COMPANY PROFILE
2014
Gearhouse SA
011 216 3000 | www.gearhouse.co.za
company profile
Great events by design Editorial: Colin Chinery Production: Ajuanne Payne
What makes a great event? Vision, passion, teamwork and a commitment to service excellence, says Ofer Lapid. And as a key organiser in momentous national events like the State Funeral of Nelson Mandela, and the 2010 World Cup, the founder and Joint Managing Director of Gearhouse South Africa should know.
When death finally came it was just before 21:00, December 5, 2013. And while the news broke across the world and before the first banners had been written – ‘A Nation Mourns’ headlined the South African Star; ‘Goodbye Tata’ posted the Sowetan - the special task team had been assembled. Its assignment had been minutely planned; the coordination of the memorial service and state funeral of The Man Called Madiba; South Africa’s first Black President; former prisoner 46664. Nelson Mandela. At Qunu, Eastern Cape, Mandela’s childhood home and the site chosen for his State funeral, a vast temporary structure went up, soon to host the
PAGE 2 AUG 14
leaders and princes of the world. 108 metres long and 36 metres wide, it was designed, manufactured and assembled by Gearhouse In2Structures, a member of South Africa’s leading events supplier, Gearhouse Group. Founder and Joint Managing Director Ofer Lapid recalls those hours.
TEN DAYS TO ZERO HOUR “The State Funeral of Mr Nelson Mandela was one of our biggest challenges. It involved the build of one of our enormous In2Structures Dome venues - the SupaDome - and we had 10 days from the
Gearhouse SA
notice of his death to final delivery of the complete structure, including all the interior lighting, sound, stage etc. “It was built in extreme circumstances in driving rain, on unlevelled surfaces and with very limited access in Mr Mandela’s home village. Yet we delivered a very beautiful end product of which we are justifiably very proud.” The Gearhouse Group is South Africa’s premier supplier of technical production services to the events staging industry, with a range of services, turnkey solutions and cutting edge technology that puts it among the world’s leading companies of its kind.
Specialising in lighting, audio, staging, power, rigging, audio visual, daylight screens and sets, Gearhouse SA and its other event related service companies, provides equipment for anything from small-scale conferences and sell-out concerts to international events such as the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Gearhouse South Africa offers the skills and expertise of many internationally recognised experts with technical design services offered as a value-added service to facilitate accurate planning and budgeting for the event. Leadership in safety practice assures incident-free eventing.
AUG 14 PAGE 3
company profile “Our competitive advantage lies in the fact that we provide a turnkey technical solution with specialists in each field and are unique in having the widest range of services currently available in SA. ”And because we are used to working together, the individual technical production aspects fit together smoothly under the co-ordination of our project managers. “This means our clients get the benefit of a single contact access to the whole range of services, technical expertise as well as the advantage of a globally negotiated price.” Born in Jaffa, Israel in 1960, Ofer Lapid is an entrepreneur natural, and more than that, a free spirit. Aged seven and holed up in a bunker during the Six Day War in 1967, he first heard The Rolling Stones on the radio, which inspired him to want to work in the music business. After two years in the military he began lending a hand in the entertainment industry, working with Israeli shows and artists, multi-skilling and assisting with sound and lighting. He loved the drama and
PAGE 4 AUG 14
freedom of expression of life in the theatre, and in 1985 while working the lights for a touring Israeli rock and roll act, he finally arrived in South Africa. He was 25 and knew right away that he wanted to create his life here. “I knew immediately… and the entertainment industry was a natural choice.” Gearhouse’s roots reach back to 1991 when Ofer Lapid founded Lighting Unlimited, a small, Johannesburg-based lighting company. Since then his business has grown through acquisitions and operational excellence into a world-class total technical solution provider. “The original goal and objectives were to bring the technical service industry in line with international standards; in South Africa, by South Africans. “In early days of the late 1970s and 80s, although this industry was amazing fun, we worked like dogs and didn’t always earn either the right amount of respect or the right amount of money…not in the country I came from nor here. “Not to mention that there was no forward
OUR RENTAL POWER MAKES IT HAPPEN
Gearhouse SA
Power outages are a serious threat to your business and community at this time of year. Along with our extensive range of generator sets, the Barloworld Power Rental team provides onthe-ground support to keep your business up and running. To maintain a normal life, count on the most trusted name in power. Power Rental. Always innovating, It’s how we’re built.
For more information call 0860 898 000 | +27 11 052 0162 or visit www.barloworldpower.com
© 2014 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, BUILT FOR IT, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow,” the “Power Edge”trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission.
