and Paz Brennan in 2017 , is working on events such as Glastonbury , Formula E and a K-pop tour this year . Brennan , the company ’ s commercial director , says recruitment and backend crew management procedures have been major challenges this year : “ As the number of crew grows , so does the level of management needed to keep everyone in check and up to date with all the information .”
Spartan MD Boylan says a strong culture of efficiency within the office has helped lead to high-quality
management on site : “ We give each crew member the responsibility to contribute and be an active participant to improve welfare , and health and safety cultures . This has been a big challenge with the influx of many new staff and crew , but we start from day one with each staff member .”
Recruitment drive When it comes to recruitment , Boylan says Spartan has had to diversify its methods of attracting newcomers : “ We have had to innovate with new directions and technologies to make potential crew know that the events industry is still here , alive , and well . We go to great lengths to ensure our new crew know that their first priority in their new role is health and safety and manual handling . Then we can elaborate on the more advanced technical side .
“ We all need to manage our expectations and know there is a raft of new workers in the industry at all levels , who are having to learn their craft in a matter of weeks , not years .”
Crew working overtime to meet high demand is a concern across the industry , and both Boylan and Brennan say they have experienced the issue in their careers , before setting up Spartan .
In order to help new workers not make the same mistakes , the company addresses the issue from the outset . “ We teach from a very early stage that if you want to play the long game , you have to have a good work / life balance ,” says Boylan .
Brennan says , “ Everyone is different , some guys thrive from the long hours , others think they will but can ’ t , which is when it becomes detrimental to the business .”
Alpha Crew is servicing around 32 major events in 2022 , which managing director George Saladze says “ feels amazing after experiencing such uncertain times the previous couple of years ”.
The company has worked on events such as the NME Awards and shows from Genesis at the O2 Arena , as well as DJ Armin Van Buuren at Wembley Arena .
“ It ’ s brilliant that the demand for events is there but it takes a great deal of time and effort to get our staff up to the standard that we promise our clients ,” says Saladze . “ We ’ re still in a position where we ’ re trying to catch up and there ’ s no way to fast track that without cutting corners and we are very strict on standards .”
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