Temporary structures gain momentum ahead of 2012

Last year brought some big contracts for GL Events Owen Brown, with its involvement in the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, the Commonwealth Games in India and the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor. “A similar 20 per cent increase in revenue is unlikely to be sustainable in 2011,” managing director Alex Robertson says, “but we have had some significant wins already.”

The company recently announced a new five year deal with Royal Ascot, where it will provide all temporary structures and overlay, from hospitality suites to wet weather bar cover, partnering with design specialist Detail for the internal fit out. The event will also feature the new Absolute triple deck.

“We’ve had great success with our flagship Absolute range and we’re all looking forward to seeing this new structure debut at Ascot,” Robertson continues. “It’s four triple decks side by side, with outdoor terraces on every floor, and it will stay in for the King George meet in July.”

Owen Brown is also installing 2,750sq m of Absolute structures for the Tattenham Straight, Princes Lawn and Parade Ring at the Epsom Derby in June, the beginning of a new three year contract.

“I wouldn’t say hospitality spend is back to what it was,” Robertson adds, “but there is light at the end of the tunnel.” And Olympic ticket packages will be attractive to all manner of global brands and businesses next summer. “As with most companies we’re still waiting for final decisions on many of the LOCOG contracts that we have tendered for,” Robertson says. “But we will be working on the test event programme this year, including a very challenging venue at Greenwich Park, and our enquiries desk is taking calls for fringe events happening all over London. It seems anyone with five square metres of grass wants to put up a tent!  

“We’ve also had some very interesting talks with hotel providers who are in the initial stages of deciding whether it would be feasible to erect temporary hotels in and around London. Whether these will come off will be down to logistics and getting the ‘per head’ costs just right, but it’s exciting to see the industry innovating and coming up with new ways to cater for guests.”

The Arena Group has won supply contracts at a number of 2012 venues, and will be similarly involved with test events this summer, with a level of investment to match.

“The Olympics will be a shop window for a range of new products.”

Grahame Muir, The Arena Group

“We’re continually investing. We’ve put £1m into new product for the Far East, on the back of a similar amount into the Middle East, and we’re putting a seven figure sum into bringing new kit through this year in readiness for 2012. We want to do more of these big world events, so we’ve got an eye on the Winter Olympics in Russia and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow too.” States Grahame Muir, managing director of the group’s Structures and Seating divisions.

Arena has driven double digit growth out in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar over the last couple of years and the move into the Far East is underlined by the opening of an office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and a successful first project in South Korea, with the Ballantine’s Championship, at the Blackstone Golf Club last month.

“I wanted to raise the level of our customer experience,” David Forbes, head of sponsorship and events for the Scotch whisky company, says. “This is our flagship branded event in Asia and my trust in Arena Group to deliver has been borne out by the very positive responses we’ve received, not to mention the interest Arena has had from our corporate guests for their own projects.”

“Sponsors are seeing the quality achieved in the UK and they want that same standard of delivery in other parts of the world,” Muir says. “They like their luxury brands in Asia, and they love golf, tennis, baseball. This was the first of a three year deal with the Ballantine’s Championship, and we’ve had lots of other enquiries on the back of it.”

In Europe, Arena recently supplied the Spanish Open, a new contract, and the Volvo World Match Play Championship at Finca Cortesin, and it’s back at the BMW PGA Championships at Wentworth at the end of May, followed by the Aegon Championships at Queen’s and Wimbledon in June.

“2011 is going to be a fairly steady year,” Muir continues. “The top end of the market is looking good in terms of hospitality sales, and we’re continuing to work with our clients on the interiors and finishes that add the extra value for their events.”

Meanwhile, it’s been announced that Neptunus will provide Prestige Ticketing with a 3,000 capacity hospitality venue in the Olympic Park. Work on the three storey, 11,500sq m facility begins early next year.

“We are delighted to have won such a major contract and look forward to being part of a world renowned event,” UK managing director, April Trasler, says. “It’s testament to the hard work that goes into continually developing our product portfolio.”

The company has also secured a five year contract with Diamond City Events, to put an Alure Globe in as a party venue at the Cannon Bridge Roof Garden. The glass-fronted, 200 capacity structure was chosen for its aesthetic against the City skyline, and will remain in situ from June through to October.

In Europe, Neptunus has supplied temporary structures to the likes of Berlin Fashion Week and the Madrid Open this year, with exhibitor contracts at the International Paris Air Show at Le Bourget coming up in June.

Matt Clark, who worked on the World Cup in South Africa and January’s AFC Asian Cup in Qatar for GL Events, has joined the company as UK project manager. He is currently overseeing the build for high end collectibles fair, Masterpiece London, on its new site at the Royal Hospital, Chelsea, including 11,000sq m of the company’s Evolution buildings for the exhibition halls, together with an Alure Globe for the entrance and Alu Halls for storage and catering. Neptunus will also supply structures for the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, a 2,000sq m double deck hospitality area among them.

De Boer Structures’ 12,000sq m Great Pavilion is integral to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show, its linked Delta system the result of years of experience on site. Elsewhere, its clients are introducing the company’s newest structures to positive effect.

The double deck Premier, which made its UK debut at Farnborough International Airshow last year, where De Boer is contracted through to 2016, also went in as a hospitality facility for Audi at the season finale of the Le Mans Series at Silverstone. And the Keith Prowse operated Gatsby Club at Wimbledon will be a Delta Vista this year, a big change from its traditional Alu Hall, albeit mediated by the move to an Alu Vista in 2010.

