My Working Life
My parents are Welsh – so I support Wales
when it comes to rugby – but I was born in
Surrey. I moved to America when I was 13
then went to university in Birmingham, but
my parents moved to Budapest from America
so I would go home to Hungary!
My mum was a solicitor but retired after she
had my brothers and me. My dad worked
for an oil company which is what moved us
around. They’re both now enjoying retirement
playing golf multiple times a week and going
on holidays.
I have two older brothers who I’m very close
to. They’re both now married to lovely wives
and one of them has a beautiful one-year-
old called Magnus Blows. My parents were
very dedicated to getting us out and about
experiencing as much outside of school as
possible and all of us played lots of sports
and were never indoors.
I was a nanny while I was at school in America
which I loved. My first job as an adult was
working for CreativEvents at the NEC as
catering staff.
At school I was on a committee which
planned student events. This then continued
at university where I studied biochemistry
and was social secretary for the school of
biosciences, planning their events. I then
went into catering and then Novus Leisure.
I left event venues for a while but missed
the family dynamic of being part of a big
machine. I definitely got my wish joining the
National Theatre as it is so much more than an
events venue. I love being part of something
which gives so much back to the world –
approximately seven million people worldwide
watching an NT production last year through
coming to the NT, NT Live, and travelling
productions!
I have particularly enjoyed working on the
re-launch The Deck, our stunning rooftop
venue offering amazing views of the Thames
and the London skyline. We’ve held so many
great events there the past year, including
awards, weddings, parties and even some
filming and photoshoots.
Ali
Blows
The head of commercial
events and business
development at the
National Theatre on
the family dynamic
at venues, Duphy the
Labrador and offsetting
the negative impact of
events
I am single and love it. I do have a six-year old
Labrador called Dunphy though who I love. His
favourite things to do are eating banana peels
and finding muddy puddles to roll in. Even on
the warmest, sunniest day – he’ll find one!
My last holiday was to Dubai – I had a friend
who lived there for the past few years, so it
was great having free accommodation. She’s
moved back to the UK now though, so I need
to find a new sunny destination.
The thing I love most about events is that
cliché that no day is ever the same. But also,
the people – hospitality professionals are all
very likeminded which isn’t always a good
thing, but certainly makes it fun!
The biggest topic that needs addressing in
the industry is sustainability – especially
how we can ensure all areas (including
catering, production and AV) are not
negatively impacting the world in the long
term.
Every event is so different; I think it’s more
about the clients. You can have a very small,
straight-forward event but the client is
lovely and creative so you can have fun with
it. Weddings are always very rewarding, as
are events for charities. I’m very fortunate
to always have super nice clients who I’ve
worked with over and over at different venues
throughout my career. EN
July — 13