SUMMER MAY | COVER | COVER FEATURE FEATURE AUTUMN | ANNIVERSARY FEATURE new artists , while Action ! Presents focuses on rock and metal acts under the stewardship of Alan Day . Forthcoming shows include Therapy ? Death Cult , Baby Metal and The Sisters of Mercy .
“ Alan is a powerhouse , he is the best rock promoter in Britain and the most passionate promoter in the game ,” says Tilley .
Illustrating the breadth of Kilimanjaro ’ s music offering , Peter Thompsen , who started at the company as an intern , is now developing a strong niche with French and Spanish speaking artists .
“ He ’ s going out and finding incremental business ,” says Tilley . “ I ’ ve always encouraged everyone who works for us to build their own acts and find their own business .”
Independent spirit Zac Fox has worked with Stuart Galbraith , off and on , since the mid- 1990s when she turned her back on an army life and began working as a receptionist at MCP . She worked her way up at the company and saw it absorbed by SFX and Clear Channel Entertainment before joining Galbraith at Live Nation to work on projects including Download . Fox rejoined him at Kilimanjaro Live in May 2008 as head of operations and is now the company ’ s group chief operating officer .
“ One of the things we decided right from the start was to make sure the
San Phillips
individuals at Kilimanjaro feel like it is theirs ,” she says . “ That ’ s what we ’ ve been holding on to since the first day when there was a handful of people in the room . Now we ’ re across Ireland , Scotland and all over England but we have managed to hold on to that even though we ’ ve grown so much . As we ’ ve brought new companies or started them , that ’ s the culture that we ’ re creating - that everyone ’ s opinion matters .”
Fox says the personal approach is also maintained with artists : “ We don ’ t hand them over to anyone . We don ’ t want to have so many shows that it becomes a problem showing up and being part of the event that you ’ ve helped plan . There are artists who appreciate that , and when they come back and they see all the same faces again they ’ re delighted because it feels like a safe space .”
DEAG took a controlling stake in Kilimanjaro in 2014 but Fox says the
Where have the last 15 years gone ! It is always a pleasure working with the Kili team . Ever the professionals , we have delivered so many shows across our estate with them over the years . As a Brummie , bringing UB40 to the city will always be a highlight for me . All of us here at the NEC Group will be raising a glass of bubbly to Stuart and the team and wish you all many more years of success .
– NEC Group Ticketing & Arenas MD Guy Dunsta
To us Kilimanjaro is , as any creative company should be , a group of talented , unique individuals who have a shared passion and philosophy . It ’ s been an absolute pleasure to build friendships with the team over the past 15 years , and we look forward to making many more memories together in the future . Happy 15th anniversary guys .
– NEC Group Ticketing & Arenas venue programming head Ben Sharman
independent spirit has been retained : “ I don ’ t think we can ask for a better parent company . They have been incredibly trusting and respectful of us , there ’ s been no dictating , they ’ re really supportive . I don ’ t know if we ’ d have got to this point with anybody else .”
Another key member of the team that has been with the company for more than a decade is San Phillips . She joined Kilimanjaro as an executive assistant to Galbraith but as the business grew , both in terms of the team and the diversity of its work , the need for a head of promoter operations became apparent .
Phillips , who has been in that role since it was created in 2019 , says , “ As we expanded as a team , we needed more leadership and organisation in terms of clear definitions of what people ’ s roles involved and the necessary processes .”
She says there have been many highlights during her time at Kilimanjaro but among the most rewarding projects were the postpandemic Gorillaz gigs in London and the Stereophonics shows in June last year at Cardiff ’ s Principality Stadium : “ We moved them from December to June because the of the Omicron outbreak . It was an exhausting and challenging time but the shows with Stereophonics , Tom Jones ,
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