Steeling the limelight

Katie Vine is the new managing director of Engine No.4. Here, she talks candidly about her first three months in the role and what she foresees for the event production specialist feel like I am one of the luckiest people in the world,” chuckles Katie Vine, the new managing director of Engine No.4. “When people want somebody but they’re not quite sure what it is that they want, my name seems to come up in conversation.”

Vine smiles, as she reflects on her colourful career and her first three months on the job at Engine No.4. Whilst some organisations weren’t quite sure what they were looking for when they hired Vine, Engine No.4’s senior management team [Jim Gee, Will McHugh, Jon Drape, and Tommy Sheals-Barrett] knew exactly what they were doing.

Vine has extensive experience in arts, theatre, and cultural events. From company manager of the Royal Shakespeare Company and director of programme and production at the Royal Exchange Theatre to technical coordinator at Manchester International Festival, her skills are varied and her commercial awareness is apparent.

We chat on a blustery Wednesday afternoon, as Storm Jocelyn batters the UK, taking refuge from the wind and settling to talk about direction and the future. “I prefer to have an overview and not a finger in all the pies,” says Vine. “I’m not very good at just sticking to one particular thing and only looking at that thing and not looking at those other things as well. So you know, when people talk about continuing to work at home, I would rather be in an office, hearing all the things that are going on, because everything feeds into what you’re doing, and you don’t do anything in isolation.”

Invigorating

Vine joined Engine No.4 – the full-service production company behind Parklife, Kendal Calling, The Warehouse Project, Bluedot and Snowbombing – in October. Her remit: to grow the business, implement new processes and support the senior leadership team as Engine No.4 enters its next chapter.

Jim Gee, director, explains: “I think the realisation came last year that we needed to re-structure the management of the company. The model we started with was based on the fact that the original directors and founders of Engine No.4 were all specialists in their specific fields. Effectively, we created a company that was naturally split into three departments (operations, site and tech production). As directors, we are often very hands on in the delivery of those services across multiple events and multiple clients.”

He continues: “As the company grows and the portfolio expands, we really needed somebody who could focus on the day-today running of the business, without being too focussed on existing projects.”

Gee and the directors made a conscious decision to employ someone with wider event industry experience, who wasn’t necessarily already too deeply entrenched in the world of music festivals. Vine’s experience working in live events and arts organisations adds another dimension to Engine No.4’s skills set.

“A big chunk of my role is new business,” Vine continues. “I don’t need to sell Engine

No.4 to the festival world because festivals know us. I want to look at arts and culture, things like a Cultural Olympiad, events that happen outside of the traditional ‘season’, and not just summer. And that’s important because if you want to grow an organisation and employ people full-time, you need more things to do.

“It’s one reason we’re so lucky, as we work with The Warehouse Project over the winter, but what else can we do?”

Vine is keen to work with other events professionals on arts and cultural events, for example, and see how Engine No.4 can help other organisations. She says that the expertise within Engine No.4 such as logistics, event management and production – all “transferable skills” – are transferable across a “gazillion different areas” so it makes sense to take those skills and enrich the lives of team members too by giving them the opportunity to do different things also.

So, three months in the new job and how is she finding things? “It’s been very different because when I joined, everyone was getting ready for Christmas. Whilst we produce events all year round, and the first few weeks were very busy, I have had days where I go “Oh, I have read all my emails by the end of the day’. That said, I am also very cognisant that that scenario is not going to be forever and soon, I’ll be praying for the days when it was a little bit easier,” she laughs. “But I think it’s also been incredibly invigorating, learning new ways of working. It’s really exciting.”

She continues: “I think for me, one of the reasons I do what I do is because I still get a buzz about what I do. There’s something about live events, whatever the audience, whether you’re sitting down to watch a play or whether you’re standing up at a rave, those people are going to come. They’re going to come at a certain time, on a certain day and there’s something about doing those things, organising events and experiences, that is still really amazing.”

Opportunity

In just three months, Vine feels that she has entrenched herself in the business; she has observed how everyone works and has identified systems and processes that can be implemented as the business continues to grow. Gee concurs. He says that the business is already seeing positive impacts in terms of productivity, team welfare and diversification of projects. Furthermore, he and the team are excited to continue their journey with Vine steering the ship!

“We’re a young company but we’re growing,” explains Vine. “When you have a small group of people and you’re all together in a room, it’s fine, but the minute you start to grow then you have to think about people management, and if you’re too busy thinking about event delivery and you already have a job, who is going to look at holidays and appraisals and all the things that need to happen in an organisation.”

Vine comments: “I can’t wait to get my hands dirty in the field, but I can also see that to get the most out of the team, you have to make sure your team have all the information they need, and things are structured. It’s not about making it corporate. It’s just when there were just two of you, or three of you or four of you, it was OK, but now there are 11 of us. I think what’s exciting for me is that there isn’t a list of things to do each day. There’s no mould – I have an opportunity to go: ‘How can I work with this team of people, as we change, and develop and grow as a company?’

“Being somewhere at a point of growth is great. What’s not to like?”

Rhythm

Vine views herself as a “constant”. She hopes her arrival has already made everyone’s lives at Engine No.4 easier and better. Not more difficult. By ensuring information is being communicated throughout the team, everyone knows what’s going on, and key team members can do their jobs knowing the dayto-day is being taken care of.

She wants to find new opportunities within other areas and make those projects feel “like an Engine No.4 project”. Plus, she is keen to see if the new systems she has implemented –that work brilliantly during the quieter months – work equally as brilliantly when things ramp up in the summer. But only time will tell. Right now, as well as preparing for a Lost Village site visit, Vine is learning the rhythm of the company. Figuring out as things get more crazy, how best to respond and what support is needed.

RESPECTED

Vine’s previous experience as a stage manager, company manager, and touring manager has stood in her good stead for her new role. She has enjoyed various positions at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Manchester International Festival but did now feel like the right time to become a managing director? Did she feel ready to take the next step and be the managing director of a respected live event production specialist?

“Yeah, I think I was, if I’m honest,” she says candidly. “Although I would never have thought so until Jim [Gee] had the conversation with me. I wasn’t actively looking. I wasn’t scanning the papers every day. But sometimes the universe goes ‘Hmm…’ and Jim went: ‘Let’s have a conversation’.

“I dread how people now have to apply for jobs and produce a 3,000-word essay.

“There’s no greater compliment than people who have worked with you and want to work with you again. You know that because they’ve seen you at your worst and you’re most passionate. You know, they’ve seen you in the midst of doing something and they think you’re the sort of person they want to work with. To be given the opportunity to work with a small company where it’s, it is their baby, to be tasked with looking after it [Engine No.4] is amazing, especially as Engine No.4 is so respected in the industry.”

She adds: “What was interesting when I arrived, was that I talked to all the team, and then I talked to all our core freelancers. To hear them talk about the company was brilliant. It was obvious that Engine No.4 is held in high regard. So my job that I can see is, I don’t have to come in and save it [the business]. My job is to maintain it, to allow it to grow and to take work off the directors and allow them to do all the things they do.”

Vine has a clear direction. She knows the path she wishes to follow and feels honoured to have been tasked by Drape, Gee, McHugh and Sheals-Barrett with growing Engine No.4.

She explains: “I think the care that Engine No.4 has and the desire to look after people, whether that’s the clients that we deal with, or whether that’s the audience or the team, it all sits at the heart of what we do. So, whilst I look at my new role, I love the fact that I won’t ever stop learning and that there will always be something to learn.

“That’s really, really exciting. But what have I learned in my first three months? I definitely need to buy more waterproof clothing,” she laughs as she concludes.

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