhancing audience experience at events,” Linaker continues. “Tools that can matchmake

individuals with like-minded individuals, based on their pre-populated interests and expertise, will personalise the event experience. AI will also increase accessibility through real-time translation, making events even more inclusive and accessible to a broader audience.”

The monetisation of virtual platforms is an emerging trend that is becoming more popular, creating a new source of revenue as virtual attendance rises. This technology will allow for global connectivity and higher engagement, all without requiring people to travel to a physical location.

Holograms and 3D displays are also transforming traditional experiences, turning them into immersive moments. It will soon be possible to have events where the content comes to life in multiple dimensions, captivating audiences and creating a memorable impact.

Looking ahead, wearable technology, such as smart wristbands, will simplify processes such as check-in and provide real-time insights to event organisers. Therefore, this will reduce manual tasks, allowing resources to be reallocated more effectively.

Linaker concludes: “These innovations not only enhance the broadcast and events industry and the experience for the audience but also increase efficiency and provide analytics for event organisers.”

Things I didn’t know

As The Power of Events turns two, its founder Rick Stainton reflects on what he’s learned in two years that he didn’t learn while leading Smyle, the multi-million pound event agency

y time at Smyle Group was incredible but I needed to evolve my ambition for the next phase of my journey in the UK events industry. For 20 years, I didn’t give myself time to engage with the wider industry that felt so distant but equally relevant to my career.

If anything positive came out of the pandemic, it was a personal catalyst for me to dedicate my time and efforts differently. I felt it would be more rewarding and purposeful exploring and helping showcase the industry as a whole, whilst leaving Smyle an exciting future with Identity and The Human Network.

Over the last few years, I asked many in the industry for help – to work out what a not-for-profit organisation that aims to better showcase, respect and value the power of the UK events industry should look like –starting with defining the seven core sectors. then suggesting the partner organisations at its foundations.

THE POWER OF EVENTS ON TOUR

RICK STAINTON (he/him)

This gave us a credible framework to develop an online platform, to map out the industry in a completely impartial way. Hence, The Power of Events was launched in February 2023.

SHAPING THE VISION

The Power of Events is shaped by the industry for the benefit of the industry – uniquely everyone is welcome to be part of it.

Hundreds of event professionals helped me with four key elements that I needed to discover post-agency world for this to work, collectively shaping the vision and mission of The Power of Events.

The huge industry ecosystem and its crucial interdependence – there are now more than 650 supporters and partners from across the industry to date, growing on a weekly basis. In early 2023, I had knowledge of barely 25 per cent of them.

The supporters thanked on The Power of Events’ website for their essential help in advocating the organisation’s work include event organisers, agencies and rights holders, the huge supply chain across hundreds of service areas, the essential freelance network as well the vast array of venues.

Aside from within the business and experiential experiences sector, I wasn’t aware of so many online communities, associations, media publications and support organisations sharing new connections, insights and best practices. Learning about them can only enhance your personal industry journey or that of your business.

The lack of events industry understanding by future talent – our university partners initially helped demonstrate a need for the industry to better define itself to the next generation, to help academia or anyone needing to inspire young people to see the events industry as a viable career. This led to the launch of the UK-wide Schools Engagement Programme which aims to engage with as many young people as possible in secondary school education over the next five years.

Initially, the Events Industry Forum (EIF) funded a regional schools engagement programme pilot in the East of England, which lead to four new regions being launched in 2024 – Birmingham, South Coast, Hertfordshire, and Edinburgh with a range

of supportive sponsors enabling this to happen. Now several new regions are also being proposed to potentially launch in 2025 including London, the South West and North West regions.

The Power of Events’ interactive presentation is delivered by anyone who is passionate about our amazing industry and so can volunteer as a schools ambassador. We forecast engaging 75-100,000 young people across 500-600 school visits by the end of 2025.

Having engaged more than 20,000 young people as of January 2025, at the start of the presentation only one per cent say they know what the events industry is or are considering a career in it – compared to an average of 65 per cent post-presentation.

The broad range of industry live events for sharing knowledge and connections –The Power of Events team attended and/or showcased at more than 50 industry events in 2024. I wasn’t aware of the massive range of conventions, industry exhibitions, networking forums, awards and charity fundraisers.

The untapped benefits of collaboration on data research and insights – who can put definitive figures on the contribution to the economy, employment, exports, tax revenue and secondary industries benefitting from our delivery of (how many events?) we deliver annually, across the seven core sectors?

The good news is that post-pandemic a number of associations have demonstrated more focus and dedication to this challenge, with recent reports being produced of

enhanced accuracy and scope. But there is a general consensus that, in the absence of relevant and appropriate SIC and SOC codes, there is still much work to be done.

If there is more collaboration across sectors’ organisations with the remit to collate this data, with enhanced tools and profile given to the research, this can only be good thing to boost the respect, value and understanding of our industry we deserve.

The Power of Events is not a research organisation but it can help the industry by leveraging its unique cross sectors community and profile. Hence the Events Industry Insight app was launched in 2024 – it is designed to be a more engaging 21st century digital tool to help associations and academia with their data and insight collation projects.

POSITIVE SPOTLIGHT

In summary, as the Power of Events core team of five and its advisory board, passionate and dedicated to the UK events Industry, tap into the shared values and mutual respect demonstrated by so many people in every meeting we have and every event we attend, we can fight for an enhanced positive spotlight on our industry. Whether the audience is future talent, national media, investors, policy influencers or those already in the industry, together we can evolve our multiple projects to better communicate our industry’s benefits to society and the economy with the clear vision: To be the most representative, effective and collaborative showcase of the UK events industry.

