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ON TRACK 29 GREEN SHOOTS 19

FLOWER POWER 15

10 EVENT TENDERS

Discover the latest event tenders and contract wins

12 GREAT VISION

Vision Nine discusses its take on employee wellbeing following a difficult year. Lynsey Wollaston, managing director, chats

15 FLOWER POWER

RHS Chelsea Flower Show’s deputy operations manager, Tay MurrayWebb, talks of changes to the horticultural event

19 GREEN SHOOTS

A growing number of event and festival organisers are creating sustainability charters and manifestos

24 PERFECT STORM

PERFECT STORM 24

29 ON TRACK

London Marathon Events’ Mark Griffith and Penny Dain reveal how the Virgin Money London Marathon ran, despite fuel shortages and infrastructure challenges

34 THE PLACE TO DO BUSINESS

Stand Out previews Event Buyers Live ahead of the event’s return

37 SHOW TIME

Organisers flocked to The Showman’s Show, desperate to reconnect

51 SECURITY ISSUES

Event security experts discuss the major issues impacting the sector, and explain why ticket prices need to rise

55 DAY IN THE LIFE

This month’s CONTRIBUTORS:

CHRIS JOHNSON

Chris is co-founder, operations director and sustainability lead of Shambala, chair of the UK’s outdoor event industry environmental steering group, Vision:2025, co-founding member of the Association of Independent Festivals (AIF), and co-founder and CEO of live industry sustainable travel charity ecolibrium. He is also a sustainability consultant, columnist, speaker, and activist, driven by climate advocacy. He combines a depth of experience and fierce optimism to lead and support climate action. He is a regular contributor to Stand Out magazine and this month has provided an update on new guidance specifically on reusable cups and sustainable power at festival campsites.

LYNSEY WOLLASTON

Lynsey is managing director of Vision Nine Group, organiser of large-scale music and action sports festivals, such as NASS and Boardmasters, with audiences of 105,000 and 220,000 festivalgoers respectively. Lynsey’s experience spans 15 years in the industry, across a range of festivals and events in the UK and globally, including significant spells in senior operations roles at IMG and Royal Horticultural Society. This month, Lynsey talks about Vision Nine’s decision to give all employees an extra week off work and time to recharge. This article is interesting as it addresses what companies in the live events industry are doing to support their teams after a difficult year.

JIMMY STONE

Jimmy is owner and production director of Proteus Productions Events, which specialises in technical and high-profile event production for film premieres, festivals, and large-scale activations, including Star Wars, Spectre and Skyfall. Carrying on with the James Bond theme, Jimmy recently produced the premiere for No Time to Die at the Royal Albert Hall. But that’s just one in a myriad of events that Jimmy has delivered. Here, Jimmy talks of his life in the sector, his work as a production manager, and how he has never worked a day in his life.

Editor

Caroline Clift caroline@standoutmagazine.co.uk

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Jack Witcomb studio@standoutmagazine.co.uk

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Publisher

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

Managing director

John Denning

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Postponing Manchester Pride resulted in £2.5 million loss

An annual report by the charity that runs Manchester Pride Festival has revealed that postponing the event in 2020 resulted in £2.5 million in lost revenue.

Manchester Pride Limited, a registered charity, stated that postponing the festival led to an 85 per cent drop in turnover. Furthermore, the charity was also hit by a 92 per cent decrease in donations – £114,000 in 2019 vs £9,000 in 2020.

As a result, trustees were forced to make “difficult decisions”, including staff redundancies, voluntary pay cuts and a temporary stop on grant funding.

COVID-19 rendered Manchester Pride unable to deliver a programme of physical events. Instead, it curated a three-day virtual celebration of LGBTQ+ life called the Alternative Manchester Pride Festival.

Paul Wheeler, chair of the board of trustees of Manchester Pride, said: “Despite 2020 being a difficult year for Manchester Pride, trustees are excited about the year ahead and the opportunity to work with all stakeholders to ensure the charity is even better in 2021 and beyond.

