The centre of London was the spectacular focal point of historic celebrations commemorating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, June 4th and 5th, with Showsec looking after the union jack waving crowds.
Brand and event management agency innovision, working on behalf of The Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), The Royal Parks and The Greater London Authority (GLA), engaged Showsec to deliver the crowd management strategy. With different agencies covering different areas; Showsec covered Pall Mall, The Mall, St James’s Park, The South walking route, The North walking route, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Station, St James’s Park Station and Victoria Station.
Planning began in March, which given the complexity of the events, the site topography and contingencies to be considered, meant a relatively short lead time for concentrated deliberations and decision making between the multiple stakeholders. These included DCMS, Westminster City Council, The Metropolitan Police, The Royal Parks, Transport for London and The Greater London Authority.
Showsec dedicated an experienced team to the project, Steve Reynolds was head of stewarding, Dayo Adelugba deputy manager, Graham Herbert, Alan Wallace, Tracey McCarthy, Mark Wilcock, Michael Asimonye, Ieuan Fury, Paul Legge were sector managers, with Roy Wise, Julie Wallace and Louise Stockden based in the Police Special Operations Room (SOR), Event Liaison Team (ELT) and Control Room respectively.
Leading up to the event the company’s e-learning platform proved an effective method of delivering the event briefing to staff across Showsec’s network of nationwide offices. But it was from the ELT Control Room during the event that the vital communications and coordination came for the seven hundred event security professionals.
Managing the routes in and out of the site, they ensured the safety and enjoyment of the quarter of a million visitors gathered on The Mall & St James’s Park screen activations for the BBC Concert on a sunny Monday afternoon/evening. With a brief rest-bite, the teams were back in position on a cold rainy Tuesday morning to manage the crowds’ arrival, through the Ceremonial Procession and the egress from the Mall following the event.
Steve Reynolds says:
“I’m delighted at the positive feedback we’ve received about the manner in which Showsec staff have undertaken their roles as part of this multi-agency high profile security operation. We’ve enjoyed great support from our client, the Metropolitan Police and other stakeholders to help us build our knowledge to properly fulfil our roles.”
Andrew Douglass, Chief Executive, innovision said: “This was an incredibly complex and challenging series of events, with great emphasis and responsibility placed on the crowd management strategy, quality of the stewarding and the ability to respond to an ever changing scope of works across a huge Central London footprint. The Showsec team were absolutely magnificent throughout, not only implementing a highly focussed and professional operation, but also demonstrating great flexibility and responsiveness. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Weekend was a physically and mentally demanding stewarding operation, which Steve and his Showsec team delivered seamlessly.”
Contact
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