Working with both Event Organisers and Security Providers I can see first-hand how important Staff are. They are your biggest asset in ensuring your customers have an enjoyable day, get home safely and are wanting to book for your next event. They are the people who are front of house, welcoming your customers, they are the people who have to enforce the rules firmly but fairly in quite often exacting circumstances, they are the people who have to be able to respond quickly to changing circumstances and they are the people who have to remain vigilant permanently throughout an event often for long periods of time and in quite extreme circumstances.

Yet all too often in the efforts to maximise profit, Event Organisers often fail to plan to support those people who can really make your event.

The Summer of 2022 brought huge challenges in managing events. Not long out of the COVID Pandemic which saw events cancelled across the board, Event Organisers had to show business as usual to give confidence to their customers. Last summer also saw day after day of intense heat which gave a different dynamic to audiences which event staff had to manage. But that heat took its toll on event staff, with the need for additional personal protective equipment, additional supplies of water and sunscreen as well as more breaks.

All too often Event Organisers forget the need to factor in floating teams to allow staff to have breaks and in the summer heat those breaks have to be more frequent. A 100-strong team working for 12 hours will need 8 staff to cover 4-hourly breaks for staff. They will need a location, with shade and seating and essentials like water. If the rotas are well thought out, it doesn’t need to have to be a large space, but it is much easier to accommodate if it is thought about in the planning stage.

Staff are there not to make up the numbers but to provide a very valuable service; they need to retain their eyes-on vigilance throughout an event, to be able to react at a moment’s notice. So look after them..