News Archive

GL EVENTS LOOKS FORWARD WITH CONFIDENCE
GL events and GL events Owen Brown will have a strong and dynamic presence at the upcoming Rugby World Cup 2007.

As Official provider of "structures and temporary fittings" to GIP France 2007, the organising committee of the  Rugby World Cup, GL events is providing furnishings, fittings, carpeting, air-conditioning and structures for all of the 12 cities hosting the matches.

The group has also installed a 1200 m² media centre at Parc des Princes for the city of Paris and the "Rugby color" hospitality village auditorium for the city of Saint-Denis.
The Profil agency will be providing general reception at the event's hospitality villages and for Société Générale and Peugeot, the two main partners of the Rugby World Cup.

Services provided by GL events include:
- Tents and structures
- Podiums and staircases
- Interior fittings
- Commentary studios
- Furnishings and accessories
- Press stands
- Barriers
- Air conditioning and back-up generators
- Containers and temporary toilets
- Carpeting
- Media centre
- Stewards/hostesses
- Electricity
- Auditorium signposting

Battersea Evolution unveils a stunning glass atrium
Battersea Evolution, a joint venture between GL events Owen Brown and Quantum Leap Events, and one of London’s freshest and most versatile venues, has recently been upgraded with the addition of a brand new ‘Evolution’ atrium.

The nine metres high, fifty metre long glazed structure now adorns the front of the venue, offering event organisers and guests alike, a guaranteed jaw-dropping welcome!

As well as the obvious aesthetic qualities, the new frontage gives event management and production companies a host of new exciting options when designing their event. From aerial acts on arrival, to three tonne rigging points from each bay, the state-of-the-art atrium structure is capable of holding a drinks reception for 500 guests alone, in addition to the main structure which can entertain up to 4,000 guests, with over 4,000m² of unimpeded event space.

Battersea Evolution will host a wide range of events during 2007, including a number of high profile awards dinners and exclusive corporate celebrations, along with an extensive range of Christmas parties with a funky ‘Après’ theme.

www.batterseaevolution.co.uk
Telephone 020 7836 1035

Owen Brown – Centre stage at V2005, V2006 and V2007!

Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Weston Park in Staffordshire will be the places to be again this summer when V2005 opens its doors to an anticipated crowd in excess of 130,000 music fans, being held 20th – 21st August.

Once again this year, on the 10th Anniversary of the V-Festivals, ticket sales exceeded organiser’s expectations and sold out in record time, as fans hurried to secure their place at one of the years top festivals. With a chance to see the music industries biggest names play including Oasis, Scissor Sisters, Franz Ferdinand, The Streets, and Maroon 5. With every artist playing at both the Essex and Staffordshire sites over the festival weekend.

GL events Owen Brown and event organisers, Nine Yards have this year agreed a new 3-year contract for the provision of the temporary structures and marquees at Weston Park. They have been working on the event since 2002 and the new agreement will see them providing facilities until 2007, bringing a partnership with Nine Yards and V-Festivals that will span over 6 years.

As specialists in providing marquees and temporary structures Owen Brown will be supplying 16 individual structures across the Weston Park site, to provide the wealth of facilities needed for such a huge number of people.

These include information points, catering facilities for Artists and crew, cloakrooms, first aid tents and medical centres.

Commenting on Owen Brown’s contract win, Account Manager Ben Keast said “I am very pleased to say that GL events Owen Brown are providing even more facilities this year to keep pace with the anticipated increase in numbers and we are thrilled to be continuing to supply this event and to work along side a fantastic team as it continues to grow.”

A Royal Welcome For Our Foreman!                                           

Loughborough man Eddie Tivey, site foreman for GL events Owen Brown based in Castle Donington was invited to meet Her Majesty the Queen this week! 

Eddie was at Buckingham Palace supervising the construction of a number of Owen Brown’s marquees, used to host the Royal Garden Parties and as temporary venues and gift shops for the Palace’s summer openings. 

Owen Brown have held this contract for the previous six years, and this year Eddie’s team constructed an additional marquee used during commemorative celebrations to mark the end of World War II.

