Emily Kenwood
Reece Tee
business and get them trained up .
“ When using local labour , that ’ s where we ’ re seeing the biggest shortage , specifically on drivers . Crewing companies are usually able to pull something out of the bag within days but we are definitely expecting that not to be the case this year , so we are working to book all labour in as early as possible and trying to build our own pool of labour .”
The Global Infusion Group is one of the UK ’ s leading providers of catering at major sport , music and other entertainment events . Launched in 1984 and headquartered in Buckinghamshire , its brands include GIG and Eat To The Beat ( E2B ). Among its longest standing clients are the Reading Festival , which it has worked with for 30 years , and Coldplay , whose crew it has helped feed for more than two decades .
CEO Bonnie May says the company was hit hard by the pandemic , and in the
week preceding the national lockdown last March it lost £ 9.4m of business across three days as events and tours were cancelled in their droves . These included Glastonbury and three Cirque du Soleil global tours .
Not to be defeated , within days of the pandemic hitting , the company had secured a contract with its local
Healthcare Trust and began catering for 15 NHS sites across Buckinghamshire , delivering more than 1,000 meals a day .
As the company prepares for more usual work this summer , and with demand for its services strong , May says the biggest challenge has been ensuring that it has the people and crew required : “ We ’ re lucky to a certain extent that we continued working throughout the pandemic , so we were able to keep our core crew busy and retain their skills and experience . However , with the cost of living rising so quickly it ’ s important that we can keep rates of pay competitive , cover increasing costs from our suppliers and allow for rising food prices , all of which are well documented .”
Reece Tee , director of events fencing business Entertee Hire , says that one of the biggest challenges it is facing at the moment is increases to transport costs , which it has had no choice but to pass on to clients .
“ We are finding most of our customers are understanding and I guess all suppliers are doing the same ,” he says .
Launched in 2004 , and headquartered in Borough Green , Kent , Entertee provides services to events of all shapes and sizes , from the relatively diminutive Elderflower Fields ( cap . 5,000 ) festival to some of the biggest in the country , including Boomtown
“ Previously , people rarely asked about cancellation , and payment terms tended to come a lot later in the conversation .”
– Actavo UK operations manager Emily Kenwood
Fair ( 66,000 ) and central London ’ s New Years Eve celebrations . In keeping with the experience of other suppliers , Tee is seeing a huge demand for Entertee ’ s products and services . He says : “ There seems to be more events than ever . I ’ m not sure if it ’ s a reaction from promoters to try to make back money they have lost over the past couple of years , or whether
Middle-East based ProTec are feeling positive about the future after investment
it ’ s felt that this is a time when the public appetite to get out to festivals again is worth meeting the demand , but we are quoting more than ever before . The big issue is trying to accommodate the demand .”
Despite the call for its products , Tee says the soaring cost of materials means it is being cautious about how much it manufactures this year : “ I think that ’ s a similar story across the industry , therefore there will be shortages and some festivals will suffer for kit ,” he says . With event organisers aware of the strain on the supply chain , Tee has seen a major change in the way suppliers are viewed : “ Event organisers can ’ t just wait until the last minute and try to beat you down on price . Anyone doing that will get caught out and either not have their equipment or end up paying more for it .
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