Evans is quick to emphasise that it has very much been a collaborative effort by Arena Structures project director Ross Robertson and project manager Ben Sly , alongside Arena Seating project director Terry Smith and project manager Simon Chun to name but a few .
“ All our key stakeholders within the group are down here . I ’ ve got three managing directors reporting into me and it ’ s great that all of them are working in some way on this project ,” he enthuses .
Evans only recently took on his current role , having previously been Arena Events Group chief operating officer EMEA .
“ When I came back to the UK there had been quite a lot of change among senior management on the Arena Structures side , and we needed somebody with a lot of structures experience to really lead the team , so Ross Robertson was brought in as Arena Structures UK & Europe MD in December last year .
“ During the pandemic we naturally diversified our business with long-term rentals outside of events ; we worked with Balfour Beatty on HS2 and did more industrial work . Ross comes to Arena with that industrial knowledge and experience , and that was one of the reasons we brought him on board . “ We ’ ve been very well known for event structures , but we have also been very good at delivering these long-term rental solutions for industrial projects during the pandemic so that ’ s definitely something we ’ re going to be pushing through .”
Evans says another key focus for Arena is investing in its team across
Ross Robertson ( left ) and Tom Evans
the business : “ We have recruited a lot of people , whether it be site guys or warehouse guys – that area of training and development is key . We are focusing heavily on the retention of staff but also bringing young people into the organisation .”
With a strong team in place , and , if the Cheltenham Festival is anything to go by , a strong appetite for events among consumers , Evans says he is confident about the year ahead and the longer-term future .
“ We are focusing a lot on innovation across structures and seating . With all the cost pressures we are under we are looking at
“ We have 16,000 square metres of temporary infrastructure at Cheltenham .”
solutions that take up less room on trucks . When it comes to design , we are focusing on how we can be more innovative and unique in our offering .
“ Cheltenham was sold out weeks ago , and even this winter our managed ice rinks had record sales . Post-Covid , and with the Ukraine war , we are facing supply chain challenges including a lack of raw materials , and of course there are inflationary pressures , but we ’ ve got some brilliant long-term contracts , like the one with the Jockey Club , and we ’ ve got a brilliant delivery team .”
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