RICK STAINTON (he/him) and SIMON HUGHES (he/him)

ENGAGING FUTURE EVENTPROFS

Cruising to success

How one huge Liverpool fan is transforming event experiences for Norwegian football fans and developing Norway’s cultural scene…

The red side of Manchester turned a sea of yellow at the end of November when Norwegian football champions FK Bodø/Glimt played Manchester United in the Europa League.

Bodø is a tiny city 120 miles north of the Arctic Circle and is home to just 55,000 people. But on November 28, 6,500 Bodø residents, more than 12 per cent of the population, made the journey to Manchester to watch their beloved football team at an “unforgettable sporting occasion”.

To put everything into perspective, Manchester United’s famous Old Trafford ground – with its 74,879 capacity – can seat the entire city of Bodø with plenty of space to spare. In fact, it dwarfs Glimt’s stadium, which can only accommodate 8,270 people.

Nevertheless, the major European stage did not phase the fans. Moreover, FK Bodø/Glimt’s directors and main sponsors SpareBank 1 SMN wanted their fans to

have a trip to remember. So, they turned to musician and businessman Ryan Lewis – a businessman, festival organiser, musician and Liverpool fan – to organise some spectacular celebrations.

SPECIAL EXPERIENCE

Lewis is renowned for his connections across the iconic Liverpool music scene, Manchester and the North-West.

Bass guitarist in Merseyside band The Hummingbirds, Lewis was recently appointed to manage Blåfrost Music Festival in Norway. Ten years ago, he came to the attention of the festival’s organiser when his band played in front of 12,000 fans at Liverpool’s Pier Head Festival. He has been a regular visitor to Norway ever since as an artiste, promoter and businessman, using his connections to forge links between Norway and Liverpool City Region through music, business and sport,

including the introduction of FK Bodø/ Glimt’s Football Academy to Liverpool FC’s Football Academy.

Lewis explained: “When FK Bodø/Glimt were drawn to play Manchester United it was a dream fixture. United are massive in Norway and for many Glimt fans, they are their second team. I had just started my new role as manager of the Blåfrost Festival when I was asked by the football club and their sponsors, because of my connections in the North-West, to organise a special experience for fans travelling to Manchester.”

CARNIVAL ATMOSPHERE

The result was the creation of a fan zone at Freight Island, where happy 4,000 FK Bodø/Glimt fans gathered for pre-match entertainment with live music, food and drink in a festival atmosphere. It proved to be a huge success.

RYAN LEWIS (he/him)

Images: © Helge Simonsen/ Sebastian T Siggerud

“The feedback we’ve had has been incredible from those who attended, to the people who own Freight Island and the local police who said they had never seen such an amazing event attended by so many wellbehaved fans,” Lewis continued. “We also received great publicity in Norway and the UK. It really was a carnival atmosphere, but it could not have been possible without the support of the football club and SpareBank 1 SMN, who sponsored the fan zone.”

CONSIDER SCANDINAVIA

Currently, Lewis commutes between Liverpool and Norway building a reputation as an unofficial ambassador for both nations through his connections in the creative arts scene.

He acted as an advisor to the city of Bodø when Norway secured European City of Culture status in 2024. It was selected to host the Eurovision Young Musicians

FAN ZONE

BLAFROST FESTIVAL

Contest in August. He now intends to build on the success and experience from the Manchester fan zone experience and develop more event-led projects between Norway and the UK.

For example, Lewis has a reputation for bringing UK bands to Norway, and he would like to bring Norwegian bands to the North-West. He continued: “As an artiste myself, I have experienced how difficult it is to tour around Scandinavia, a vast area with splintered fjords that makes touring both difficult and expensive. I would like to expand on the idea of making this easier by collaborating with other venues and towns around Scandinavia to offer a slick, affordable tour that will encourage more artistes to consider Scandinavia as part of their tour schedule, visiting more northern towns instead of only touching the south and capital cities.”

COLLABORATION

Currently, Lewis’s focus is on the Blåfrost Festival which will be staged in February 2026 in Rognan, a small fishing village. He said: “Like many festivals within the international events community, Blåfrost was hit hard by the pandemic, but we have great plans to bring Blåfrost back even bigger and better. We aim to have a much larger Blåfrost Festival in an arena that is being converted from an empty building at the Slipen Shipyard.

“However, my role in Norway is much more than managing a single festival. It also includes turning this once-derelict shipyard into a cultural facility for the north.

Part of the scheme is to encourage towns and cities to replicate what we are doing at Slipen. We will be working with a local university to study the process with a view to creating a guide on how to do this in other parts of the country or even other places in Scandinavia.”

Lewis concluded: “This project will have a huge positive impact on the area both culturally and socially. One of the main reasons to study the project is to measure its ESG value (environmental social governance). ESG is something that all businesses and governments around the world are making a priority in all future

projects. Having this blueprint of how these projects are carried out will allow for it to be replicated anywhere in the world.

“With any project of this scale, it cannot be done in isolation, we must collaborate with the best from the UK and Scandinavia sharing our ideas and learnings as we go. If anyone reading this believes they could help this project, I’m all ears! Feel free to get in touch to learn more about what we are trying to achieve in Northern Norway and beyond.”

