AP SECURITY SAYS HOORAY FOR HENLEY
The Henley Festival is one of Britain’s more quirky summer events, with an eclectic musical programme ranging from jazz to classical and world music to pop – this year featured Katherine Jenkins, Fascinating Aida, Australian collective Kamerunga, impressionist Jan Ravens, comedian Arthur Smith, John Barrowman and, vocal quartet Cantabile amongst others - as well as art exhibitions, fine dining, spectacular fireworks and a variety of weird and wacky performers providing added entertainment throughout each evening.
Set on the banks of the Thames, on a site that spans a considerable length of prime Oxfordshire riverside and featuring a floating main stage, the Henley Festival runs for five days in July. With such a large site that is tricky to secure because of the public nature of the river’s towpath, and a discerning crowd, AP is mindful that this event requires a particular style of crowd safety management.
AP has been handling security at Henley for the past 12 years. Senior operations manager for this year’s event was Tommy Michalis, working alongside operations manager Sid Bradshaw looking after staff welfare, security supervisor Jackie Weller and a team of around 50.
“The festival attracts a very prestigious clientele,” says Tommy. “We are required to do meet and greets, check accreditation and make sure all members of the public who enter have the right attire on as this is a black tie event. We secure the whole site, making sure that venue capacities comply with regulations and that there is no illegal mooring by boats not associated with the festival.
“We also escort the principal artists from their dressing rooms to stage and back, as well as securing the site that the pyrotechnics are fired from on the opposite side of the river. There are sometimes issues with local residents objecting to their right of way being cut off, so we also have people to manage that situation.”
This year, there were some very expensive Salvador Dali exhibits on site, with the most expensive one worth just over one million pounds, so it was essential the team makes sure that everything was kept safe.
Days are long, as the site is secured 24 hours a day, and staff moral is important. The AP management team ensures that they are not only properly briefed, but are well fed and rested.
“If our staff are happy, they are able to provide a good service to our client,” smiles Sid. “We have a very experienced management team and a lot of the staff have been coming here for many years – this is my seventh year - but we also bring in a proportion of younger members of the team who haven’t done this kind of event before. It gives them experience of a different type of festival and gives them a different outlook on the job, bringing to the fore different skill sets, which is important.”
“We have a really good blend of highly experienced staff, mixing with good supervisors and young staff,” reiterates Tommy, “and we make a point of hand picking them.”
As with all events AP works at, pre planning plays a vital part in its success, with its National Business Development Manager, John Phillips meeting with the client and production team to look at elements such as stage movements as early as November and December of 2008.
“During the festival itself, AP is involved with the majority of people on site during the day,” continues Sid. “So we have heads of department meeting during the morning and impromptu meetings during the day to address specific situations.
“I enjoy being here. We have good relationships with all personnel on site. It’s important that we maintain a professional stance, but there are lighter moments and I think that’s important, as we’re here 24/7 for around 10 days.”
“This isn’t the biggest job we do,” concludes Tommy. “In terms of numbers of staff, jobs such as Glastonbury and the Isle of White Festival are much bigger, but it is certainly one of the most important and prestigious and we are proud to be a part of it.”
Tommy (left), Sid (right) and the AP team escort Rebecca Poole, John Barrowman and Sir Michael Parkinson to the stage
Henley’s floating stage
A warm welcome from AP for guests at the Festival entrance
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