Serious Stages Celebrates 35 Years

IN PROFILE

SERIOUS STAGES CELEBRATES 35 YEARS

With over three decades of experience in designing, manufacturing and installing stages and demountable structures for a multitude of events, Serious Stages has established itself as a trusted, go-to supplier for some of the biggest - and most high-profile - live productions in the calendar. TPi’s Jacob Waite met the marital driving force behind the established infrastructure provider…

Situated in the quaint cathedral city of Wells in the Mendip district of Somerset, UK, a stone’s throw from Bristol city centre, MDs Steve and Holly Corfield, opened their doors to TPi to celebrate a landmark milestone.

Home to the largest stock of stages and roofs in the UK, you could be forgiven for assuming Serious Stages was a huge, potentially faceless operation. The reality? A warm and welcoming, family-orientated company.

35 YEARS IN THE MAKING Steve began the story: “In 1984, in conjunction with two colleagues, I purchased Tecta Staging from a chap called Tim Davies, who funnily enough, still works with us to this day,” he proudly recounted. “We ran a company called Outback for a few years before we set up Stage Serious,

which eventually came to be known as Serious Stages. However, it was Michael Eavis [surely the world’s most rock ‘n’ roll farmer] and Glastonbury Festival, which really put us on the map. When we helped install the Pyramid stage [designed by Bill Harkin] in 1981, it really took off, so all the credit goes to him.”

A modest view, of course, as Serious Stages has since gone on to prevail as the driving-force of Glastonbury Festival’s main infrastructure. Having grown up in the same farming village, Steve’s relationship with the Eavis family and the festival is tight-knit. Today, Serious Stages installs over 50 structures and stages across the famous site each year, simultaneously carving a reputation as a staple within the largest greenfield festival in the world. He continued: “To begin with, the Glasto stage was an 18m Orbit with a low capacity of six tonnes. When it comes to the festival now, we’re

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Opposite: Serious Stages’ Steve and Holly Corfield.

essentially building a city with the infrastructure the size of Exeter for the duration of five days when it’s open to the public. Then it all goes away, gets cleared up, and wins Dairy Farm of the Year [an accolade which Steve suggests Eavis is, unsurprisingly, most proud of].”

From its humble beginnings in Wells, Steve and Holly have indoctrinated a passion for the live event industry, which has witnessed the growth of a business that now boasts 100 employees globally, and services a total of 500 global events on an annual basis. “In the early days, we serviced four or five festivals. Nowadays, the market has expanded enormously, and we’ve been privy to that steady progression over the last 35 years,” Steve recalled. “The really unique thing about Serious Stages is that we’ve had journey which has gone from working with a few festivals and a lot of classical events, through to working internationally on a range of different markets and sectors, in-order to try and expand the business. To be honest, the fact that we are still here 35 years later is a huge achievement for us.”

But it hasn’t been plain sailing, as he explained: “Initially, as a seasonable business, it was quite difficult to train staff and then have them disappear during the winter months when work in the UK dried up. In 1998, we made the executive decision to find work for our employees in Australia. Our guys would often go out there and then come back having worked a perpetual summer season, which is great!” he enthused. “The one thing I have found is that the British market is very good at working in other countries. As British people, I believe we’re really adaptable to other cultures, and that’s a great strength,” Steve said.

Holly expanded on said logistical difficulties faced in the mid-nineties: “We used to ship our stuff off in containers at the end of the UK festival season, then we loaded it all onto containers in-order for the kit to arrive for their summer, and that’s how we expanded into the winter.” This approach,

despite its initial difficulties, TPi is informed, has allowed Steve and Holly to build long-term relationships across the globe, thereby tailoring staging, site structures and working practices to suit each event. Working safely and efficiently to their clients’ expectations is also vital. “It’s an operational promise backed up by a creative ethos that believes nothing is impossible,” Steve added.

Glastonbury Festival’s Michael Eavis and Serious Stages’ Steve Corfield.

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GROWING WITH THE INDUSTRY Every project, Steve explained, is underpinned by Serious Stages’ in-house design team, structural engineers and in-house fabrication facility through to its project managers and on-site stage builders. The troop brings ideas to life with safe, efficient working practices, with a focus on pioneering new technology.

“One of the big things about our company is the fact we design in-house and manufacture here at our Wells location, which we have always done. It allows us to be completely adaptable and generate more stock dependent on the brief,” Holly explained. “We can also redesign as things change in the marketplace. The Orbit used to be put up by men climbing over the structure, but then we had toredesign, so everything was built on the ground and mechanically, raised up, and that’s where the Supernova and Space Roof (est. 2008) came about. It’s all to do with the market changing. We build everything here in steel because its more resilient.”

Serious Stages promise to continue to invest in the latest technologies and processes, delivering the highest quality stages and supporting structures. “Just as our stages have evolved over 35 years with the market, so have its components and they are very versatile and interchangeable now. That’s the advantage of manufacturing your own gear and that’s where we feel we’ve been really clever with our designs over 35 years.”