If you would like to reach out to Lewis, email ryan@blaafrost.no

SLIPEN SHIPYARD

ACCESSIBILITY & INCLUSION

Eventwell

T: 0800 470 0958

E: bookings@eventwell.org

W: EventWell.org

ASSOCIATION

Event Hire Association  2450 Regents Court, The Crescent, Birmingham Business Park, Solihull, B37 7YE

T: 0121 380 4600

E: membership@eha.org.uk

W: www.eha.org.uk

MUTA

10B Red House Yard Gislingham Road, Thornham Magna, Eye, Suffolk IP23 8HH

T: 01379 788673

E: info@muta.org.uk

W: www.muta.org.uk

AV, SOUND & LIGHTING

Event Production Services

The Pack House, Drayton St. Leonard, Oxford, OX10 7BG

T: 01844 278446

E: info@epsoxford.com

Hire Frequencies

T: 0203 3026947

E: enquiries@hirefrequencies.co.uk

W: www.hirefrequencies.co.uk

Press Red Rentals Limited

Unit H11, Halesfield 19, Telford, TF7 4QT

T: +44 (0) 1952 587049

W: www.pressred.biz

BALLOONS, BUNTING & FLAGS

B-Loony Ltd

Cape House, 105 Bellingdon Road, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5 2HQ

T: 01494 774376

E: sales@b-loony.co.uk

W: www.b-loony.co.uk

BAR

Bar Live Events

Unit D215, Parkhall Studios, London, SE21 8DE

T: 0208 761 8424

E: nick@barlive.co.uk

W: www.barlive.co.uk

Cambridge Event Bars

T: 01223 785401

M: 07837 707057

E: Info@cambridgeeventbars.co.uk

W: www.cambridgeeventbars.co.uk

Pop-up-Pubs

T: +44(0)1993 832155

E: info@pop-up-pubs.com

W: www.pop-up-pubs.com

SIPS Events

mikey@sipsevents.net www.sipsevents.net

Symonds Event Bars

Drakewell, Stoke Lacy, Bromyard, Herefordshire, HR7 4HG

T: 01885 490267

E: info@eventbars.co.uk

W: www.eventbars.co.uk

BAR/DRINK DISPENSE EQUIPMENT

Innserve Ltd

T: 01937 535000

E: eventsandstandby@innserveltd.com

W: www.innserveltd.co.uk

BRAND ACTIVATION & EXPERIENTIAL Instant Marquees T: 01840 213063 www.instantmarquees.co.uk

Bradshaw Event Vehicles

New Lane, Stibbington, Peterborough, PE8 6LW T: 01780 782621

E: enquiries@eventvehicles.co.uk

W: www.eventvehicles.co.uk

Twitter: @Bradshaw_EV

Event Buggy Hire

T: 0113 393 4100

E: info@eventbuggyhire.co.uk

W: www.eventbuggyhire.co.uk

Hopkins Machinery T: 01633 680754

E: hire@hopkinsmachinery.co.uk

W: www.hopkinsmachinery.co.uk

Qdos Event Hire Ltd

Fernside Place, 179 Queens Road, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 0AH

T: 0845 862 0952

E: enquiries@qdoseventhire.co.uk

W: www.qdoseventhire.co.uk

Twitter: @QdosEventHire : www.facebook.com/pages/Qdos-Event-Hire/ : @qdoseventhire

BUGGY HIRE

CABINS

Wernick Events

Joseph House, Northgate Way, Aldridge, Walsall, WS9 8ST

T: 01922 472 900

E: events@wernick.co.uk

W: www.wernick.co.uk/events

: @WernickEvents

: @WernickEvents

CAR PARKING

Event Traffic Control Limited

Baldersby Gardens, Ripon Road, Baldersby, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 4PS

T: 08000 246 800

E: info@eventtc.com

W: www.eventtc.com

CATERING

Peaks Catering Ltd

T: 07702189920

E: Info@peakscatering.co.uk

W: www.peakscatering.co.uk

CLEANING & SUPPORT SERVICES

Falcon Cleaning

The Falcon Nest, Unit 10 & 11, Lower Gower Road, Royston SG8 5EA

E: admin@falconteam.co.uk

W: www.falconteam.co.uk

COFFEE BARS

Markey Ltd

39b Park Farm Ind Estate, Buntingford, Hertfordshire, SG9 9AZ

T: 01763 271110

E: info@markey.co.uk

W: www.markey.co.uk

CORPORATE CREW

Rodeo Crew

128 Wey House, 15 Church Street, Weybridge, Surrey, KT13 8NA

T: 020 8075 7799

E: bookcrew@rodeocrew.uk

W: www.rodeocrew.uk

CREW SERVICES

Falcon Festival Services

The Falcon Nest, Unit 10 & 11, Lower Gower Road, Royston SG8 5EA

E: info@falconteam.co.uk

W: www.falconteam.co.uk

MLD Event Group

T: 01903372773

E: info@mld.events

W: www.mld.events

Olympus Crew

T: 07904 903452

E: info@olympuscrew.co.uk

W: www.olympuscrew.co.uk

Optimal Events Group Ltd /

Trading as Optimal Crew

Marsh Mill Village, 5A, Fleetwood Rd N, Thornton-Cleveleys FY5 4JZ

T: 07375 843976

E: jordan@optimalcrew.co.uk

W: https://optimalcrew.co.uk

S3K Group

The Old Mill Building, Rookery Farm, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, PO22 6EP

