BIG RISKS - Issuu

from StandOut Magazine February 2023

A FREELANCER’S LIFE

Images: ©Jaanus Jagomagi/ King’s Church International/ Renato Marques

Risky issues

What issues should feature in an event company’s risk register for the year ahead? Read on, as Simon Garrett, managing director of X-Venture Global Risk Solutions, discusses the question

TERRORIST THREATS

The Collins English Dictionary has declared “permacrisis” to be its word of the year for 2022. It defines it as an “extended period of instability and insecurity”. Unsurprisingly, many event companies are revising and practising their crisis plans for 2023. Permacrisis seems to be where the world is heading right now. This time last year, I said that the financial fallout from lockdown may turn out to be the lesser evil compared to the economic fallout if either Russia or China act on their revanchist ambitions. Many queried whether I was being alarmist. In coming to this view, I looked at not just what was being said but who was saying it. Retired generals of the Cold War era not only predicted that Putin would invade but also, correctly, how, and when he would do so because they had spent almost their entire professional life focused on the Soviet threat and the Putin mindset. That is the narrative that I tapped into. I then looked at what economists were saying based on the assumption that he would invade, which gave me a pretty accurate picture of what would follow regarding the energy crisis and the consequential outcomes. The point is that in compiling a list of strategic risks to an event business there must be an element of analysis of the source of the basic assumptions. This time last year, the bulk of the punditry on Putin was that he was bluffing or could be reasoned with; the generals knew better. I make no claim to any unique insight, but simply looking at open-source material can give event businesses a useful steer on the challenges that may be faced in the coming year. With that in mind, these are what I believe will be the issues that present risk challenges to events businesses in 2023.

GEOPOLITICAL RISKS

The war in Ukraine is clearly going to dominate the global scene. The old Soviet doctrine was always about exploiting success, but the problem is that the war for Putin has been an unmitigated disaster on all fronts as has his attempt to weaponise energy supplies. So, expect something different.

The West has shown remarkable resilience to the resultant rise in food and energy prices in the sense that it has not caused a complete economic or political implosion. However, the impact is likely to cause problems in less resilient and less stable countries. The resultant political and social unrest could have unpredictable socio-political consequences in places like Africa and the Middle East. In China, President Xi has more power and resources at his disposal than any other autocratic despot in history. In his mind, the “retaking” of Taiwan by force is a case of when and not an if but undoubtedly the West’s largely successful response to Ukraine will have given him pause for thought. There are no signs that China will invade any time soon, but it should be on the watch list.

More alarming are the effects and potential consequences of the relaxing of China’s zero-COVID laws. Some predictions put China on course for 800 million infections and a million or more deaths. It is unlikely therefore that China is going to be viable as a market for events any time before mid-2023 and given the planning timelines for most events that probably takes out 2023 altogether.

TRAVEL

There has been a notable decline in social order in some city centres, once considered reasonably safe, with rising crime, some of it very violent. This seems to be particularly prevalent in the West, although South Africa, has also seen rising crime rates, which makes moving around Johannesburg and Cape Town riskier. For example, some 5,866 car jackings took place in Johannesburg between April and June last year. In the US, the cause appears to be a mix of so-called progressive policies such as defunding the police and legalising drugs which have led to crime waves in places like New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. At a recent event in Chicago, in the four days I was on site, five people were killed and 36 injured in shootings in the city.

Many cities have become more dangerous to move around. Only individual event companies can assess whether the risk has got to the point where they are no longer desirable or safe to hold their events. Either way – at an operational level – event teams need to monitor these risks to ensure that staff are properly briefed about how to travel safely in these locations.

