“ WE KNEW WHAT WE WERE GOING TO DO , BUT WE NEVER KNEW WHEN WE WERE GOING TO DO IT .”
LS EVENTS
UEFA Champions League Festival
can-do attitude among the LS team once again came into its own . She says that despite some of the staff having postsummer season holidays planned , they put their plans on hold to stay to work on the project .
“ It was a huge occasion and a privilege to work on , but incredibly challenging ,” says Reynolds . “ We had the plans , and we knew what we were going to do , but we never knew when we were going to do it .”
When the news came , it was a case of all-hands-on deck for LS , with Reynolds and Grindle working with project directors Jen-e Jones and Grace Noest to lead a 40-strong team on the planning ; a team that multiplied significantly during the project ’ s delivery .
Since Jen-e Jones started at LS in 2018 , she has worked on an array of events that not only illustrate the company ’ s broad reach but also the ability to turn around events at remarkable speed .
Attended by 250,000 people , Operation London Bridge saw LS Events support the management of Palestra Event Liaison Facility ; the 24 / 7 central command and control centre for the full event programme .
Jones , who was based at the facility , says Operation London Bridge was a hugely challenging and rewarding experience : “ I had done a lot of the planning with the team , but then was removed from them because I was in the Palestra control room and they were all on the ground without me . Hearing how challenging it was for them was really tough but then going down on the ground afterwards , where we were all reunited after delivering a really successful and important event for London , was really special .”
“ I was on the ground , based by The Mall ,” recalls Grindle . “ It was quite an experience , something I ’ ll never forget . We were very honoured to have been involved in it .”
As if the no-notice aspect of Operation London Bridge didn ’ t present enough of a challenge , the fact the project needed to be delivered at a time when the events industry supply chain was still reeling from the impact of the pandemic meant
“ WE KNEW WHAT WE WERE GOING TO DO , BUT WE NEVER KNEW WHEN WE WERE GOING TO DO IT .”
a huge amount of work was required behind the scenes to manage the situation .
Reynolds says LS had had the foresight to present strategies to DCMS and the GLA around pre-purchase and retainership . Come the day , longstanding and trusted suppliers rose to the challenge and the work that LS Events had carried out on morgues and testing centres during the pandemic reaped benefits when it came to staffing Operation London Bridge at the drop of a hat .
“ We had such a lot of goodwill as a result of how we supported staff through Covid ,” says Reynolds . “ People dropped everything and came to support and work for us on Operation London Bridge . In the end , we had no problem at all sourcing staff . We had around 175 freelancers working on delivery across all the different roles .”
In a league of their own During the summer of 2021 , LS Events staged central London activations at a time when no live events had taken place for more than a year . With the UEFA Euros 2020 delayed by a year , LS had been appointed by Jack Morton Worldwide , on behalf of the GLA , to curate , manage and deliver the bar and food operations for the official fan zones . Its food and beverage arm LS Bites worked within Covid-19 limitations to successfully manage requirements at zones set up in Trafalgar Square and Potter ’ s Field .
After the trouble in and around Wembley Stadium when it hosted the UEFA Euro final , the eyes of the world accessaa . co . uk 37