T: 0845 299 7991

E: office@s3kgroup.com

W: www.s3kgroup.com : @s3kgroup

Trojan Crewing Solutions Ltd

57 Eastbourne Avenue, Acton, London W3 6JS

T: 07341 922974

E: chris@trojancrew.com

W: www.TrojanCrew.com

DIGITAL PLANNING

Iventis

Think Tank, University of Lincoln, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL

T: 01522 837205

W: www.iventis.co.uk

E: info@iventis.co.uk

Eamon Kerrigan: E: Eamon.kerrigan@iventis.co.uk

DRONE DISPLAYS

FlightShows

T: 020 3151 6891

E: Hello@FlightShows.com

W: www.FlightShows.com : www.facebook.com/FlightShows/ : www.linkedin.com/company/flightshows/ : www.instagram.com/flightshows/ : www.tiktok.com/@flightshows_drones

EQUIPMENT & INFRASTRUCTURE

Falcon Site Equipment

The Falcon Nest, Unit 10 & 11, Lower Gower Road, Royston SG8 5EA

E: admin@falconteam.co.uk

W: www.falconteam.co.uk

EVENT

ACCOMMODATION

Bunkabin

Tweedale Way, Oldham, OL9 7LD

T: 0345 456 7899

E: hires@bunkabin.co.uk

W: www.bunkabin.co.uk

Zoo Events Group Ltd

Stockton Dairy, Stockton, Warminster, BA12 OSQ

T: 01258 840233

E: info@zooeventsgroup.co.uk

W: www.zooeventsgroup.co.uk

EVENT MANAGEMENT

Bright Events Ltd

T: 07856588815

W: www.brighteventsltd.com : linkedin.com/in/karen-edwards-events/

CM Production Management Ltd

T: 020 8056465

E: hello@cmpm.co.uk

W: www.cmpm.co.uk : facebook.com/cmpmlive : @cmpmlive

LFX Events

Unit 10 Merchants House, Market Place, Stockport, SK1 1EU

E: enquiries@lfxevents.co.uk

W: www.lfxevents.co.uk

SC Productions

T: 02921 850 650

E: admin@scproductionsltd.com

W: www.scproductionsltd.com

Victorious Events

T: 07869 701 616

E: info@victoriousevents.co.uk

W: victoriousevents.co.uk

EVENT PASS PRINTING

Eyecatchers

T: 01772 681000

E: sales@eyecatchers.co.uk

W: www.eyecatchers.co.uk / www.myeventpass.co.uk

EVENT PRODUCTION

Culture Creative

T: 01665 798 007

E: info@culturecreative.co.uk

W: www.culturecreative.co.uk

EVENT SAFETY

Eep Safety Team

Unit 42, Dunsfold Park, Guildford, Surrey, GU6 8TB

T: 01483 266486

E: tom@eepteam.com

W: www.eepsafety.com

EVENT STAFF

LFX Safety

Unit 10 Merchants House, Market Place, Stockport, SK1 1EU

E: enquiries@lfxsafety.co.uk

W: www.lfxsafety.co.uk

The Occasionall Group: Festivall Staff | Occasionall Staff

The Circle, 33 Rockingham Lane, Sheffield S1 4FW

T: 01144 055 044

E: hello@theoccasionall.group

W: www.theoccasionall.group

Moorepeople Event Staffing Agency

1st & 2nd Floor, 169 A High Road, Loughton, Essex, IG10 4LF

T: 0208 508 0555

E: bettina@moorepeople.co.uk

W: www.moorepeople.co.uk

EXHIBITION STAND CONTRACTORS

Access Displays

Unit 38, Whitehill Industrial Estate, Whitehill Lane, Royal Wootton Bassett, Swindon, SN4 7DB sales@accessdisplays.co.uk www.accessdisplays.co.uk 01793 613088

EXHIBITION TRAILERS & MOBILE UNITS

DWT Exhibitions

FESTIVAL GAS

Trailer Hire, Sales & Management

Jubilee Park, Honeypot Lane, Colsterworth, Lincolnshire, NG33 5LZ

T: 01476 860833

E: pip@dwt-exhibitions.co.uk

W: www.dwt-exhibitions.co.uk

Inchmere Event Design Ltd

Swan Close Studios, Swan Close Road, Banbury, OX16 5TE

T: 01295 661000

E: alastair@inchmere.co.uk

W: www.inchmere.co.uk

TCM Trailers Ltd

Watery Lane, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 7SE

E: emily@tcmtrailers.co.uk

W: www.tcmtrailers.co.uk

Festival Gas

Priors Revel, Church lane, Middleton, Nr Tamworth, B78 2AL

T: 07930 758893

E: simon@festivalgas.co.uk

W: www.festivalgas.co.uk

FIRE COVER

Aero Fire & Rescue Ltd

27 Old Gloucester Street

London WC1N 3AX

T: 0330 111 3635

E: contact@aerofireandrescue.co.uk

W: www.aerofireandrescue.co.uk

Red Rose Fire Solutions Ltd

6 Brissenden Close New Romney Kent

TN28 8JD

T: 01995 503504

E: info@redrosefiresolutions.co.uk

WH Management Group

PO Box 230, Heathfield East Sussex TN21 1DX

T: 01889 500 164

E: info@whmg.co.uk

W: www.whmg.co.uk

FLAGS

Instant Marquees

T: 01840 213063

www.instantmarquees.co.uk

FLOORING & FLOOR COVERINGS

Coir Store

8-9 Yelverton Road, Brislington, Bristol BS4 5HP

E: info@coirstore.co.uk

T: 07983 614410

W: https://coirstore.co.uk

Event Flooring Solutions Ltd

T: 01509 768 252

E: sales@efseurope.co.uk

W: www.efseurope.co.uk

Gigtent UK

Sonas House, Button End Harston

Cambridge, CB22 7NX

T: 01223 870935

E: info@gigtent.co.uk

W: www.gigtent.co.uk

FURNITURE HIRE / SALES

Furniture On The Move

Unit B, Canada warehouse, Chittening industrial estate  Worthy road , Avonmouth, Bristol, BS110YB

