FEBRUARY | REVIEW
long live music programme which
consisted of many local schools
and charities, giving the market
a real community buzz,” adds
Brooks.
Bournemouth Christmas
Market is situated in the
pedestrianised town centre which
has a passing footfall of around
200,000 people which in itself
brings complex access and site
build complications. “The build
times were subject to commuters
which saw us loading large
containers onto site in the early
hours and late into the evening
to ensure health and safety
regulations were adhered to and
that local residents remained as
unaffected as possible. Due to the
size and nature of the site, we are
unable to fence it off in its entirety
as you can with a festival in a field
for example, so the build team
were required to work around the
clock to ensure that the site was
kept secure and that the public
were safe at all times,” adds Brooks.
The Christmas Market joins
one side of Bournemouth to the
other, so to ensure that guests
can explore the market in an
uncrowded and low stress manner
was essential. “Having just
completed our third year of the
contract, we are now confident
that we have optimised the space
to the best of its ability,” he says.
Meanwhile, the timescales for
the event were tough. “From site
access, to our VIP launch night, we
had just nine days to ensure the
site is up and running - including
40+ chalet market stalls and
the two-storey alpine lodge bar
structure. We then have just seven
days to de-rig the whole site and
ensure that the area is returned
to its previous state, again,
working around commuters and
residents to ensure there is as little
disruption as possible.”
“This is the third year of our
42
contract with the council and we
are building on more success each
time which is largely due to our
close working relationships with
our suppliers. There is a fantastic
atmosphere and buzz at the
Market this year and I’m extremely
proud of the team for all of their
efforts on this huge project.”
A major feature for the
Christmas Market is The Alpine
Lodge Bar, a bespoke temporary
structure built for the market by
Innovative Hire. The Alpine Lodge
Bar was constructed by two 40ft
container bars joined and topped
by a marquee structure, which was
provided and installed by Mar-
Key Group, a local partner to the
market.
The bar has the capacity to
host 180 downstairs, 100 upstairs
and an additional 250 in its
surrounding outdoor area. The
structure also boasts two large
bars as well as rustic, ski-themed
furniture and décor.
The 40 trading huts, theming
and props were also all provided
by Innovative Hire and have lit up
the centre of Bournemouth via
C.E.S providing generators across
the entirety of the site. The market
sees 3m visitors over the 49 days of
trading, and has seen almost a 50%
uplift of visitors year on year.
“Our infrastructure was by
nature incredibly heavy and
also required people to work at
height with requirements for
heavy lifting. It was crucial for us
to manage multiple contractors
working simultaneously, and for
careful communication of safe
working practices at all times.
One example of this was on the
build of the lodge where operators
were working above and below.
We identified the points at which
it was safe to do so and cleared