GL events Owen Brown Support the Bloodhound Project, July 2010

This weekend at the Farnborough Air Show leading temporary structure supplier GL events Owen Brown is supporting the Bloodhound Project with the display of a replica version of their 42ft long Bloodhound SuperSonic Car (SSC) by providing a temporary exhibition venue.

The Bloodhound Project asked Owen Brown for a temporary venue with a difference. The venue needed to act as a dramatic showroom for the replica car and exhibition area for the Bloodhound Project whilst also allowing visitors to the exhibit to be able to view the daily flying displays from within the structure.

Owen Brown proposed a clear view Premier structure with a peak top clear view Atrium applied to one end to create an impressive showroom to exhibit this dramatic piece of British engineering and design.

Jo Finch Commerical Events Manager for the Bloodhound Project commented “the clear view roofs have created quite a talking point at the show; it is great that visitors to our exhibit don’t need to step outside to watch the daily flying displays.”

Next year the Bloodhound Project hopes to claim the land speed record. In order to do this the SSC will have to improve on 763mph, the record previously set in 1997 by the Thrust SuperSonic Car.
 

GL events Owen Brown Launch Automatic Sliding Doors, July 2010

Leading temporary structure supplier GL events Owen Brown has enhanced their Absolute range of temporary structures with the addition of automatic sliding doors.
 
The Absolute automatic sliding doors are the industries first fully portable, fully collapsible electronic doors and are easy to fit with no crane required for installation.
 
This new concept is set to be popular with back of house hospitality facilities as well as front of house for retail outlets and for exhibitor space at outdoor exhibitions.
 
Alex Robertson, Managing Director comments: “In launching Absolute we set out to offer the events industry an exclusive structure type that was different to anything already on the market. We knew that in order to keep the Absolute innovative we would need to continually add to the range - this year we have already launched the Panorama window design and the Absolute double decker, the automatic sliding doors are yet another great addition to this award winning range making it even more flexible to different event situations”.
 
This weekend 17th – 18th July, Owen Brown will supply 6,300sqm of temporary structures to the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire. Their Absolute Eclipse and Absolute Plateau structures will be used for hospitality chalets and suites as well as kitchens, offices and exhibitor stands. RIAT is the World’s largest military air show with over 535 aircraft attending each year.
 
Owen Brown will also we support the Bloodhound Project with the display of their 1,000mph show car (a jet propelled vehicle set to challenge the world land speed record) at the Farnborough Air Show 19th – 25th July by erecting a completely clear view structure to make an impressive showroom.
  

Busy Period for GL events Owen Brown, June 2010

Last week we supplied in excess of 15,000sqm of structures to two important events on the summer calendar; Royal Ascot and Taste of London.

Royal Ascot is considered to be the most prestigious event on the horse racing calendar and features the exclusive Royal Enclosure. Again, this year we supplied the structures for the Royal Enclosure and a number of structures for retail and catering outlets and washroom facilities. We also supplied a Premier Triple Decker which was used for hospitality. Total square metres supplied was almost 12,000.

Taste of London, held in Regents Park, is London's largest restaurant festival, known as the ‘foodie event of the season’. Approximately 3,500sqm of our temporary structures, including the award winning Absolute Eclipse, were used to create this pop up restaurant festival. The structures will be used for restaurant facilities, VIP entertainment tents, private corporate enclosures and the popular Waitrose Taste Kitchen, Taste Wine and Laurent-Perrier Champagne Masterclass tents.

Over the last few weeks we have also supplied the temporary venue for the Glamour Woman of the Year Awards, hosted in Berkeley Square, Westminster, London. We have supplied in excess of 3,000sqm of structures for the Art Antiques London exhibition in Kensington Gardens and structures for exhibitors and retailers at Taste of Spain at its new location on Regents Street.

All in all a busy time for us!

GL events Owen Brown at the Chelsea Flower Show, June 2010

Again this year GL events Owen Brown supplied temporary structures to the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.

A new 20m x 40m Absolute double deck structure was used for the Ranleagh restaurant and food court, it featured a 4m x 25m patio area on the ground floor and a 2m x 30m balcony. The Ranleagh was sponsored by Laurent Perrier and featured a seafood restaurant on the first floor.

The structure used for the main on site restaurant: Thames View was also supplied by GL events Owen Brown; it featured an outside raised eating area which was put to great use with the fair weather.

Sixteen 6m x 13m hospitality units from GL events Owen Brown’s popular Smart System range were used for the Ranelagh Gardens hospitality village, tucked out of the way in the south side of the gardens these units were available for private hire.

Various other GL events Owen Brown structures were used throughout the show for reception areas, catering outlets, covered seating areas and kitchen and bar facilities.