T: 0845 459 9875

E: info@furnitureonthemove.co.uk

W: www.furnitureonthemove.co.uk

Innovative Hire

Unit N, Lion Works Estate, 543 Wallisdown Road

Bournemouth BH12 5AD

T: 01202 941 068

W: http://innovativehire.co.uk

HEATING & COOLING SYSTEMS

BiemmedueUK & Arcotherm

Unit 12, Wilson Road, South Wigston Leicester LE18 4TP

T: 01773 836999 | E: sales@biemmedueuk.com

W: www.biemmedueuk.com

Spica Temperature Control Solutions Ltd

20 Crowsport, Hamble, Hampshire, SO31 4HG

T: 02380 453841

M: 07780 638976

E: kay@spicasolutions.com

W: www.spicasolutions.com

INFLATABLE STRUCTURES

Dawsongroup tcs

Export Drive, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire NG17 6AF

Dawsongroup | tcs

T: 01623 518538

E: info@dgtcs.co.uk

W: https://dgtcs.co.uk/inflatable-cold-rooms/

INSURANCE

Arc International

St. Clare House, 30-33 Minories, London, EC3N 1PE

T: 0207 977 7637

W: www.arc-int.co.uk/

Tysers Insurance Brokers

71 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 4BS

T: 0203 037 8000

E: tim.rudland@tysers.com

W: www.tysers.com

Vento

LASER & FX

Event Insurance by Event People

107 Fenchurch Street, London, EC3M 5JF

T: 0333 090 7589

E: freddie@ventoinsurance.com

W: www.ventoinsurance.com

Laser Grafix Unit 4A Stratton Park, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8QS

E: info@lgfx.co.uk

W: www.lgfx.co.uk

UK office: 01767 315948

Dubai office: +971 4887 9808

LED SCREENS

EMF Technology Ltd

Unit 27 Freemantle House, Kingsclere Business Park, Kingsclere, Hants, RG20 4SW

T: 020 8003 3344

E: info@emftechnology.co.uk

W: www.emftechnology.co.uk

Lightmedia Displays

Mobile & Modular LED Screen Hire

T: 0333 600 6000 - 24 hour response

E: sales@lightmedia.co.uk

W: www.lightmedia.co.uk

LIGHTING

Tech AV Ltd

London, Essex, Birmingham

T: 0345 257 9969

E: lee@techav.events

W: www.techav.events

YSLV

London & York

T: 0800 080 3310

E: hire@yslv.co.uk

W: www.yslv.co.uk

TT Tents Ltd

North Waltham Business Centre, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG25 2DJ

T: 01256 397 551

E: sales@tttents.co.uk

Tentickle Stretch Tents UK Ltd

Langley Brook Business Park, Unit 3B London Rd, Tamworth, B78 2BP

T: 0121 7401385

M: 07826 843099

E: jorg@tentickle-stretchtents.co.uk

W: www.tentickle-stretchtents.co.uk

Top Cat Big Tops Tents & Marquees Ltd

The Old Stable Yard, Gasworks Ln, Achynlleth, SY20 8BY

T: 01654 700030

E: info@topcatbigtops.co.uk

W: www.topcatbigtops.co.uk

MEDICAL SERVICES

Events Crew Limited

T: 01963 364399

E: info@eventscrew.com W: www.eventscrew.com

Illumin8

Nick: 07593437891

PART OF

MARQUEES

E: sales@illumin8lights.co.uk W: www.illumin8lights.co.uk

Alternative Stretch Tents

Building 15, Gateway 1000, A1 (M) jct 7, Stevenage, SG1 2FP

T: 01920 830256

E: info@alternative-stretch.co.uk

Fews Marquees

Chessgrove Park, Ditchford Bank Road, Hanbury, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, B60 4HS

T: 01527 821789

E: info@fews.co.uk

W: www.fewsmarquees.co.uk

Gigtent UK

Sonas House, Button End Harston Cambridge, CB22 7NX

E: info@gigtent.co.uk

W: www.gigtent.co.uk

Instant Marquees

T: 01840 213063

www.instantmarquees.co.uk

safety and medical

Enhanced Care Services Unit H9, Adanac Park, Adanac Dr, Nursling, Southampton SO16 0BT

