Showsec helped to ensure that it was ‘plain sailing’ for Liverpool City Council when they wrote their name into the record books in some style to crown landmark celebrations of the maritime heritage on Merseyside.
The crowd management and event security specialists have received recognition for their part in making Transatlantic 175 a “tremendous success” after more than 250,000 people attended a weekend of festivities.
One of the most challenging aspects of Showsec’s involvement in the two-day event was assisting with the logistics of a successful world record attempt by the waterfront for the most people to take part on a giant catwalk.
“It has been a huge team effort all round and I would like to thank all the different teams and partners who have made this achievement possible,” commented Liverpool’s Assistant Mayor Councillor Wendy Simon.
“We’re so proud to have broken this Guinness World Record. It’s the icing on the cake and a fitting end to a fantastic summer of events.”
More than 3,500 people made it on to the giant catwalk on the Saturday evening, one of a number of celebration events on the Albert Dock, Mann Island, Pier Head and surrounding areas associated with Liverpool’s maritime industry.
The world record attempt took place in the lead-up to the departure of Cunard’s Queen Mary II from Merseyside to Manhattan to celebrate 175 years since the first transatlantic crossing was made by cruise passenger travel.
Other highlights included a Transatlantic Food Festival at Mann Island, a vintage car cavalcade and a fly past by the Red Arrows.
While it was a landmark occasion for the city, Area Manager Tim Chambers revealed that it was a momentous time for Showsec too.
“This prestigious event presented us with a welcome opportunity to work with Liverpool City Council on what we hope will be the first of many occasions following our success with the tendering process,” explained Chambers.
“On top of that, the scale of the celebrations also meant that this was our biggest local event since the Company established an Area Office in Liverpool, so all in all, this could be regarded as a significant step forwards for us.”
He added: “This was one of three big events for the Company nationally over that weekend with Wireless Festival in London and the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, but we were able to draw on support from other Area Offices.
“The most challenging aspect of the operation was indeed the world record attempt because it involved the movement of so many people from different parts of the local community on and off the catwalk in a relatively short space of time.
“This was to ensure they hit their target, but they actually beat the previous record of 3,500 by some distance in the end, reaching 3,651.
“The fact that they achieved that aim was the crowning glory to a fantastic weekend and contributing to its success in the way that we did will hopefully augur well for the future in terms of further working opportunities.”
Chambers was supported by Operations Executive Pete Stanton and Des Clarke from Liverpool, as well as two more, Jonathan McDwyer and Tom Rigby, from the Manchester office for the Transatlantic 175 operation.
