Showsec has secured the Download rock festival since its inception in 2003, this summer supplying over 600 licensed staff. They ensured the safety and enjoyment of 75,000 enthusiastic rock fans through three nights of camping, great weather and music from the world’s leading rock acts, headlined by Faith No More, Slipknot and Def Leppard.
Year on year, promoters Live Nation look to make improvements on the event and this year Showsec assisted them with a number of initiatives, most strikingly the movements around a totally new site layout containing four stages, in three arenas.<br><br>Showsec Operations Director Simon Battersbsy was responsible for writing the complex security plans for crowd movement, exit and entry for the new site in advance of the festival. <br><br>Simon said afterwards: “This has been a fantastic effort at all levels, from the staff booking to the logistics on site of things like radios, catering and uniforms to the delivery of a very robust operation.<br><br>“The new site brought new challenges, but was a better site for the crowd and for us to work on. <br><br>“Download attracts really keen music fans who like any festival want to move from stage to stage to enjoy the music. Our aim is to facilitate this with ease of movement and minimal stress. The new site engendered itself to this festival: it provided great arenas with wide sightlines and was therefore suited to comfortable crowd management. <br><br>“We worked with Mojo Barriers on a new front-of-stage barrier design which worked very well. There was a central finger barrier with partial secondary barrier which combined to prevent lateral motion and surges from the back. <br><br>“The nature of the music and audience profile means the pit teams are particularly crucial to the success of this festival. All fours pit teams were brilliant, if a bit tired after we had a festival record while (band) Kill Switch Engaged were on, with 3,500 crowd surfers coming over the pit barrier during their set!<br><br>“The strength of our operation throughout the weekend surpassed previous years in all areas. Our staff and management performed magnificently and I can’t praise them highly enough.”<br><br>The weekend presented a few incidents that required ‘on-the-spot’ decision making; the most unexpected probably being the swarm of bees that swarmed, ready to nest in the secondary pit of Stage 2! A well co-ordinated calm, efficient response to cordon the necessary areas and manage the crowd was implemented.<br><br>Meanwhile Hyde Park in central London this summer saw three days of Hard Rock Calling – headlined by Neil Young, The Killers and Bruce Springsteen, with some smaller shows on stage two preceding the huge Blur homecoming shows and Wireless Festival featuring Basement Jaxx and Kanye West.<br><br>At the most practical level keeping crowds cool was achieved by Showsec staff constantly distributing gallons of water to fans. Beyond that there were numerous strategies and approaches implemented to maintain calm and secure all areas of the Royal Park venue, from perimeter fence, to pit, to artists and VIP areas. The companies Head of Security for the events, Simon Battersby said: “This is the best team and security operation I have worked with in Hyde Park. We have really seen the benefits of the years of our in-house training coming through at all levels.<br><br>“I’ve been particularly pleased with the confident decision making throughout our management team, consistently taking the initiative in a wide variety of situations. There is a real depth of talent running through the management, which means that the security operations have been very assured and stress free.”<br>“This year we have implemented new egress plans to account for the closing of the Marble Arch subways, and the staff have adapted the new plans and to some very different audiences.<br>“The fact that we’ve had Showsec staff across the whole event drawn from different regional offices has improved co-ordination and made it easier to maintain consistency and quality.” <br><br>With up to 360 security staff on site at any one time, many of the staff have previous experience at Hyde Park, and they have been at the heart of the growing understanding of what is required and expected by audiences and promoters. That understanding is enhanced by Showsec’s expanding research programs over recent years. The company says that it is building an ever increasing understanding about the audiences attending shows that can be utilised in the development of scientific fact based crowd management operations. This knowledge is also useful to promoter Live Nation in understanding their audience demographic, so at these shows Showsec has carried out extensive crowd surveys and shared to the information.<br><br>Keith Hackett, Showsec academy manager has also been on site as part of the companies training program: he said: “We have the graduated academy 1 team fulfilling their operational potential onsite as part of this very effective management team, whilst the five members of academy 2, who are mid course, are being mentored on site extending their logistical and operational knowledge. It’s very exciting to see the improved skills the academy has given those people and how that impacts the wider operations in a positive way.”<br><br>John Probyn, Chief Operating Officer said: ‘Showsec once again played a critical role in the success of all events in Hyde Park this year, in what at times were very difficult circumstances due to incredibly high temperatures and large crowds who wanted to party. There ability to keep all staff highly motivated and consistently deliver a high standard and professional approach to looking after the safety and security of our customers, staff and guests, has proved once again that they are the market leaders in their field’.
And rock band Kasabian received a hero’s welcome when they returned to their home town of Leicester, playing three nights in the De Montfort Hall. Showsec was selected to ensure the safety of enthusiastic fans, friends and family who flocked to the venue to see the band ahead of their three month tour.
The shows co-incided with the highest temperatures of the year creating potential challenges for the security teams due to the high number of people in the venue. Showsec worked alongside the venue and promoters Live Nation to ensure that provisions were in place to look after the crowd.
Showsec’s Operations Executive Stuart Kennerley said: “The showdays were very hot and a contingency was made for all the possible medical implications of this such as overheating in the crowd. The close working relationship between Showsec and the venue ensured that the operation was a success and that everyone had a good time.”
Stuart joined Showsec in 1994 as a steward at Leicester City Football Club and has progressed through the company to Operations Executive for the East Midlands area. As well as managing the security for events in that region he also manages the team that goes to the Lowlands Festival in Holland each year.
Showsec’s award winning teams secured the backstage area, front of house mixing position and the front of stage pit as well as providing overnight security and deploying teams for the exclusive after show party.
