SEPTEMBER | IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Paul Berger
On the back of the merger between the Arena Group’s
UK & Europe and Middle East & Asia divisions to form
Arena EMEA, Christopher Barrett caught up with the
unified operation’s CEO to discuss what it means for the
business and its clients.
“We don’t
perceive
ourselves
as an event
services
company
anymore,
we position
ourselves
as an event
architecture
company.”
What led to you becoming involved
in the events industry?
I have been based in Dubai for
almost 26 years. I first came here
while working for the advertising
agency BBDO and later began in the
motorsports industry.
I ended up working with a
property developer and in 2000 I
conceived, designed and built the
Dubai Autodrome. It was the first
motorsports circuit of its kind here,
which was later rebranded Dubai
Motor City.
After that I had my own sports
marketing business called Sports
Marketing Global and I was heavily
involved in bringing motorsports
events to the region, not least
Formula 1 Abu Dhabi.
When and how did you get involved
in Arena Group?
Up until 2007 Arena was a
UK events services business,
specialising in structures, seating
and furniture. IMG had won the
contract to deliver the Abu Dhabi
Golf Championship and they could
not find anyone they had confidence
in to build the championship
structures, so they asked Arena.
Arena jumped at the opportunity
and looked for a local structures
business in the UAE that could
support them. They identified a
company called Harlequin, which
I was associated with. In 2009,
Arena and I acquired Harlequin and
I became the CEO of Arena Middle
East.
Arena has since become a global
event services company but when
we set up Arena Middle East it
was a company of 35 individuals
based in Dubai. We now have 350
employees and seven offices across
the Middle East and Asia.
So what led to the merging of UK
& Europe and Middle East & Asia
divisions to form Arena EMEA?
The Middle East has always worked
very closely with the UK business
in terms of delivering projects. The
seasons are opposite, so we are
able to share people, resource and
equipment. That culminated in
2019 when we jointly delivered the
temporary stadium for the world
championship boxing fight between
Andy Ruiz Jr. and Anthony Joshua.
A 15,000-capacity temporary
stadium venue in Diriyah, it
included a three-floor hospitality
structure able to accommodate
3,000 VIPs.
How will the UK arm benefit from
the merger?
The Middle East has always been
very fortunate in that we have
had the client requirements and
budgets to enable us to become
a very creative and innovate
structures business. We don’t
perceive ourselves as an event
services company anymore, we
position ourselves as an event
architecture company. We have a
design team in the Middle East who
create hospitality experiences using
our structures, interior design
skills, seating and furniture.
How will the merger affect your
offering in the UK?
We are going to be very design led
and innovative. Obviously, it all
comes down to budgets but being
innovative and creative doesn’t
necessarily mean more expensive, it
just means we have to think outside
of the box.
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