PROTECT DUTY

Historically, the threat of terrorism in the UK is comparatively low. Prior to the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017, not a single civilian was killed in a terrorist attack on the UK mainland in the 12 years following the 7/7 attacks in 2005. There have been isolated attacks such as the incident on London Bridge in 2019 when three people were killed, the last of which was in 2020. The point is that statistically, the risk of being killed in a terrorist attack in the UK is vanishingly small. Of course, that does not mean that we do not need to assess threats or prepare and plan for terrorist attacks, but assessment and planning needs to be done in context of the actual threat level, not based on press hype. One of the reasons that our statistics are so historically low is that our security services are so effective at containing the threat, but they cannot prevent everything.

The context above is important because 2023 will usher in a new law whereby those responsible for public places will have duties placed upon them to assess and plan for terrorist attacks under Protect Duty. It is highly unlikely that this legislation will take effect in 2023 but it should be high up on the agenda for risk review for event companies with operations in the UK because it could have a significant impact and introduce higher security costs.

The last thing the events industry needs is a powerful new agency justifying its existence with overbearing diktats on how to run security at events or a new normal of disproportionate security measures as a new industry of Protect Duty “advisors” talk up the compliance requirements. Fortunately, there are several event operations working groups that are tracking the progress of this law and working on possible compliance templates so that we can ensure a measured and proportionate approach when it does come into law.

RELAXING OF COVID LAWS

LITHIUM BATTERIES

In November, at least 38 people were injured, two critically, in a fire at a high-rise apartment building in New York. It appears that a lithium-ion battery connected to a micro-mobility device may have caused the fire. New York firefighters have counted 200 fires generated by this type of device in the last year alone.

The essential problem is that event venues are designed to contain “A Class” fires from wood and card etc with additional arrangements for higher risk areas such as the presence of fuel. Lithium batteries in electric road vehicles (EVs) or in e-bikes and e-scooters are present in increasing numbers in our venues. Failure in one of these batteries can lead to a thermal runaway reaction, which creates toxic fumes and intense heat, both of which could easily overwhelm the types of fire containment measures we have in venues. Failure in a battery cell can occur even when the device is not being charged. Most fire separation in venues is in units of 30 minutes so one set of fire doors provides 30 minutes of fire separation. Escape routes are usually doubly protected with 60 minutes. The London Fire Brigade has issued advice that stipulates a minimum of six hours fire separation where EVs are being charged. For example, in a loading bay. I ask: Does every event venue have this level of fire separation? Even that advice is based on ensuring escape not necessarily saving the venue. In an arena or exhibition hall, where a contractor’s e-bike is charging in an outfield area there would be no fire separation just an open space full of potentially flammable content. The toxic fumes given off would make it impossible for firefighters to respond without smoke hoods so the fire would take hold. Wood and fabrics, which are treated to be zerorated, are not designed to withstand the kind of heat generated by a lithium battery, so it would spread. The events industry could incur huge costs in preventative fire measures imposed by law while it got its head around how to manage this risk effectively. 2023 needs to be spent doing just that before a major fire followed by a combination of public outcry and legislation forces our hand.

COMPETENCE

The events industry is fortunate to have managed to build a cadre of highly competent event operations and safety staff. Unfortunately, that cadre was reduced during the pandemic. In some sectors, like rigging, the deficit is particularly acute with warnings from senior staff in that sector that safety could be compromised. Competent event ops and safety staff enable event companies to operate at a high level of complexity and intensity, giving them a competitive advantage. Eroding that capability ultimately will impact that competitive advantage. There is a danger of that capability being eroded not just by losses from the industry, but by overworking those that remain. Additionally, new staff do not always seem to be taking to the role as well as some of their predecessors. This observation has been obtained from talking to operations staff.

Some of the new generation of event professionals emerging from universities are, through no fault of their own, ill-prepared for the rigours of event operations work. Some who studied event management never actually got to cover a live event. I speak to a great deal of these new entrants when they arrive as delegates on IOSH courses and many of them bring a different mindset which requires more nurturing than previous cohorts. Not only does this potentially impact operational capability but also some staff will need to be carefully managed when assigned to tricky events, especially overseas.

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL?