Darren Woodhouse Events Director “Every year the RHS transform The Royal Hospital gardens into this spectacular horticultural show with the highest standards and attention to detail applied throughout, we are proud to be a part of this fantastic event”.
 

GL events Owen Brown to Shelter England at the World Cup, May 2010

For 12 years we have provided the FA with temporary structures to house the England Team Media Centre at all major European Championships and World Cups. 

This year at the FIFA World Cup South Africa the England Team Media Centre will be made up of 4 structures from our curved roof Eclipse range. The structure will house the broadcasting area as well as kitchen and washroom facilities. 

In addition to this, as part of our parent company, contract, we will be supplying FIFA with 15,000sqm of temporary structures to be split between the nine sites. The structures will be used for fan zones and refreshment areas as well as retail and merchandise outlets. 

Some 10 workers from our Castle Donington office flew to South Africa to complete the project which took around a month.
 

GL events Owen Brown Win Innovation of the Year Award, May 2010 

We are thrilled to announce that we have won the Innovation of the Year award for our new Absolute structure as voted for by the readers of Exhibition News. 

Since launching the Absolute we have won contracts with clients who were looking for a more innovative approach to temporary structure design. These contracts include: a 3 year deal to supply temporary structures at the Dubai World Championship, a 5 year contract to supply temporary structures to the British Racing Drviers’ Club at Silverstone and a 3 year deal to supply the Taste of London exhibition. This year we won a new contract to supply the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show after the organisers of the event saw the Absolute in use elsewhere. On top of all of these contracts we have also been appointed for the first time as supplier of hospitality suites to The Ryder Cup 2010 after showcasing the Absolute to their hospitality partners. 

This year we will be building on the success of the Absolute, earlier this month we launched the new Absolute double decker at the Open de Espana, click here to see photos. The Absolute triple decker will be launched later this year and further exciting innovations will continue throughout 2010. 

We would like to thank our clients and suppliers for their continued support.
 

Making History at The Commonwealth Games, May 2010 

Scott Hayward, Operations Director at GL events Owen Brown is to be seconded to Delhi as part of our parent company’s group management team for the Commonwealth Games overlay contract. 

This is the largest contract in the history of ; they will be supplying everything from ground works to signage, power, air conditioning, furniture and seating for several thousand spectators. This contract will see supplying over 50,000sqm from its new Absolute range of structures, of which 40,000sqm has been manufactured especially for the Games; the quality of the Absolute Pavilions was a key factor in winning the contract. 

Hayward and his team will face many challenges in the project, including temperatures of up to 46c, basic working conditions and a monsoon season.
 

GL events Owen Brown kick Opposition to touch to win the Women’s Rugby World Cup, May 2010 

We have won the main overlay contract for the 2010 Women’s Rugby World Cup (WRWC). We have a history of providing structures for rugby events starting with the Men’s Rugby World Cup, England 1999 and Paris 2008. We are also the official supplier of hospitality structures at Twickenhan.  

This August, we will supply temporary structures at Surrey University’s Varsity Centre, the site for the 2010 WRWC, to house the VIP reception and hospitality areas, bar facilities and administration areas.  

In addition to this, we will provide 1,000m of picket fencing, screening and trailer toilets as well as seating for 650 spectators.  

Ben Keast, Senior Account Manager says “We are proud to be part of this world class sporting event; we are looking forward to working alongside WRWC to produce a memorable event on the sporting calendar.”
 

Relationship continues with BADA, April 2010

Our long term temporary structure supply contract has been extended with the BADA Fair off the back of an investment in a custom designed shop front window effect.

“We wanted the BADA Fair’s reception to look like a shop window. We created a bespoke display area and the larger windows created a much lighter and airier room” said Gillian Craig, Director BADA Fair.

We supplied 5,000sqm of structures to the Fair; in addition to the reception, the structures housed the main exhibition area, a restaurant and brasserie, kitchens and administration areas all within the confines of the running track at Duke of York’s Headquarters, Chelsea. 

The structure we provided for the reception was a 16m x 20m Premier Pavilion, the windows come in 5m bays usually with five 1m wide window panels and six supporting uprights. After the request from the event’s organiser, we manufactured an eave beam that would take the weight of only three uprights. Two 5m wide Perspex panels would then sit either side of a central upright to create the shop front window. 

Keith Bishop, Director comments “We are really impressed with the effect this window style gives. By being flexible with our structure’s design we have retained a long standing customer. We hope to utilise this window design for other events.”
 

Triple Contract Win, March 2010

In the past month we have been awarded three major event supply contracts. The long term contracts include 8,000sqm of temporary structures to the British Grand Prix at the Silverstone Circuit. This year we will supply a variety of structures from our product range including the new absolute and Ultimate. The structures will be used to house hospitality suites, information points, bars and restaurants as well as administration areas and even for shelter on the helipads.

