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Showsec at Sports Personality of the Year Awards
Showsec showed they are in good shape when they provided the event security for the 2009 Sports Personality of the Year Awards in Sheffield. The company supplied its own award winning team - of UK security professionals, who ensured the safety of guests in the VIP pre-show party, securing all transport between venues and strategically placing response teams around the VIP audience.
With a live audience of 11,000 guests including some of the world's most prestigious sporting personalities, the 2009 awards were the biggest ever staged.
Showsec is the in-house security partner of the Arena and security manager Julian Kumah took on the role of head of security for the awards, supported by special projects manager Steve Reynolds and supervisor Mark Wilcock.
Julian explained: "The multi-faceted security operation started by ensuring the safety of guests as they travelled from various preshow events into Sheffield Arena. The first arrivals were from the VIP preshow party hosted by Barbra Slater, director of sport for the BBC at the Arena Club. Guests entered the venue along the red carpet flanked with VIP security professionals, as well as numerous media camera crews and photographers.
"The second pre-awards party was taking place at a nearby venue for which the council created a dedicated walkway. We deployed stewards to ensure the safety of 1,500 guests all travelling to the venue.
"Inside the Arena our staff showed guests to their seats ensuring the same high standards of service the teams are known for amongst regular visitors to the venue, whilst also being alert for any additional potential threats posed to the celebrity guests.
"To retain a rapid response capability while staying unobtrusive to cameras within the show area we positioned a plain clothed security teams sat amongst the VIP guests who could respond immediately if an incident had occurred. The event ran very smoothly I'm delighted to say, which was a testament to everyone involved at all levels."
In picture: Showsec's Steve Reynolds, Mark Logan and Julian Kumah.
18th December 2009
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