“We are working hard to learn the lessons from COVID and apply them to what we hope will be a physical festival in 2022.”

Manchester Pride Limited received £553,642 from the Government’s Culture Recovery Fund.

Ops People launched by Event Site Design’s Rupert Bassadone

Rupert Bassadone, founder of Event Site Design, has launched Ops People, a standalone event operations, site management and exhibitor management company, created in response to increasing demand for event management skills and expertise.

Bassadone launched Event Site Design, which specialises in event site plans and mark-out, in January 2019, working with many organisers to perfect site layout. However, growing demand for additional event support has led Bassadone to create Ops People.

He said: “More and more, I kept getting asked if we’d do more than design and mark-out the sites. I didn’t want to blur the purpose and direction of Event Site Design. So, Event Site Design will continue to focus on providing industry-leading CAD plans, site design and GPS mark-outs whilst Ops People will take on the event management fulfilment.

“As we gear up to an incredibly busy 2022, it’s important that we start as we mean to go on. We’ve been running this business under the Event Site Design banner for two years but it’s time it had its own brand.”

Ops People will provide the event operations to events and festivals with events professionals running all operational elements so that clients can focus on promoting and selling tickets.

Bassadone continued: “We’re a nononsense, system-driven event management company that has a team of people behind it with decades of experience producing largescale events and festivals. We’re particularly passionate about our radically transparent approach to working with our clients, with full exposure to our project management systems and process principles.”

From providing full operations through to site management and exhibitor management, Ops People offers a range of services.

“We’ve developed our own procurement system to manage event production as well as our own exhibitor management manual system,” Bassadone added. “Each service can be provided as a standalone or as part of a package.”

Ops People is already supporting Red Bull, WOMAD, BBC Countryfile, Orchard Live, The Jockey Club and News UK with services.

Bassadone concluded: “I want Ops People to give event promoters and organisers peace of mind. Knowing that we’ve got the proven systems to run the events, and the experienced and happy people to run the systems.”

Second festival location for Camp Bestival

Camp Bestival has revealed plans for a second festival location. Camp Bestival Shropshire, a stand-alone event, will head to Weston Park from August 18-21, 2022.

Speaking of the announcement, festival co-curator Rob da Bank said: “Whoop! The da Bank house is about to explode with excitement that we can finally announce our first new festival for many years as we unleash Camp Bestival Shropshire! Set in the heart of England, Josie and I couldn’t be prouder or more delighted to have finally found a site that’s not only worthy of a second Camp Bestival, but is also beautiful. .

“Following the success of Camp Bestival in Dorset, we’re over the moon to be adding this new event to our festival family to meet popular geographical and practical demand. We plan to give this festival as much love and attention as our heritage festival in Lulworth and can’t wait to see you all back at one or the other… or possibly both!”

Camp Bestival Dorset takes place at Lulworth Castle from July 28-31.

Eroica Britannia, the vintage cycling festival, is moving location. The 2022 event will take place at the Goodwood Estate.

Gateways Festival (July 23-24) has announced a slight change in format for 2022. On July 22, its organiser will also produce an open-air classical concert – Gateways present The Great Yorkshire Dales Proms.

Prestige Events Magazine has launched the Sustainable Events Show. It will take place at the Barbican Centre, London, on November 25.

An additional £450,000 has been made available to event and festival organisers, as part of Scotland’s Events Recovery Fund to help the return of events across the country.

Tysers, the insurance broker, has launched two schemes – Tysers Freelancers and Tysers Elite – designed to reflect the new live events landscape.

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society has announced that the Great Yorkshire Show will become a four-day event – it will run from July 12-15, with limited attendance on each day.

OnePlan has released a new version of its suite of event and venue planning tools specifically designed for organisers of Christmas markets.

Wembley Stadium will offer British Sign Language as a guaranteed service at every live concert.

A new sustainable aviation event, Sustainable Skies World Summit, will take place at Farnborough International in January 2022.