Eddie has worked at GL events Owen Brown for over 9 years during which time he has worked on a number of high profile events such as the Manchester Commonwealth Games.  He was amongst a select number of suppliers invited to meet the Queen.  He attended an informal meeting, during which he was officially introduced to Her Majesty, when she personally thanked him for all the hard work he and the team at Owen Brown had put into the occasion.

GL events Owen Brown are one of the UK’s leading suppliers of marquees and temporary structures for the events industry.  Working on a number of high profile corporate and sporting events, including Royal Ascot, the British Grand Prix and Wimbledon.

GL events Owen Brown Sign A New Three Year Deal For The British Grand Prix

GL events Owen Brown are delighted to announce that Silverstone Motorsports Ltd has awarded them a three-year contract to provide temporary hospitality structures for the British Grand Prix for the next three seasons. 

The contract includes the supply of a double-decker structure for use at the event and several other Premier Pavilions across the course.  In total GL events Owen Brown will be supplying temporary structures for use as hospitality facilities during the British leg of the World’s most famous motor sport Competition.

The temporary structures will be positioned at pivotal areas around the course, maximising on viewing capabilities and offering guests the ultimate hospitality experience at a legendary motor sport weekend.  These facilities will be situated at the Copse, Vale, and Becketts Paddock. 

GL events Owen Brown will also be supplying more than 5000m2 of temporary accommodation for a variety of uses such as helipad terminals, the historic car display, air traffic control facilities and campsite structures. 

Richard Phillips, Managing Director at Silverstone Motorsport Ltd who has worked with GL events Owen Brown for several years said; “Working with Owen Brown has been thoroughly enjoyable.  Many companies preach a “gospel” of customer service, very few deliver the reality.  Owen Brown is one of the few and I have remained consistently impressed at the level of effort and support they have been able to provide.”

The contract win follows the successful provision of structures to The British Grand Prix dating back to 1982, when Owen Brown were contracted as the main supplier of marquees to the event.  This continuous working relationship has proved extremely successful and the new deal will see GL events Owen Brown as the main supplier until 2008, an association that will then have spanned over 26 years. 

GL events Owen Brown Renew 3-Year Contract To Supply Structures At Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta is the World’s premier rowing event and one of the traditional highlights of the English sporting calendar. An annual event, it was first held in 1839 focusing on competitive amateur rowing, and then in 1986 it was extended to a five-day event.

Ambro Events have awarded GL events Owen Brown a second, three-year contract to supply hospitality structures for Temple Island Enclosure at the Regatta. Owen Brown first began working at Temple Island Enclosure in 2002, when Ambro Events granted them a three-year deal and this contract has now been extended.

Ambro Events has gained a deserved reputation as a leader in the field of corporate entertainment and, as an independent event management company, and is celebrating its twentieth year in the corporate event industry.

GL events Owen Brown are one of the UK’s leading temporary structure and marquee experts and will be supplying hospitality structures for use throughout the five-days of the Regatta. Housed in a Premier structure, and separated into individual chalets these hospitality units will accommodate from 30 guests per day, serving first class hospitality, while they enjoy the competitions on the Regatta course.

Henley Royal Regatta commences on Wednesday 29th June and continues through to Sunday 3rd July, and these Luxury riverside chalets have been designed with comfort and quality in mind. Each chalet will house it’s own bar, dining area and private garden leading down to the river to allow visitors to maximize their enjoyment on the day.

Andrew Sewell from Ambro Events commented; “It is always a pleasure to work with such a professional outfit as Owen Brown and we had no hesitation in renewing the contract.”

Account Director Darren Woodhouse at Owen Brown said; “We are delighted to continue to be involved in one of the most historical rowing events in the world. We already work with Ambro Events on several other high-profile sporting competitions and we plan to continue this great working relationship in the future.”

GL events Owen Brown Head for Show Jumping

GL events Owen Brown have been awarded the contract to supply structures for this year’s British Open Show Jumping Championships at the award winning Hallam FM Arena, formally known as Sheffield Arena, from Thursday 7th - Sunday 10th April 2005.

