COMPANY PROFILE: ES:ME

COMPANY PROFILE: ES:ME ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES

ES:ME ENTERTAINMENT SERVICES CEO ALEX WUERFEL REFLECTS ON AN EXCITING TIME FOR THE COMPANY AND SHARES HIS VISION OF REGIONAL AND GLOBAL EXPANSION.

With over 25 years in the business, working with the likes of U2, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Phil Collins, Madonna and AC/DC, it’s fair to say that Alex Wuerfel knows a thing or two when it comes to the live events industry. Back in 2007, Wuerfel joined forces with fellow industry professional René Karnahl to found Even2 The Rigging Specialists, based in Al Jaddaf Dubai Free Zone.

As the company grew, a separate division, ES:ME Entertainment Services, was formed, with branches in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Doha, as well as a warehouse in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, offering turnkey events services to clients all over the Middle East.

With the company providing full-service solutions for some of the largest events in the region – including the 2021 FIFA Arab Cup Opening Ceremony in Doha – it is now uniting under the ES:ME banner, with the Even2 brand being phased out. “We’ve stepped up our game recently in terms of marketing and brand recognition, and it was always going to be a matter of time before we merged all the areas of the business under the ES:ME brand,” explained Wuerfel. “The two companies became basically the same, so it makes perfect sense to channel all our resources into developing ES:ME Entertainment Services, rather than having two brands competing with each other.”

The development comes at an exciting time for the company, with the appointment of two new General Managers, Rob Handley and Martin Lauth, who will oversee the regional operations of the business. “Rob is full throttle on Qatar with the FIFA World Cup as well as helping me with the development of standardised processes throughout the company, while Martin is taking care of the UAE and Saudi Arabia,” Wuerfel outlined, noting his long-standing relationships with his two new GMs. “I’ve known Martin for more than 20 years from the days before PRG bought Procon. We’ve been working on bringing them in for a while, so it’s a big boost the finally get it over the line.”

According to Wuerfel, the new appointments will pave the way for international development. “Having Rob and Martin in place allows me to focus more on my role as CEO and gives me the opportunity to look further afield at developing international projects outside the Middle East,” he

Facing page: ES:ME’s Alex Wuerfel. Above: Rob Handley and Martin Lauth.

revealed. “With the hubs in Dubai and Doha, we are halfway into Asia already, so it’s much more flexible for us to operate in this region.”

While expansion outside the Middle East is very much on the cards, the CEO is also keen to maximise the potential of the company’s home territories, with Saudi Arabia offering a particularly tantalising opportunity for growth. “Like most companies, Saudi is a big target for us,” he stated. “The ambitions that Saudi Arabia has, with massive projects such as NEOM and the huge festivals and concerts now taking place in the country, it’s a market with a massive potential where there’s scope for everyone to get a piece of the cake and to thrive.

“Anyone could hire the equipment to do a stadium show, but it’s about having the experience and knowhow to pull it off,” the CEO said when asked if there were any more plans to expand the company’s inventory. “Our people are our strength. We have a nice setup of specialists, and no event is too big for us to take on.” In stark contrast to many other companies, ES:ME didn’t make any redundancies during the COVID-19 pandemic. “Instead of burying our heads in the sand, we focused on developing some standardised processes and quality management throughout the business,” Wuerfel outlined. This ultimately led to the company being awarded three ISO Certifications: ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management Systems, ISO 14001:2015 Environmental Management Systems, and ISO 45001:2018 Occupational Health and Safety Management Systems for preparation and organisation of concerts and public art events. “We’re now reaping the benefits for how we acted during that time,” he added.

Looking to the future, Wuerfel is keen to continue to provide full-service events and build long-term relationships with clients. “The area where we can grow most is by being involved more in the consulting and engineering process behind events and being involved from the start of the idea,” he said. “If clients would involve us from the beginning, they would benefit both in terms of finance and how successful the project is. We want to become partners with clients over many years, which means we can have better cashflow planning and forecasting, which means they can also get better rates.”

ES:ME is a member of the AV Alliance and has also partnered with Major Events International (MEI) – something which Wuerfel sees as a big benefit to the company. “We have good connections now with premium suppliers around the world to have access to much more equipment when it is needed. Being a member also brings benefits from a networking perspective. Having access to such a wide network brings us to the global table where suddenly we can say, we are big enough now to put on any event internationally,” he commented. “It might be ambitious to say as a small company that we want to become a global force in a world that is already dominated by large international companies, but if you don’t have goals in life, what else is there?” Photos: ES:ME, FIFA www.es-me.net