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Showsec Cool in Hyde Park Heat
Showsec played a pivotal role in maintaining a relaxed summer festival vibe in Hyde Park this summer, as audiences, artists and productions enjoyed great music in sweltering weather over ten show-days.
Three days of Hard Rock Calling were headlined by Neil Young, The Killers and Bruce Springsteen, with some smaller shows on stage two preceding the huge Blur homecoming shows and Wireless Festival featuring Basement Jaxx and Kanye West.
At the most practical level keeping crowds cool was achieved by Showsec staff constantly distributing gallons of water to fans. Beyond that there were numerous strategies and approaches implemented to maintain calm and secure all areas of the Royal Park venue, from perimeter fence, to pit, to artists and VIP areas.
The company's head of security for the events, Simon Battersby explained:
"This is the best team and security operation I have worked with in Hyde Park. We have really seen the benefits of the years of our in-house training coming through at all levels.
"I've been particularly pleased with the confident decision making throughout our management team, consistently taking the initiative in a wide variety of situations. There is a real depth of talent running through the management, which means that the security operations have been very assured and stress free.
"This year we have implemented new egress plans to account for the closing of the Marble Arch subways, and the staff have adapted the new plans and to some very different audiences.
"The fact that we've had Showsec staff across the whole event drawn from different regional offices has improved co-ordination and made it easier to maintain consistency and quality."
Consistency has been a key element of Showsec teams' success. With up to 360 security professionals on site at any one time, many of the staff had previous experience at Hyde Park, and they have been at the heart of the growing understanding of what is required and expected by audiences and promoters.
That understanding is enhanced by Showsec's expanding research programs over recent years. The company is building an ever-increasing understanding about the audiences attending shows that can be utilised in the development of scientific fact based crowd management operations. This knowledge is also useful to promoter Live Nation in understanding their audience demographic, so at these shows Showsec has carried out extensive crowd surveys and shared to the information.
Keith Hackett, Showsec academy manager, has also been on site as part of the companies training program, he said: "We have the graduated academy 1 team fulfilling their operational potential onsite as part of this very effective management team, whilst the five members of academy 2, who are mid course, are being mentored on site extending their logistical and operational knowledge. It's very exciting to see the improved skills the academy has given those people and how that impacts the wider operations in a positive way."
John Probyn, chief operating officer said: ‘Showsec once again played a critical role in the success of all events in Hyde Park this year, in what at times were very difficult circumstances due to incredibly high temperatures and large crowds who wanted to party. Their ability to keep all staff highly motivated and consistently deliver a high standard and professional approach to looking after the safety and security of our customers, staff and guests, has proved once again that they are the market leaders in their field."
8th July 2009
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