SPORTS TECHNOLOGY

Pitch and win

Looking for new business opportunities? Check out the latest event tenders and news of contract wins

Thurrock Council is looking for an experienced event provider to deliver a series of COVID safe celebration events in five key locations around the borough. The deadline is November 8. Interested in this opportunity? Please email Angela Corsan – acorsan@thurrock.gov.uk

Birmingham 2022 has issued an event tender for road event traffic management, worth £280,000. Email Mohammed. Yahiah@birmingham2022.com – the deadline is 12pm on November 10.

Anglia Ruskin University is looking for a suitable provider of marquees for its Chelmsford, Cambridge, and Peterborough campuses. The deadline is 12pm on November 16. Email procurement@anglia.ac.uk if you are interested.

EventsAIR has won the contract to provide Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games with accommodation and transfer systems expertise.

Sports Technology (ST) has been appointed official provider of large video screens and audio services for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. Alongside LED and PA systems in most venues, ST will provide a broad range of AV services, including a signal distribution network in every venue, providing a fully integrated IP based solution for all nonbroadcast audio, video, and data distribution.

Sunderland City Council is looking for an events catering partner for City Hall. The deadline is 12pm on November 19. Email julie.rogerson@sunderland.gov.uk

The Centre for Ageing Better is creating additional frameworks, including one specifically for events. The organisation has a busy events schedule and requires support to plan and deliver events; from roundtable meetings to conferences and panel debates – some live and some virtual. The deadline is 4pm on November 26. Interested? Email responses@ageing-better.org.uk

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VISION NINE AT BOARDMASTERS

Take a break

After a gruelling events season, Vision Nine rewarded hardworking staff with an extra week off work. Lynsey Wollaston, managing director of Vision Nine Group, reveals why the business went the extra mile to support its employees

2021 was one of the most challenging years for events professionals. Even the simplest of tasks (or what should have been) tested the most experienced teams. Complex Government guidelines, uncertainty and speculation, critical supply chain issues, and staffing shortages exacerbated what is already regarded as a stressful job. So, what have event businesses done to support their employees’ mental health and wellbeing?

“We shouldn’t downplay the physical and mental strain that’s been put on everyone who works in this world,” comments Lynsey Wollaston, managing director of Vision Nine, organiser of Boardmasters and NASS.

According to Wollaston, organising Boardmasters felt “incredible”, but 2021 has not been without its challenges. She continues: “We were one of the first to go ahead with a large-scale festival when we did [Boardmasters], with lots of new and complex Government guidelines to put in place, and then we were faced with uncertainty and speculation about the Government’s restrictions ahead of our September festival [NASS], which forced us into cancelling for a second year.”

She adds: “It’s been a tough time for us as a team, but I continue to be impressed and grateful for how our team and all our partners work together and support one another. As a thank you, and to make sure everyone got a chance to reset, we gave all staff an extra paid week off this year to turn emails off and spend time with friends and family.”

Wollaston calls the decision to give employees an extra week off work a “no brainer”. It was not a hard decision, given the challenging year experienced. She explains: “We have a very hard-working team, who’ve powered through a rough few years. This was our way of saying thank you, showing our appreciation, and for the first time all of us taking a full week off as a business. This was a chance to see friends and family, spend quality time with loved ones and really reset, with time away from emails and screens.”

TEAM WORK

Now, the Vision Nine team is back at work and “raring to go”. At Christmas, the team will take a similar break and the company is also keeping in place a flexible working policy, which enables staff to spend time working at home. However, face-to-face time in the office is important too.

“It is really important to us that we look after our team and that will, at times, mean being dynamic and responding to any challenges each year brings,” Wollaston explains further. “There is no doubt that 2021 has been one of the toughest years in our industry. None of us could have envisaged that 18 months on, we’d still be faced with this level of uncertainty.

“Currently, we’re continuing with what we know and love. Our events will be back bigger and better, with festivals on sale very soon. Right now, we’re planning, streamlining, and getting ahead of the residual challenges, which the events industry is still facing.”

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