T: 02380 201561

E: admin@enhancedcareservices.co.uk

W: www.enhancedcareservices.co.uk

First Aid Cover Ltd

T: 020 8875 5758

E: enquiries@firstaidcover.co.uk

W: www.firstaidcover.co.uk

Location Medical Services Ltd

The Medical Centre, Shepperton Studios, Studio Road, Shepperton, Middx, TW17 0QD

T: 0870 750 9898

E: mail@locationmedical.com

W: www.locationmedical.com

Medirek

8 Primrose Place, Portsmouth Road, Godalming Surrey, GU7 2JW

T: 07776 128 409

E: ryan.soper@medirek.co.uk

W: www.medirek.co.uk

MET Medical Ltd

T: 0203 627 9042

E: info@met-medical.co.uk

W: www.met-medical.co.uk

Trident Medical Limited

Based in Essex, cover events all over the UK

T: 01268 438899

M: 07379 244718

E: events@tridentmedical.co.uk

W: www.tridentmedical.co.uk

PARKING

Wise Parking

T: 03301 334522

E: info@wiseparking.co.uk

W: www.wiseparking.co.uk

PLANT HIRE

Hopkins Machinery

T: 01633 680754

E: hire@hopkinsmachinery.co.uk

W: www.hopkinsmachinery.co.uk

PORTABLE TOILET HIRE

Excloosive Event Hire

Field House, Bromley Park, Abbots Bromley

Rugeley, Staffordshire WS15 3AH

T: 01283 575 749

M: 07778 473 064

Email: info@excloosive.co.uk

Four Jays Group

Barling Farm, East Sutton, Maidstone, Kent ME17 3DX

T: 01622 843135

E: enquiries@fourjays. co.uk

W: www.fourjays.co.uk

LOOS FOR DOs Ltd

Bakers Court, Forge Road, Kingsley, Hampshire GU35 9NZ

T: 01420 588 355

E: info@loos.co.uk

W: www.loos.co.uk

Just Loos

Paddock Barn, Manor Farm, Itchen Stoke, Hampshire, SO24 0QT

T: 01962 867808

E: office@justloos.com

W: www.JustLoos.com

Ontrax Rentals

Elmwood Farm, Bampton OX18 2PL, England

E: hello@ontraxrentals.com

W: www.ontraxrentals.com

Site Event

The Depot, The Avenue, Lasham, Hampshire GU34 5SU

T: 01256 384 134

E: event@site-equip.co.uk

W: www.site-equip.co.uk

Vacant Event Hire

Unit C White Oak Technology Park, London Road, Swanley, Kent BR8 7AG

T: 01322 761 117

M: 07960 301178

E: info@vacant.events

W: https://vacant.events/

Zoo Events Group Ltd

Stockton Dairy, Stockton, Warminster, BA12 OSQ

T: 01258 840233

E: info@zooeventsgroup.co.uk

W: www.zooeventsgroup.co.uk

POWER & GENERATORS

ATD Electrical

Unit 93, Greenway Business Centre, Greenway, Harlow, Essex, CM19 5QE

T: 01279 507890

E: office@atdelectrical.com

W: www.atdelectrical.com

Energy Management Services Ltd

T: 0333 305 5144

E: admin@energyms.co.uk

W: www.energyms.co.uk

Festival Power Ltd

Unit 2, Temple Bridge Business Park, Bristol, BS39 5AA

E: info@festivalpower.co.uk

W: www.festivalpower.co.uk

Gofer Ltd

Unit 7 Arkwright Road, Hadleigh Road Ind. Est, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP2 0UB

T: 01473 282530

E: info@gofer.co.uk

W: www.gofer.co.uk

IDE Systems

T: 01543 574 111

E: enquiries@idesystems.co.uk

W: www.idesystems.co.uk

Head Office & Manufacturing Centre

Unit 3, Swaffield Park Hyssop Close, Cannock Staffordshire, WS11 7FU United Kingdom

Midas Productions (UK) Ltd

Unit 1, Uplandside, Manor Road, Clopton, Suffolk, IP13 6SH

T: 0333 772 0772

M: 07949 007 603

E: info@midas-uk.co.uk

Newburn Power Rental Limited

Unit 36 Lidgate Crescent, Langthwaite Business Park, South Kirkby, Pontefract, WF9 3NR

T: 0845 077 6693

E: info@npr-uk.com

Power Events

T: 01277 424800

E: enquiries@powerevents.co.uk

W: www.powerevents.co.uk

Power Revolution

23C Shepherds Grove Ind Est, Stanton Bury St Edmunds, IP31 2AR

T: 01359 256 265

E: info@power-revolution.co.uk

W: www.power-revolution.co.uk

Robert Blezard Electrical Contractor Ltd

T: 01200 777666

E: hello@robertblezard.co.uk

W: www.robertblezard.co.uk

Summit Power

T: 0333 0349433

E: enquiries@summitpower.co.uk

W: https://summitpower.co.uk/

Tempower

T: 0845 6066049

E: hire@tempower.co.uk

W: www.tempower.co.uk

Wernick Power Solutions

Joseph House, Northgate Way, Aldridge, Walsall, WS9 8ST

T: 03334 001 247

E: power@wernick.co.uk

W: www.wernick.co.uk/power : twitter.com/WernickGroup : www.linkedin.com/company/wernickgroup