The British Open is based on a unique competition style that tests the skills of the world's top riders to their limit. A full programme of international show jumping competitions also runs alongside the British Open Championship, concluding on the final day with the crowning of a British Open Champion. The competition is organised by exhibition and show organisers, Grandstand Event Management Ltd.

Owen Brown will be providing Premier Pavilions to be used as an exhibition hall and a separate warm up area for the horses. Within the exhibition hall visitors will find a range of tradestands selling a variety of goods including saddlery, clothing and horse rugs. There will be tradestands selling general clothing and leisurewear, books, toys, jewellery and many other products.


Due to the unique style of the arena and the location of the structures, the majority of the equipment has to be craned to the upper concourse level and built ready for the competition within an extremely tight time frame. This is a challenge that Owen Brown are well practiced at dealing with, in fact they built the media centre for the 9th IAAF Indoor World Championships in Athletics at the same Arena in 2003, also involving the use of cranes to manoeuvre the equipment to the upper level.

Ben Keast, Account Manager for Owen Brown said: “We are very pleased to be working on such a high profile, and exciting competition within the equestrian calendar and look forward to building an excellent working relationship with the team at Grandstand Event Management.”

Grandstand Event Management Ltd form part of the Grandstand Group which also organise Horse of the Year Show, sponsored by Equestrian Surfaces Ltd.  See www.britishopenshowjumping.com for more details and online booking or call the Box Office on 0114 256 56 56.

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New Linings Manager joins Owen Brown
 

Derby based GL events Owen Brown are pleased to welcome Rob Mackay to their team as their newly appointed Linings Manager.

A leading supplier in marquees and temporary storage structures, Owen Brown were established in 1913 and are now a division of GL events, the leading global event services company, based in France.

Rob joins the team from Witney UK Ltd and prior to this worked for Business Pursuits Ltd, these two positions have left him with an extensive knowledge within the events industry as a supplier and an organiser.

Rob brings with him exceptional skill and knowledge in the creation of bespoke linings, and over the previous few years has created individual linings within structures used at some of the industry’s most elite events including the Chelsea Royal Hospital Garden’s Summer and Christmas Parties, work with Strata Communications and he was even responsible for the linings within the structure used to host the 2003 CEA Awards. 

Tim Hall, Operations Director at Owen Brown commented “Rob has a great knowledge of the industry and made an outstanding contribution with his previous company.  We are really pleased to welcome him to our existing team of our highly skilled Operations staff.  We are also especially pleased to be able to now offer the creation of original lining solutions in-house, creating further added value for our clients”

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GL events Owen Brown Win Three Year Twickenham Contract

GL events Owen Brown has been awarded a three-year contract by Twickenham Experience Limited, to provide temporary hospitality structures for rugby events for the next three seasons. 

The contract includes the supply of double-decker structures, measuring over 4000 m², providing 8000 square metres of usable space, making the best use of the ground available.  The structures will be fully glazed to optimise light and views of the stadium, and will accommodate up to 3,500 guests at any given match.

Mike Potter, Managing Director for Twickenham Experience Limited said: “We are pleased that our long standing relationship with GL events Owen Brown is set to continue throughout the next three seasons.   They are highly experienced in the sports events industry, and we are impressed by their consistent quality of service.”

The contract win follows the successful provision of structures to Twickenham dating back to 1987, when Owen Brown was originally contracted to provide chalets for 900 guests on the Front Lawns.  At that time the contract was with the caterer Payne and Gunter.

GL events Owen Brown also supply all tentage to the three Rugby Football Union licensed sites at Twickenham.  April Trasler, Sales Director at Owen Brown said; “We are delighted to be providing facilities for all the Official Hospitality sites at Twickenham and continuing our long established relationship with the game of rugby”.

GL events Owen Brown moves south

GL events OWEN BROWN, the Midlands based tent and temporary structure hire company now part of the French event services group GL events, has this week completed the purchase of a well-known tent and marquee hire company in Guildford.