The second is for the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. This year we will supply 7,000sqm of temporary structures to house exhibition areas, the ‘North Ranelagh’ hospitality suite and the ‘Thames View’ restaurant. We will also provide the structures that make up the hospitality village, press centre, and numerous stores, administration areas and cloakrooms. The ‘North Ranelagh’ hospitality suite will be a new absolute double-deck structure with eclipse roof.

The third contract win is for the Open de España golf tournament in April; this is the second year we will provide temporary structures for this tournament. We will be launching our new absolute double-deck structure with eclipse roof at the tournament; this will make up the hospitality suite located behind the 18^th green. A single-story absolute with a round atrium end will be used for the press centre and various other structures from the absolute and Ultimate ranges will be dotted around the course to make up offices, retail outlets, bars and restaurants.

Scott Hayward Director at GL events Owen Brown commented “We are thrilled to have won these three contracts; for us they are a testament to the hard work, investment and innovation that we put into creating the new product ranges”.
 

GL continues to invest in future, Stand Out Magazine, March 2010

Keith Bishop, director of GL events Owen Brown, is spearheading a suitability programme for GL events Owen Brown and Snowdens. 

The programme’s aim is to reduce the carbon footprint of the company’s structures; this includes implementing measures throughout the life of the structure including carpet recycling and the re-use of water as well as the environmentally-friendly disposal of the structures at the end of their life. 

With the help of supply partners, Snowdens has already begun to recycle resin back polypropylene carpet; with some 6,000 square metres recycled from December 2009 events. Talks have also begun with Texiloop to assist with the recycling of wall panels and PVC roof. 

Meanwhile, GL events Owen Brown is continuing with its investment in new Absolute and Ultimate temporary structures, following an initial £4.5 million outlay in 2009. In 2010, plans to increase its range of products and services, with interior design and fit out, signage and temporary seating to be added to its portfolio. 2010 will see GL invest £9 million it its European structures divisions; this will be in excess of £2 million dedicated to the UK operation.
 

GL events Owen Brown Sailing Along in the Middle East, February 2010

We provided 7,000sqm of temporary structures for exhibition areas and hospitality suites to the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show (ADYS) held at the Yas Marina Circuit last month.

This is the second ADYS and the only annual exhibition dedicated to the superyacht and megayacht sectors in the Middle East. 15,000 people visited the three day event.

Darren Woodhouse, Global Events Director said "It is always great to be involved in such a prestigious event. Exposure at these types of events is excellent for   GL events Owen Brown. Our aim for 2010 is to build on the success of this event and the work we did at the Dubai World Championship last year and increase our presence in the Middle East."
 

Out Of the Woods, Access All Areas Magazine, February 2010

Temporary structure providers focused on quality, service and value for money in tougher times. Lisa Gudge talks to suppliers of some alternative options about new opportunities and the coming year.

GL events Owen Brown had a solid year following significant investment in its Absolute product ahead of the 2009 season.

“Obviously we committed long before the recession hit,” managing director, Alex Robertson, told this magazine last spring. “The market is hugely challenging. But a brand new structure is very different to something that’s been on the hire market for a couple of seasons, and we’re not asking a premium price for it, giving our clients the opportunity to hold their margins and prices.”

“We supplied new Absolute structures at the likes of Epsom, Ascot and Silverstone, and to the inaugural Dubai World Championship golf tournament in November,” group operations director Scott Hayward tells Access. “The response was very positive, and we’ve invested another £4m in ‘phase two’.”

The company is set to roll out double and triple deck structures in the Absolute range, and has new contracts in place at the World Cup in South Africa, via parent company GL, and the Ryder Cup at Celtic Manor in October. The investment has also encompassed the smaller end. Its ‘Ultimate’ pagodas are designed to raise the standard of entrance, linking or smaller standalone structures.

“These can be the first thing visitors to and event see,” Hayward continues. “We’ve tried to get away from the white cube by carrying the aesthetic of the Absolute across into the Ultimate. They’re the same eave height as our larger structures, so you get the same doors, the same glazing and hard wall panelling, the same quality as the rest of the structure.”

Abu Dhabi Yacht Show, Stand Out Magazine, February 2010

GL events Owen Brown are supplying temporary structures in excess of 7000 square metres from its Absolute range to the Abu Dhabi Yacht Show (ADYS) at the newly completed Yas Marina Circuit. This is the second ADYS and is the only annual exhibition dedicated to the superyacht and megayacht sectors in the Middle East. The 2009 ADYS saw sales of yachts totalling over US$200 million. 2010 has been tipped to be even bigger with 120 exhibitors expected at the event.

Darren Woodhouse, Director of Global Events, said "This is great news for us, the client saw the quality of our finished product at the recent Dubai World Championship golf and felt that we could deliver what they wanted, another positive step for   GL events Owen Brown International Division".