PRINTERS

UK Flyers

Suite 210, Victory House, Somers Road, North Portsmouth, HampshirePO1 1PJ

T: 023 9229 3050

E: sales@ukflyers.com

W: www.ukflyers.com

PRODUCTION AND PROJECT SUPPORT

Smartrad Creative Ltd

5 George Street, Snaith, DN14 9HY

smartradcreativeprojects@gmail.com www.smartrad.org

T: 07711469787

PROJECTION

EMF Technology LTD

Projection Mapping, Water Screens, Flame Effects, Lighting, Mains Distribution

T: 020 8003 3344

E: info@emftechnology.co.uk

W: www.emftechnology.co.uk

RADIO COMMUNICATIONS

2CL Communications Ltd

Unit C, Woodside Trade Centre, Parnham Drive, Eastleigh, Hampshire, SO50 4NU

T: 0800 389 2278

E: contact@2cl.co.uk

W: www.2cl.co.uk

Audiolink

T: 020 8955 1100

E: info@audiolink.co.uk

E: hire@audiolink.co.uk

W: www.audiolink.co.uk

DCRS

Edison Road, St.Ives, Cambs, PE27 3LH

T: 0800 043 2688

E: sales@dcrs.co.uk

W: www.dcrs.co.uk

SFL Mobile Radio

6 Woodway Court, Thursby Road

Bromsborough, CH62 3PR

T: 0151 334 9160

E: sales@sflmobileradio.co.uk

W: www.sflmobileradio.co.uk/

REFRIGERATED STRUCTURES

Dawsongroup tcs

Export Drive, Sutton-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire NG17 6AF

Dawsongroup | tcs

T: 01623 518538

E: info@dgtcs.co.uk

W: https://dgtcs.co.uk/inflatable-cold-rooms/

REUSABLE CUPS

Re-uz UK Less is now Limited

Unit 1A Walrow Industrial estate, Commerce Way, Highbridge TA9 4AG

T: 01278 238390

E: info.uk@reuz.com

W: www.re-uz.com & www.green-goblet.com

SCAFFOLD SYSTEM & TRUSS STRUCTURES

SEATING

Overlay Events Ltd

54 Oxford Road, Uxbridge UB9 4DN

T: 01895 813627

E: info@overlayevents.com

W: www.overlayevents.com

Ace Seating Hire

T: 01832 279333

E: info@aceseating.co.uk

W: www.aceseating.co.uk

SECURITY

DBD Group Services

T: 01934 286000 and 07955314124

E: info@dbdgroupservices.co.uk

W: www.dbdgroupservices.co.uk

Newman Event Services Ltd

Crowd Management, Festival & Event Security/Stewarding. Bloxham Mill, Barford Road, Bloxham, Oxfordshire, OX15 4FF

T: 01295 722844

E: enquiries@newmanevents.co.uk

W: www.newmanevents.co.uk

Right Guard Security

Experts in Crowd Management and Event Security

T: 01227 464588

E: info@rightguard.co.uk

W: www.rightguard.co.uk

Trojan Security Unit B7 Loughton Seedbed Centre

Langston Road

Loughton IG10 3TQ

T: 0330 113 9966

E: info@trojansecurityuk.co.uk

W: www.trojansecurityuk.co.uk

: @trojan-security-uk-ltd : @TrojanLondon :@trojan_security_UK

WH Management Group PO Box 230, Heathfield, East Sussex, TN21 1DX

T: 01889 500 164

E: info@whmg.co.uk

W: www.whmg.co.uk

SET & SCENERY CONSTRUCTION

Staged Events Ltd

Meadow View, Newnham Lane, Old Basing, Hampshire, RG24 7AU

T: 01256578055

E: info@stagedevents.com

W: www.stagedevents.com

SHOWERS

Zoo Events Group Ltd

Stockton Dairy, Stockton, Warminster, BA12 OSQ

T: 01258 840233

E: info@zooeventsgroup.co.uk

W: www.zooeventsgroup.co.uk

SITE SUPPLIES

Concept Products Ltd 10 Cary Court, Somerton Business Park, Somerton, TA11 6SB

T: 01458 274020

E: ben@conceptproductsltd.co.uk

W: www.conceptproductsltd.co.uk

STAGING & RIGGING

IPS (Impact Production Services) 29 Mount Avenue, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LS

T: 01908 657950

E: enquiries@ips.co.uk

W: www.ips.co.uk

Rigger.co.uk

T: 0333 772 0120

E: contact@rigger.co.uk

W: www.rigger.co.uk

The Stage Bus

19 Prestwood Road, Birmingham, B29 5EB

T: 0121 585 9264

E: info@thestagebus.com

W: www.thestagebus.com

Steeldeck Rentals

Unit 58, T. Marchant Estate, 42 - 72 Verney Rd, London SE16 3DH

T: +44 (0)207 833 2031

E: rentals@steeldeck.co.uk

W: www.steeldeck.co.uk

TEMPORARY BRIDGES

Mitchell Bridges Limited

London Road, Kings Worthy, Winchester, Hampshire, SO23 7QN

T: 01962 885040

M: 07768630373

E: chris@mitchellbridges.com

W: www.mitchellbridges.com

TEMPORARY ROADWAYS

Cap Trac Limited

The Stables, Loke Farm, Weston Longville, Norwich, NR9 5LG

T: 01603 880448

E: info@captrac.co.uk

W: www.captrac.co.uk

TEMPORARY STRUCTURES

Fews Marquees

Chessgrove Park, Ditchford Bank Road, Hanbury, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, B60 4HS