Alfred Bull has been hiring marquees in the Guildford and London areas for more than 100 years - in fact, slightly longer than Owen Brown. Andrew Dorrington the Managing Director of GL events OWEN BROWN is delighted.

He said "For some time we have been on the lookout for a company based in this area, both to help us service our existing clients at venues like Ascot, Twickenham and Battersea Park, and also to provide us with a base in the South East with very experienced staff as well as storage facilities."

All Alfred Bull's site and office staff will be staying with the company, including Alison Ottaway, the General Manager, who has been with the company for 14 years.

Andrew added "This business, like many others, is all about people and we feel this move can only be good news for the customers of Alfred Bull and GL events OWEN BROWN."

England rugby team celebrate in magical Christmas Marquee


Fresh from their victories down-under, the England rugby team are set to bring the capital to a stand still when they tour the city in an open topped bus on the 8th December.

The highlight of this victory parade will be a visit to Number 10, Downing Street, where Tony Blair will congratulate the conquering heroes, before moving onto the evening celebrations at the Battersea Park Christmas marquee.

Here, the team will be greeted by 1,700 adoring fans who purchased a ticket for this sell out, historic evening. This will be the 1st and largest of the team’s celebratory events, and such was the demand for tickets that a second evening will be held two days later, also at the Battersea Christmas Marquee. These two high profile events, which have attracted considerable media interest, also coincide with the launch of Lawrence Dallaglio’s Testimonial Year. Veteran commentator, John Inverdale, will host both evenings.

The Battersea Park venue is owned by the Christmas Company, who are well known for their string of spectacularly themed Christmas marquees. The dramatic new glass atrium of the company’s Battersea site has no doubt added to the appeal of the venue, which has already played host to the Harrods Christmas party as well as to VNU Publication’s Christmas events.

Elsewhere across the country, the doors will be opening at the Christmas Company’s other sites of Bracknell, St Albans, Milton Keynes, Nottingham and Leicester.


GL Events Owen Brown are supplying the structures that will be transformed inside with stunning interior theming to reflect a host of exotic worldwide locations. Guests at the Nottingham venue will enter a winter wonderland with the theme ‘Soiree to Siberia’, complete with Cossack dancers and vodka bar. Meanwhile in Bracknell, the ‘Red Hot in Rio’ carnival theme will feature a 10ft high volcano, samba drummers and dazzling pyrotechnics. Meanwhile, back at Battersea, the ‘One night in Bangkok’ theme is bound to help the England team celebrate in style!

The six venues, including Battersea, total an area of 21,485m² and use Owen Brown’s premier pavilion structures. For this season, The Christmas Company has total bookings for 117,000 guests - a rise of 17% on last year’s figures.

A new image for Owen Brown and Snowdens

Leading marquee and temporary structure specialist Owen Brown and sister company Snowdens, a leading name in the marquee sector, have revealed an exciting new corporate identity, portraying a much more dynamic and contemporary image for the two companies.

The new look is part of a much broader initiative by French parent company, formerly Generalé Location and now simply known as GL Events. Henceforth Owen Brown will be known as GL Events Owen Brown, whilst Snowdens will be GL Events Snowdens.

GL Events is a leading international event services company with offices across the World. They are able to offer every facet of event related service to all major events worldwide. Owen Brown and Snowdens have been part of this global network for the last two years and have now decided to update their identity in line with GL.

Andrew Dorrington, Managing Director of Owen Brown and Snowdens is delighted with the new look: "As a market leader in our industry, we are determined to uphold our reputation for providing a quality of service that is second to none. Branding is important in any industry, and our new look gives our two companies are more modern image, but our people, our principles and our passion for providing the very best will remain unaltered."

The new corporate identity takes effect from 10th November, with gradual changes to vehicle livery, website updates and other rebranding to follow in the New Year.

The centre of attention

Combining exceptional artistic talent and a number of innovative features, The Frieze Art Fair, London's first international contemporary fair launches on 17th October until 20th October.