It is remarkable how hard it is to kill off live events. Around the time of the invention of the Internet, it was thought that live events would fade away. Why go to an exhibition when you can look up the product online? Since then, we have had the fallout from 9/11, a global financial crash, a global pandemic, and the outbreak of the first nation on nation land war in Europe since 1945. Even so, any conversation between two event operations managers usually begins with complaining about just how busy they are. This is because people want to go to live events.

We do face a unique combination of challenges in 2023 with a global permacrisis and yet most operations staff would regard permacrisis as the natural state of things on an event site, whether building events or running them! Whilst it is nice to be right, I sincerely hope I am wrong about most of the possible harmful outcomes from the issues identified in this article. Even if I am not, the events industry will cope, adapt, and change as it always does.

Event Hire Association

2450 Regents Court, The Crescent, Birmingham Business Park, Solihull, B37 7YE T: 0121 380 4600 W: www.eha.org.uk E: membership@eha.org.uk

AV, SOUND & LIGHTING

Event Production Services

The Pack House, Drayton St. Leonard, Oxford, OX10 7BG E: info@epsoxford.com T: 01844 278446

Press Red Rentals Limited

Unit B10 Court 2000, Bridgnorth Road, Madeley, Telford, TF7 4JB 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 Live Events

Unit D215, Parkhall Studios, London, SE21 8DE T: 0208 761 8424 E: nick@barlive.co.uk W: www.barlive.co.uk

BAR

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

Symonds Event Bars

Drakewell, Stoke Lacy, Bromyard, Herefordshire, HR7 4HG T: 01885 490267 E: info@eventbars.co.uk W: www.eventbars.co.uk

Instant Marquees

DD: 01840 219047 | M: 07748 165 827

www.instantmarquees.co.uk

BUGGY HIRE

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

Electric Wheels Ltd

Units C1 & C2, Neaton Business Park, Watton, Thetford, IP25 6JB T: 01953 882175 M: 07711 648707 M: 07725 761970 E: info@electricwheelshire.co.uk W: www.electricwheelshire.co.uk

Event Buggy Hire

T: 0113 393 4100 E: brian@eventbuggyhire.co.uk W: www.eventbuggyhire.co.uk

Hopkins Machinery

T: 01633 680754 E: hire@hopkinsmachinery.co.uk W: www.hopkinsmachinery.co.uk

CABINS

Cube Modular Ltd

Unit 1, St. Modwen Park, Norton Road, Broomhall, Worcester, WR5 2QR T: 01905 955814 E: theteam@cubemodular.co.uk W: www.cubemodular.co.uk LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/cubemodular/ Twitter: @CubeModularLtd Instagram: @cubemodularuk

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

Facebook:

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

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 Twitter: @WernickEvents Instagram: @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

Just Go Parking

Unit 7 Broadway Green Farm, Lightwater, Surrey, GU18 5SU T: 01276 590325 E: contactus@justgoparking.com W: www.justgoparking.com

Phoenix Events (East) Ltd

St. Georges Works, 51 Colegate, Norwich, Norfolk, NR3 1DD T: 01603 952312 M: 07592 739928 E: admin@phoenixeventseastltdco.uk W: www.phoenixeventseastltd.co.uk

CLEANING & SUPPORT SERVICES

Falcon Cleaning and Support Services Ltd

Specialised Cleaning and Support Services (Nationwide) 31 Oldbury Road, Enfield, EN1 3QN T: 0208 798 2699 E: events@falconcss.co.uk W: www.falconcss.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

Ace Crew Ltd

Units 3 & 7, Princess Court, Horace Road Kingston upon Thames, KT1 2SL T: +44(0) 20 7924 6569 M: +44(0)7947 88 66 99 W: www.acecrew.co.uk

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

Site and Stage Ltd (SAS)

Festival and Event Crew Nationwide T: 0207 205 2434 M:07770 521521 W: www.siteandstage.co.uk

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

Odin Events Ltd

Unit 1 RoundHouse Farm, Marston Meysey, SN6 6LL T: 0800 030 6881 E: info@odinevents.com W: www.odinevents.com