T: 01527 821789

E: info@fews.co.uk

W: www.fewsmarquees.co.uk

Gigtent UK

Sonas House, Button End Harston, Cambridge, CB22 7NX

E: info@gigtent.co.uk

W: www.gigtent.co.uk

LH Woodhouse

Wolds Farm, The Fosse, Cotgrave, Nottingham, NG12 3HG

Delivering successful events

T: 01159 899 899

E: sales@lhwoodhouse.co.uk

W: www.lhwoodhouse.co.uk

Losberger De Boer

Castle Park, Boundary Road, Brackley, Northamptonshire, NN13 7ES

T: 01280 846500

E: sales.uk@losbergerdeboer.com

W: www.losbergerdeboer.com/uk

NEPTUNUS Ltd

Cob Drive, Swan Valley, Northampton NN4 9BB

T: 01604 593820

E: sales@neptunus.co.uk

W: www.neptunus.co.uk

Stunning Tents

Creative House, Station Road, Theale RG7 4PD

T: 0118 380 5590

E: team@stunningtents.co.uk

W: www.Stunningtents.co.uk

Tentickle Stretch Tents UK Ltd

Langley Brook Business Park, Unit 3B London Rd, Tamworth, B78 2BP

T: 0121 7401385

M: 07826 843099

E: jorg@tentickle-stretchtents.co.uk

W: www.tentickle-stretchtents.co.uk

The Dome Company

T: 07876673354

E: info@thedomecompany.co.uk

W: www.thedomecompany.co.uk

The Halo Group

T: 020 787703210

E: info@thehalogroup.co.uk

W: www.thehalogroup.co.uk

TT Tents Ltd

North Waltham Business Centre, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG25 2DJ

T: 01256 397 551

E: sales@tttents.co.uk

W: www.tttents.co.uk

Worldwide Structures Ltd

TRACKWAY TRACKWAY

Ayrshire Farm, Sharcott, Pewsey, SN9 5PA

T: 01672 565 060 / +44 (0) 7875 027369

E: enquiries@w-sl.com

W: www.worldwidestructures.com

VENUE MAPPING

Iventis

Think Tank, University of Lincoln, Ruston Way, Lincoln, LN6 7FL

T: 01522 837205

E: info@iventis.co.uk

Eamon Kerrigan: E: Eamon.kerrigan@iventis.co.uk

W: www.iventis.co.uk

VENUES

All Weather Access Ltd

County Farm, High Roding, Dunmow, Essex CM6 1NQ

T: 01371 700510

M: 07801 751137

E: henry@all-weatheraccess.co.uk

W: www.all-weatheraccess.co.uk

TRACKWAY TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT

Event Traffic Control Ltd

Baldersby Gardens, Ripon Road, Baldersby, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 4PS

T: 08000 246 800

E: info@eventtc.com

W: www.eventtc.com

Right Guard Traffic Management

Event Traffic Management

VEHICLE HIRE

CSAS Accredited Traffic Officers

Car Parking

Event Signage

T: 01227 464588

E: info@rightguard.co.uk

W: www.rightguard.co.uk

Bradshaw Event Vehicles

New Lane, Stibbington, Peterborough, PE8 6LW

T: 01780 782621

E: enquiries@eventvehicles.co.uk

W: www.eventvehicles.co.uk

Twitter: @Bradshaw_EV

Farnborough International Exhibition and Conference centre

T: +44 (0) 1252 532800

E: event-enquiries@farnborough.com

W: www.farnborough.com/ : @farnborough-international-ltd : @Farnborough_Int : @farnborough_int : @farnboroughinternational/ : @farnboroughinternationalex4694

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Falcon Cleaning

The Falcon Nest, Unit 10 & 11, Lower Gower Road, Royston SG8 5EA

E: admin@falconteam.co.uk

W: www.falconteam.co.uk

WATER & PLUMBING SERVICES

MTD (UK & Ireland) Ltd

Unit 1 Westerngate, Hillmead Enterprise Park, Langley Road, Swindon, SN5 5WN

T: 01264 773 818

E: sales.uk@mtd.net

W: www.mtd.net

Temporary Water Solutions

Water supplies for festivals and events

T: 0800 001 6041

E: info@temporarywatersolutions.co.uk

Water Direct

T: 0345 345 1725

E: enquiries@water-direct.co.uk

W: www.water-direct.co.uk

Wicked Event Water Services

Kevin: 07909 771996

E: info@wickedeventwaterservices.com

W: www.wews.biz

Fli-Fi Ltd

UK Wide

T: 020 3778 0454

E: enquiries@fli-fi.com

W: www.fli-fi.com

SimpliWifi

Unit 13, Leominster Enterprise Park, Leominster, Herefordshire, Hr6 0LX

T: 0800 298 9434

E:  hello@simpliwifi.agency

W: https://simpliwifi.agency

WIFI, INTERNET & STREAMING

Editor Caroline Clift caroline@standoutmagazine.co.uk

Publication manager

Sarah Bourne sarah@standoutmagazine.co.uk

Account executives

Jen Crisp jen@standoutmagazine.co.uk

Holley Wilkinson holley@standoutmagazine.co.uk

Marketing executive

Katie Goldsmith marketing@standoutmagazine.co.uk

Design and production

Neil Hepden

Jemma Heslop

Colin Swaffer

Emma Hickman studio@standoutmagazine.co.uk

Digital and web developer

Matthew Coppard

Credit control

Janine Walmsley creditcontrol@standoutmagazine.co.uk

Managing director

Neil Fagg neil@standoutmagazine.co.uk T: 01795 509101

CEO John Denning

StandOut Multimedia Limited, 10 The Metford, Evegate Business Park, Smeeth, Ashford, Kent, TN25 6SX T: 01795 509113 www.standoutmagazine.co.uk

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StandOut delves into the world of roadshows and experiential activity, including best practices, new products and market trends

Bring your vision to life

Maximise the footprint of your outdoor event, without compromising on layout. Our pagodas are the versatile option, realising your vision whatever the weather. reimagine spaces

Temporary Structures | Marquees | Pagodas | Complete Event Solutions