The fair will be located in Regent's Park, housed in two temporary structure pavilions supplied by Owen Brown, complete with restaurants, cloakrooms and a VIP area. The 40m structures will be linked together to create a 10,800sq.m space, incorporating a design by award-winning architect David Adjaye.

Matthew Slotover, Director of Freize Events Ltd mentions, "London will be an essential stopping point that month for anyone with a serious interest in contemporary art".

Visitors to the art fair can enjoy daily talks, exhibits by the most dynamic generation of younger artists for the first time while also presenting established favourites such as Damien Hirst and Robert Gober.

England team flex their muscles in run up to world cup

Currently ranked as World Number 1 (Zurich world rankings) and riding high on their impressive string of victories Down Under earlier in the year, the England rugby union team are currently training hard in preparation for the Rugby World Cup in Australia.

The Penny Hill Park Hotel in Surrey is the venue for the team's gruelling training schedule, with much of the activity taking place in a specially constructed temporary facility provided by Owen Brown Ltd, housing the team's gym.

The 5000 sq ft temporary gym houses the specialised equipment required to keep the players at the peak of physical fitness. The facility has been in place since July and will be in use until the team departs for Perth for their first match against Georgia on the 12th October.

The structure is sited on a concrete base in the hotel's grounds, which had to be specially constructed for Owen Brown for the purpose. Along with this temporary facility, the hotel itself has also recently invested in a new rugby pitch, to ensure that the England team has the best possible training venue.

Owen Brown Ltd, specialists in providing temporary structures for the sporting sector, have a long association with rugby, providing structures for the last RWC,

held in the UK in 1999, and working closely with Twickenham providing hospitality pavilions at the stadium for over 20 years.

Owen Brown' s sponsored player, Lewis Moody, is also 1 of 9 Leicester Tigers players currently in training at Penny Hill Park. Lewis joins the sessions following a shoulder injury sustained last autumn, but has now returned to fitness and has been selected for the England World Cup Squad.

Medieval Marquee Hire!

Our crews really do get to work on some interesting and historic sites. Pure coincidence meant that during the same week in May, 2 crews from Owen Brown and Snowdens respectively were busy installing large temporary structures at historic castles 140 miles apart!Warwick Castle, which stands on the site first fortified by William the Conqueror in 1068, was the home of the Earls of Warwick. In 1978 the castle was acquired by the Tussands Group and is now a major tourist attraction, staging many varied events throughout the year. In this case Snowdens Marquees installed a 12,500sq ft showspan structure for a food festival.Meanwhile Arundel Castle in Sussex, famous for its magnificent collection of paintings, furniture, clocks and sculptures was the perfect setting for the first 'Antiques and Audacity' Exhibition. The Owen Brown crew erected 25,000 sq ft of Premier Pavilions on a complicated scaffold platform used to first level a very difficult site.Two very sensitive sites where access was a major problem. Both jobs finished on time and two very satisfied customers!

Top Marks For Owen Brown!

When the Head Mistress of Leaden Hall School visited London Fashion Week, it wasn't just the fashions that caught her eye. Mrs Diana Watkins was also very impressed with the range of temporary structures provided by Owen Brown at the event, and immediately saw a solution to one of the biggest challenges facing the school in its 50 year history.

Leaden Hall is a beautiful listed building located within the heart of Salisbury. After long service as a girls' preparatory school, the decision had been taken to invest in a major building programme to upgrade the school's facilities. An ambitious programme involving rebuilding almost half of the school was planned, with only one problem: how to continue to teach the school's 260 pupils with the minimum disruption whilst the work was undertaken.

The answer was provided by Owen Brown in the form of a 12m by 30m² pavilion, divided into 10 temporary classrooms. Great care was taken in ensuring that sufficient light was provided in each room, with the extensive use of glazing panels to the structure. Safety was also of primary importance, and so Owen Brown included non-slip ramps, purpose built pathways and hand rails on access routes to the new classrooms.