AUG 14 PAGE 5
company profile
tel: +27 (0) 11 447 2482
AFRICAʼS PREMIER EVENTS PRODUCTION COMPANY fax: +27 (0) 86 212 6324
mail: info@mushroom.co.za web: www.mushroom.co.za
planning in respect of Health and Safety, insurance, education or knowledge. It was a case of survival of the fittest.” In 1996 Lighting Unlimited was acquired by Gearhouse PLC, a UK-based company with operations on five continents. Five years later a management buy-out secured its South African division, since when this locally based, proudly South African company has reached dominant market share under Ofer Lapid’s strong leadership. The following year Gearhouse South Africa finalised its BEE agreement, and the current Board of Directors include Nasser Abbas, Nkosinathi Biko, Relebogile Moshidi and Neelofar Khan. Headquartered in Bezuidenhout Valley, Johannesburg, and with branches in Cape Town and Durban, Gearhouse offers its clients nationwide, single contact access to its full range of technical services.
PASSION AND SERVICE Vision, passion, teamwork and a commitment to service excellence are the foundations on which
PAGE 6 AUG 14
Gearhouse SA Gearhouse South Africa has been built, says Mr Lapid. “And my own passion lies not only in creating a future for lighting, studio and AV technicians, stage and set builders and the rest but also to find a way of educating people towards both greater knowledge and greater recognition. “We have a hard earned reputation for technical service excellence and creative distinction, and a stringent system of client service checks for every event. Delivering a consistent and thoroughly professional service is key to our success. “We are the industry leaders in southern Africa and the largest by far. But there are plenty of smaller competitors and we are doing our best to stay a step ahead. “We have just announced the launch of our West African Operation based in Accra, Ghana and have our eye on opportunities in East Africa as well.” While the current freelance pool of GH employees includes the “doers” of our industry, says Mr Lapid, developing skills and broadening the technical knowledge of clients are on-going challenges. “What we look at is investment into the future of the younger generations that have the combination of physical and mental strength required for this industry as well as the knowledge. “Our way of doing that is through the Gearhouse Kentse Mpahlwa Academy. The Gearhouse Group has an extremely proactive training and development policy, with a high priority placed on ongoing training and skills development to keep personnel abreast of all the latest technological advancements. “We run a year long, free of charge learnership countrywide for industry entrants which provides a solid foundation in all technical disciplines and instils a sound safety ethic enabling our students to emerge as work-ready candidates.” What has been the key to the company’s success over these past 20 years? “Delivery of highest standard of service - and doing it with a smile. Always being helpful, considerate and going above and beyond what is required.
technical going forward. “Music makes people happy. In sport you have an audience that is supporting two opposing sides, but at a music event the people are united in their support of the band. “Everyone is equal regardless of colour, age or gender, and most of the time it is a happy gathering. And that makes me happy.”
.
“And my own passion lies not only in creating a future for lighting, studio and AV technicians, stage and set builders and the rest but also to find a way of educating people towards both greater knowledge and greater recognition”
SA Backline Co.
Starting off his music career in 1968 as a bass player, R “Gorksie” Madeira became a very prominent musician in the SA music scene both with bands and as a session musician. In 1972 he travelled to Europe to continue his music career. Unfortunately, having a South African passport hindered his progress immensely. On his return to South Africa, he was very fortunate to be part of the transformation of the music scene to a multi racial melting pot of cross over music. In 1998, being very unhappy with the standard of backline gear supplied locally, he decided to stop playing and start a backline company. The success of this endeavor has made him a standard setter for a lot of the international and local music concerts. Gorksie is known throughout the industry, here and abroad, as a professional in his field and is SA Backline’s team leader. Successful gigs include: Loyiso, R Kelly Tour, Jozi, The Killers, John Legend Tour, Backstreet Boys, Oasis, Rihanna, Cape Town International Jazz Festival, Faithless, Dionne Warwick, UB40, Usher, and many many more.
GIG TOGETHER “In our industry after sales means maintaining an excellent relationship with your client. A good gig for us is when our client standing next to us is happy with the way everything went, places his trust in us and Gearhouse becomes the ‘go-to’ for all things
Tel / Fax 27 11 314 4419 Mobile Fax 27 82 131 852 5220 Mobile 082 852 5220 PO Box 7158 Halfway House 1685. Republic of South Africa Email: sabackline@gmail.com
AUG 14 PAGE 7
+44 (0) 1603 411569 info@industrysa.com East Coast Promotions Ltd, 2 Ardney Rise Norwich, Norfolk NR3 3QH
www.industrysa.co.za