“The key players in the hospitality market are under increasing pressure to introduce fresh, contemporary ideas in order to stand out,” John Cochrane, De Boer’s sales director for events, comments. “[They’re] looking for suppliers to be more focused, more responsive, and willing to work as a partner when it comes to preparing for events. With Farnborough, the Pope’s visit and the Ryder Cup, last year was one of the best we’ve had and we’ve doubled the size of our contract at [Glorious] Goodwood too. They’ve upgraded the Old Paddock Restaurant to a Delta, and they’re having an Alu Vista for the Final Furlong Restaurant. Their equipment requirements have changed massively in recent years, and that’s because they want to be offering something new and interesting to their clients.

“Structures like the Premier, the Emperor and the Delta Vista will be very popular next summer, and we’re gearing up accordingly. Alongside our regular commitments, we’ve been taking enquiries from Olympic sponsors, local councils and venues to do with their requirements, and although the procurement process is mostly through tenders these days, this business is still all about people. It’s our job to stay close to our customers and be as responsive as we can.”

Losberger UK responded to reduced capital expenditure among its sales clients in recent years by successfully shifting its business model to include a much more proactive approach to the rental market. It has established a relationship with the British Fashion Council, providing the blacked out structure for its biannual Fashion Week show tent at Somerset House, and put a 30m by 30m curved roof Arcum in for the three month Dinosaurs Unleashed exhibition at Parklife Oxford Street.

Losberger garnered a deserved share of the plaudits for its efforts on the High Street at Vintage at Goodwood last summer, where it put in the 22 marquees, complete with designer fascias, that housed the shops, cafes, restaurants and cinema. Meanwhile, its contract at the Festival of Speed continues to grow. It will provide for the Moss Pavilion this July, as well as the Hill and Gurney Pavilions, and more besides.

Adding Value

“The market is still very competitive,” Losberger managing director Nick Edwards says, “but I do see an improvement, and on the sales side too. There is movement in preparation for 2012; we’re talking to agencies working on behalf of Olympic sponsors now, in addition to our existing customers.”

Piggotts exemplified the value of being well placed to provide more than marquees when contracted to provide a working environment for international news teams to edit footage at the royal wedding. The company put fi ve 20m clear span structures in behind the studio facilities built by Media Structures in Green Park, hard walled for the most part, and kitted them out befitting the nature of the event.

“As well as internal divides to provide space for each broadcaster, we put in 37 sound-proofed editing booths, built from shell scheme, with lockable doors; thick carpeting to absorb noise from footfall; and high spec office furniture,” Piggotts’ project manager Sam Felts explains. “We also organised power, lighting and temperature control, with staff on standby 24 hours a day, because the US and Canadian crews in particular were working through the night. Requirements were changing right up to the event, and we were operating under strict security, but there was a real buzz in the office and sense of pride in the project. It was a fantastic event to be involved in.”

Festival Scenery

Kayam concert tents have become synonymous with a number of event sites. Having already supplied Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Carlisle, the company will build atmospheric music arenas capable of accommodating large capacity audiences at Selector and Open’er in Poland, and Pohoda in Slovakia, before returning to the UK for the likes of T in the Park and V.

“The festival scene is really picking up in Eastern Europe, and we were in there early on,” Kayam director Toby Rose says. “Open’er is having a big Valhalla this year, and Pohoda has increased the size of its concert tent. We’ve retained everything we did last year and picked up a few new things too, so we’ll be working harder than ever this summer.”

Carlinden Events has won new contracts with Plymouth Volksfest, the Cold Pro surf/ music festival in coastal County Clare, and the High Definition dance event at Forest Farm, Ilford this May/June. And as the season rolls on, it will again be supplying its big tops at Sonisphere, Wakestock, WOMAD, Bloodstock, the Summer Sundae Weekender and Beautiful Days, in addition to numerous private events and university graduation balls.

“A lot of our work is repeat business,” director Carl Dock says. “We supply several of our big top clients with clear span marquees too, which helps us offer them a good package price.” Profits are habitually ploughed back into stock, with Dock currently speaking to manufacturers about a possible new tent design.

Cape Town-based Intent formally introduced its free form stretch marquees to the UK market in 2007, and there’s been a steady uptake since. Based on modules 20m wide, the tensile structures are shaped using traditional poles in varying lengths, and cope easily with uneven terrain.

“They’re the marquee of choice for the South African climate, and we can go anywhere, because there’s no form of frame,” director Carl Louw says. “We’ll never be right for a 2,000 capacity concert tent, but for a lot of applications we’re a cost-effective solution. They go up relatively quickly, so we can respond at reasonably short notice, and you don’t have to dress the interior. They appeal to sponsors and experiential clients because they’re interesting structures, they invite people in and we’ve often attached them to standard frame tents to create a different feel.”

The Orange Chill ‘n’ Charge point at Glastonbury is a prime example. “The functional area is an enclosed space but outside it’s more about the brand and the atmosphere, and the features we add help to break the lines and make the entrance more interesting. It creates a different feel.”

The company puts a number of other tents in at Worthy Farm too, including a café/acoustic venue for Chai Wallahs. “The largest we’ve done for them so far is 1,000sq m, with the kitchen one side and the stage the other, that was two 20m by 25m tents linked together,” Louw says. “But they’re going to be at several events this summer and they’re looking to increase their capacity.”

 

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Contact the editor: olivia.vanstraten@oceanmedia.co.uk