In that time period, the team have taken

“One of the big things about our company is the fact we design in-house and manufacture here at our Wells location, which we have always done. It allows us to be completely adaptable and generate more stock dependent on the brief.”

Steve Corfield, Serious Stages MD.

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massive strides in the development of its staging arsenal. “The whole industry growing up and going from having an orchestra with maybe a video screen to having stages which have got PA, set and video all integrated within it. Weight load-ins have also gone from six to 60-tonne and we’ve progressed the stages to accommodate this as production managers are asking for increasingly impressive show designs to be safely housed.

“One of the great challenges as a whole is bands generating income from touring, so they have a theme and a look, but at festivals you have a standard canvas, so artists look to us to make a statement that the show will still carry an impact rather than deliver something very generic. It’s all about rising to the challenge,” he noted.However, in recent years, the team at Serious Stages has also gathered a vast stock of standard stages available to hire, from 12m to 35m wide, along with video screen support and PA towers to camera platforms, bridges, spot pods and VIP viewing platforms. “For us, with staging you have to continually evolve. It is interesting to see how festivals will develop. We’re constantly looking to find the next thing that people are into.”

Serious Stages also specialises in the design and installation of temporary and semipermanent buildings, relocatable film sets, TV studios, corporate spaces, music venues, or broadcast studios. Steve furthered: “We recently worked on the Bohemian Rhapsody film, where

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we were tasked with replicating the historic Live Aid stage level to facilitate the film’s technical crews to construct a replication of Wembley Stadium’s internal spaces to allow filming of the backstage scenes. It was fantastic to be involved… The set teams are just incredible at transporting you back in time.”

SERIOUS ABOUT HEALTH & SAFETY Health and safety is the beating heart of Serious Stages. In addition to ensuring its work practices are safe, Steve and Holly’s passion for inspiring others in the industry to work to the same level, is evident. In April 2015, the new Construction Design and Management (CDM) regulations came into force in the UK. Ahead of its implementation, Serious Stages spearheaded an industry group, which wrote and released the Guidance for the Management & Use of Stages, which is available to download online.

“We have 35 years’ experience providing stages and supporting structures for festivals, to Lionel Ritchie, Elton John and Rod Stewart concerts; the team also focus on some of the biggest sporting events in the business from the London 2012 Olympics and the Ryder Cup 2018,” he gestured, with a wealth of knowledge.

Serious Stages also provided a series of infrastructure elements to the London 2012 Olympics, which provided its fair share of time-management challenges. “There were cost-saving measures in place so often during the design elements that we were required to create a post for both the start and finish lines of events,” he paused. “Often, we were given the brief at 5pm, which was to be designed by 8pm, and manufactured overnight ready for install the next morning. Despite the rushed nature of it all, you felt really ‘buzzy’ about it because everyone came together to achieve such an incredible feat, from both a sporting and infrastructure perspective.” Holly concurred: “It was a real high, it was great to feel that it was in your own country.”

To safely deliver the event in compliance with CDM regulations, Serious Stages invested £110,000 into training across all areas of the business and ensured its commitment has continued with ongoing development programs. From its CAD designers who are busy developing new products and bespoke stages or engineers calculating weight-loading capacities to our fabricators who work tirelessly from our on-site manufacturing workshop, to the stage-builders, riggers and project managers who you see working out on site, you can rest assured that you have the best in the

business to deliver. “We wanted to make sure everyone was working from the same script. We don’t really get chance to have periods of reflection, however, I loved working the Olympics because it was a real achievement. It was absolutely great to contribute to something on our own turf, fighting off competition from all over the world to win the bid,” Holly gleamed.

THE NEXT STAGE Bucking the recent trend of buying and selling within well-established companies, Serious Stages remains, by in large, a family-run business, investing in new products and 70m buildings and cutting-edge engineering. “Staying independent is becoming really unique in our industry, and it’s important to celebrate that. We’re a family business and our son Max is now involved heavily in the company. We do still get really excited on the projects we’re working on and I think I like to make people happy and that’s a big part of it when we embark on these wide scale projects.”

In 2018, Serious Stages Director Max Corfield and Project Manager Simon Fursman picked up the Favourite Staging Company accolade - in front of almost 1,500 peers at the TPi Awards. Max commented: “We’re very proud that our peers have voted Serious Stages as their Favourite Staging Company. We’ve enjoyed significant expansion in recent years, which reflects clients’ confidence in Serious and this award belongs at all the amazing teams; from our staff in the office and the yard to the people on-site who have worked across the UK on festivals, tours and one-off concerts.”

Holly exclaimed: “It was the very first and only award we’ve ever had! We’re often so busy with work that it’s difficult for periods of reflection and accolades. The TPi Award was a life-changing moment for us in getting recognised by the industry.”

Steve mused: “I think 35 years is a pretty good innings! People always tend to think there are glass ceilings, but history has shown us that there is consistent progress. Everybody wants to be entertained and have experiential moments, and the new generation coming through might do things differently.”

Holly concluded: “It’s all about helping making memories for the audience. When you think about it, what we do is incredible!” TPi Photos: Plaster, Serious Stages & TPi www.stages.co.uk

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