The site itself presented its own challenges for the Owen Brown team! The structure had to be erected within the confines of a walled garden, completely enclosed by a 6 ft wall and with only limited access through a small doorway. The crew unloaded the kit on the one-way street outside the school and carried the kit through the door, literally piece by piece!

Their dedication clearly paid off, with staff at Leaden Hall delighted with the job. "We were very happy with the service and thrilled with the space", explained Mrs Watkins.

Owen Brown - Part Of The Show At London's Fashionable New Museum

The Fashion glitterati were out in force to attend the glamorous opening event at the Fashion and Textile Museum, London's newest museum that opened its doors to the public earlier this month.

VIP guests from the world of fashion included Julien Macdonald, John Rocha, Betty Jackson and Yohji Yamamoto, who enjoyed a preview tour of the museum's opening exhibition in the company of Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent, the museum's Patron. The tour was followed by a lavish party attended by over 700 guests and staged in a venue provided by marquee specialists Owen Brown.

"My Favourite Dress" showcases the personal favourite dresses of 70 of the worlds' most respected designers, including household names such as Vivienne Westwood, Zandra Rhodes and John Galliano.

The specially constructed venue consisted of a 12m by 30m pavilion, complete with catering area and cloakroom. Owen Brown overcame the difficulties posed by very tight access to the site by unloading much of the kit in the road outside the museum! Zandra Rhodes, leading fashion designer and Founder of the museum, was most impressed with the unique venue that the pavilion created, commenting, "The tent you erected for us was a palace with a magic pointed pagoda entrance. It made the Grand Opening extra special and memorable to everyone that came. Your marquee was voted the key attraction to the whole evening."

Owen Brown is also a corporate benefactor of the new museum and has worked with the fashion industry for many years, having been involved in London Fashion Week since the mid 1980s. Owen Brown's structures have also housed events for fashion retailers such as Next and Asda's "George" brand.

" A million thankyous for your fantastic contribution in making the opening of the Fashion and Textile Museum the incredible event of the season. Everyone is still talking about the party in the beautiful marquee."Zandra Rhodes

Fully booked!
The recent Heineken Cup quarter final clash between Leicester Tigers and Munster gave directors and staff at Welford Road some major headaches.

Tigers were determined to make the very best of their home advantage and not move the game away from Welford Road. Add to this the 4000 seats which had to be made available to the fanatical Munster supporters, it was a case of a 'quart into a pint pot'.

Extra space was needed and this is where Owen Brown were called in to help. A large extra grandstand had to be temporarily installed at the Aylestone Road end of the ground blocking access to the club shop, so we built them another one, bigger fully glazed and carpeted, so good, the shop staff thought they'd like to keep it!

Extra hospitality tentage was also installed on the car park to cater for 450 guests and a large bar facility specially for the extra Guinness sales!

Commonwealth Games Is Well Covered

THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2002 took place from July 25th to August 4th and was the largest multi-sport event ever to be held in the UK. A total of 5,250 athletes and team officials took part in 14 individual sports and 3 team sports. We were contracted to supply a turnkey service, including design, tight budget control, delivery, installation, hire, maintenance and removal of all types of temporary structures. The complex planning of the Games meant that our structures were erected on thirteen different venues in and around Manchester. One of the reasons we won the contract was our ability to supply all requirements from structures to toilets!

INTERESTING KEY FACTS

We supplied...

233 Individual Temporary Structures covering 40,000 Square Metres of Space -

Which Arrived In...
118 Lorry Loads of Equipment from the UK and Europe weighing in excess of 5,000 tonnes -

Which Took...
Our Crews 15,000 Man Hours to Erect and De-rig while they were on site for a total of 12 Weeks. Due to tight security, "Lock-down" at two key venues was not only during the event but also two weeks prior to Opening. This meant every single item and all site personnel had to be security scanned which was tremendously labour intensive.

"The event received accolades from around the world. This success would not have been possible without your assistance and dedication to the project. We would especially like to thank yourself and Darren for all your efforts in planning and managing what was an extremely demanding and challenging project."
Ian Turton, Head of Venue Services.