WOMAD festival work with that are saying that ticket sales are up by around 400 % year-on-year , and they ' ve sold more tickets already than they had by the time of the last actual festival . Meanwhile , stadium events are looking really good in terms of ticket sales so far . There still seems to be a lot of positivity and confidence in the outdoor events market .
Who has been the most influential in helping you build your career ? It is really hard to pick one , because a few people have given me opportunities , and so it ' s been a butterfly effect ; one person leads to another who leads to another . My dad was a huge influence and the reason I got into events . He asked Tim Roberts from The Event Safety Shop to help . Despite being an incredibly busy man , Tim sat me down , told me to do an NEBOSH course , and opened up his black book of contacts . I sent out around 80 letters and emails , and one of the few who responded was Neil Levene , who now heads up CarFest but back then
“ THAT YEAR AT WOMAD MADE PEOPLE AND BROKE PEOPLE ”
was with Brand Events . He rung me and said , ‘ I ' ve got an event next week , come and join us as a member of the site crew at Regents Park for an event called Toast ’. From that , I ended up doing Top Gear Live and many more , and meeting [ International Select Events owner ] Tim Filmer , who gave me loads of safety work . It all really started with Tim Roberts .
If there was one thing about the events industry you could change , what would it be ? There ' s this perception that there ' s a difference between a buyer and a supplier . The reality is that we are all event professionals , and we are all trying to put on a good show , whether you ' re putting in toilets and providing toilet roll or you ' re the production company that ' s working on behalf of the promoter . I ' ve got two companies , an event production company and events design company , so the latter is a supplier . I feel uneasywith that separation because I don ' t think the balance is fair in the way it ' s defined within industry at the moment . That is a big thing that I would love to see changed .
What ’ s your favourite way to unwind ? Golf is my outright pleasure . Considering the amount I play at the moment ; I should be much better than I am . Golf allows me to not have to think about anything else . I love it , even though it can be awfully frustrating . I urge everyone not to do it . accessaa . co . uk 51