ENTERTAINMENT

Airstream Facilities Ltd

T: +44 (0) 1885 400223 E: info@airstreamfacilities.com W: www.airstreamfacilities.com

Bunkabin

Tweedale Way, Oldham, OL9 7LD T: 0345 456 7899 E: hires@bunkabin.co.uk W: www.bunkabin.co.uk

Caboose & Co

Unit 1, St. Modwen Park, Norton Road, Broomhall, Worcester, WR5 2QR T: 01905 955814 E: theteam@cubemodular.co.uk W: www.cabooseandco.com/

LinkedIn:

www.linkedin.com/company/caboose&coltd/ Twitter: @CabooseandCo Instagram: @CoandCaboose

Zoo Events Group Ltd

Stockton Dairy, Stockton, Warminster, BA12 OSQ T: 01258 840233 E: info@zooeventsgroup.co.uk W: www.zooeventsgroup.co.uk

EVENT CONTROL, RADIO & WI-FI SERVICES

Controlled Events

T: 0203 286 6392 First class Resilience, E: info@controlledevents.com Readiness, W: www.controlledevents.com Communication &

Control for incidents or pre-planned events.

EVENT MANAGEMENT

2Can Productions

T: 029 20 100256 E: info@2canproductions.com W: www.2canproductions.com

Blue Yonder Events Ltd

T: 07432 214607 w: www.blueyonder-events.co.uk

Award Winning Results

LFX Events

Stockport BIC, Gtr Manchester, SK5 7DL T: 0161 408 2220 E: enquiries@LFXevents.co.uk W: www.LFXevents.co.uk

Saltem Ltd

Eliot Park Innovation entre, 4 Barling Way, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, CV10 7RH T: 02476 796455 W: www.saltem.co.uk

www.controlledevents.com

Victorious Events

E: info@victoriousevents.co.uk T: 07869 701 616 W: victoriousevents.co.uk

EVENT PRODUCTION

Ethix Management

Unit 15 Kempton Gate Business Centre, Oldfield Road, Hampton, TW12 2AF T: 0208 487 3508 M: 07836 736734 W: www.ethixmanagement.com

Productions Hire Limited

Unit 20, Glebe Farm, Fathinghoe, Brackley, NN13 6DN W: www.productionhire.com E: Louise@productionhire.com T: 01280701117 M: 07566202535

EVENT SAFETY

Blue Yonder Events Ltd

T: 07432 214607 w: www.blueyonder-events.co.uk

LFX Safety

Stockport BIC, Gtr Manchester, SK5 7DL T: 0161 408 2220 E: enquiries@LFXevents.co.uk W: www.LFXevents.co.uk

Symphotech

Safety. Production. Noise Management Claire Feeney T: 0871 711 5264 E: claire@symphotech.co.uk W: www.symphotech.co.uk

EVENT STAFF

Festivall Services

The Circle, 33 Rockingham Lane, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S1 4FW E: hello@festivall.services M: 07547 509 409 T: 01144 055 044 W: www.festivall.services

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

uTRAC

24A Lower Abbey St, Dublin 1, Ireland T: 0808 189 0334 E: hello@utraconline.com W: www.utraconline.com

EXHIBITION TRAILERS & MOBILE UNITS

DWT Exhibitions

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

FESTIVAL GAS

FIRE COVER

1st Defense Fire & Rescue Services Ltd

Morris Farm, Old Holbrook, Horsham RH12 4TW T: 01483 200911 F: 01483 200994 E: admin@1stdefensefire.co.uk W: www.1stdefensefire.co.uk

FLAGPOLE HIRE

Fuchsia Exhibition Services Ltd

13 Oak Park Industrial Estate, Chelmsford Road, Great Dunmow, Essex, CM6 1XN T: 01371 644800 E: info@fuchsiaevents.co.uk W: www.fuchsia-exhibition-services.com