Contractor Showsec did the security, safety and enjoyment of the audiences, artists and VIP’s at June’s packed and sunny 2010 Hard Rock Calling shows. London’s largest and most prestigious series of outdoor concerts in Hyde Park saw headliners Pearl Jam, Stevie Wonder and Sir Paul McCartney. A Kings of Leon concert and the forthcoming Wireless Festival weekend ran at the start of July.
Showsec’s Simon Battersby is head of security for the events. He says: “Hyde Park is a well established summer concert series, our challenge is to build on ever-increasing expectations, as the general site management and venue doesn’t change very much year on year. For us, it’s all about fine tuning, and delivering an improved operation each year that draws on our expertise and innovation, giving the audience, artists and VIPs the best possible experience. We have achieved that this year by working closely with all stakeholders including the park, police and organisers from early planning stages to completion.”
With over 400,000 people coming through the doors over the seven scheduled events, Showsec says it planned and delivered a complex security and crowd management operation, which was flexible to the requirements of shows and artists. Showsec Southern Regional Manager Steve Reynolds has acted as Security manager for all seven concerts.
Showsec project manager Dayo Adelugba arranged all the staff logistical operations including staff briefings, deployment transportation and administration. With Ieuan Fury acting as the arena security co-ordinator, Roy Wise overseeing all gates and Tracey McCarthy co-ordinating backstage operations, this was an opportunity for four Showsec Academy associates to gain experience supervising the specialised security functions.
As part of Showsec’s research and development, representatives from the University of Derby Corporate were on site. For those staff enrolled in the Crowd Management degree launched earlier this year, with Derby, these representatives filmed and analysed video footage of the egress at Hyde Park, using this as the basis of research into pedestrian movement patterns.
