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Rigging / Staging

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As Star Hire (Event Services) Limited celebrates its 25th Anniversary, the staging and engineering support company is expanding to accommodate a full events diary for 2002.

Recent projects, which included supplying stages for numerous New Year’s Eve celebrations across the country, several media company shows and major international events, have led the company to expand its business. "We have experienced an ever-increasing demand for our specialized engineering and staging expertise from music promoters, media companies and event management companies," said technical director, Roger Barrett. "I am delighted that as events in general have become more professional with regards to safety and quality, the depth of skills and knowledge throughout the team at Star Hire is standing us in good stead."

As the summer approaches, Star Hire’s itinerary already in

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New features of the latest version of the rental management software package include a whole set of new clear icons, built-in support for backup and restore of data and reports, saving of the last used sort-order and sorted column in all List-tabs and Finder-windows, a new facility for multiple contacts per company, default country and telephone settings and much more.

For a full run-down of all the latest features from RMS22, visit the company website at the address below.

(Lee Baldock)

HOF - Banner - Oct 2025

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Blackout Triple E recently supplied two striking theatrical backdrops for the St. James’s Place Group’s one day annual company meeting held at The Royal Albert Hall. Attended by nearly 2,500 employees, the event successfully fused the annual meeting with St. James’s Place’ tenth anniversary celebrations.

Blackout Triple E’s creative team worked closely with the show producers Creating Sunshine, to realize the creative effect of the complex stage design. A stunning 16 x 6 metre fine grey gauze drape was custom designed, manufactured and hand painted at Blackout’s South London facility, to work as a semi-opaque screen in the foreground. This also provided a canvas onto which a light show, designed by Quentin Jarman, was projected from both sides. In addition Blackout supplied 30 metres of starcloth as the backdrop to achieve a galaxy-like effect.

(R

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Show Presentation Services has appointed Tim Brewster as its new head of scenic construction, following a review of operations taken in January this year. Brewster joins SPS after working with Set and Stage for three years as a project manager, following 11 years as construction director for Lewis Productions. During his career, Brewster has worked on staging and sets for a huge variety of shows from the Conservative Party Conference and trade union events to exhibitions in Azerbaijan.

He first became interested in set design and construction after building Doctor Who sets, amongst others, for the BBC following a five year apprenticeship as a pattern maker for British Aerospace. "This is a challenging role," said Brewster. "My focus is to integrate our scenic business fully into the rest of the company and to raise the department profile both internally and externally.

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Marking 10 years of in-depth industry training courses, another successful Hoist and Rigging Workshop was recently hosted by Tomcat USA in Midland, Texas. Leading instructors were joined by nearly 50 industry professional participants from all over the United States and Mexico.

Instructor, Don Dimitroff from Columbus McKinnon, as well as Tomcat’s own Dave Beard, worked participants through the Lodestar electric chain hoist. Rocky Paulson of Stage Rigging and Morgan Neff of Mine Safety Appliances stressed safety in rigging techniques and fall protection equipment while Keith Bohn, Tomcat design manager, wrapped up with truss theory and design. Participants were treated to not only four days of informative classes, but also four nights of fun and the traditional factory night at Tomcat USA with extensive tours, demonstrations, contests and a graduation ceremony.

(Ruth Rossington)

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A new face on the international trade show circuit is Le Mark's Rebecca Lace. She has joined the company as project manager with the task of expanding sales and the product profile of Le Mark’s reusable PAL Roadcase Label and accessory range within the US. One of Rebecca’s first outings came at the recent NAMM show held at the Anaheim (Los Angeles) Convention Centre in January, where Le Mark shared a stand with Penn Fabrication.

Penn has developed a unique range of steel dishes for Le Mark's label range. The dish can be specified by clients and can be built in as original equipment for all new roadcases. It is available on a worldwide basis through Penn and its extensive Dealer network.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Vertigo Rigging - specialist in the art of events and entertainment rigging – has now completed on its new, larger, high-tech premises in Deptford, London. Sited between Surrey Quays and Greenwich, Deptford is ideal for accessing central London and the West End. The premises consist of 14,500sq.ft of purpose-built warehousing. Vertigo has specially designed offices for project management and administration, and staff amenities have been given a priority, to account for the ever-increasing requirement for the provision of out-of-hours rigging services.

Vertigo Rigging director Rebecca Loughran is delighted with the new premises, and comments: "We now have the capacity to expand our equipment inventory and hold the largest stock of quality truss, motors and associated rigging in the UK. This will allow us to offer clients more choice and flexibility in the world of increasingl

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Stagetec is supplying a custom-built show relay and paging system for the prestigious new state-of-the-art Laban contemporary dance centre on Deptford Creek. The £22 million project is due for completion in autumn this year, and will be the largest purpose-built contemporary dance centre in the world. The huge 7,800sq.m building, designed by architects Herzog & de Meuron, includes 12 dance studios and a 300-seat theatre. There’s also a community studio/meeting room for local schools and community groups - a media information resource centre, 100-seat lecture theatre, café and public gardens.

The project specification was put together by theatre consultants Carr & Angier, with whom Stagetec have worked on numerous other projects around the country. For Stagetec, the Laban project involves the supply and installation of the equipment, plus the design of the system and project man

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Built in 1805 as stables for the Prince of Wales, the Brighton Dome has since established itself, in conjunction with the Corn Exchange and the Pavilion Theatre, as one of the country’s leading music venues. But for the last three years it has been in the dark, during which time it has been entirely gutted, undergone a £22m refurbishment programme. The refurbishment has equipped the venue with an adjustable stage area, increased storage space, improved front of house facilities, additional seating and a state-of-the-art acoustic system, together with four different sets of lighting and sound.

Technical Planning International, the consultants responsible for the stage engineering during the refurbishment, commissioned Centre Stage Engineering and Delstar Engineering to handle the overstage and understage developments respectively. Motion control specialist AVW Controls was sub-co

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Star Hire (Event Services) Ltd has been awarded the contract to provide all of the technical facilities for the evening celebrations throughout the Queen’s Jubilee Baton Relay. The Baton Relay is scheduled to visit 500 towns in 50 days with the last town on each day hosting an evening celebration; culminating in the final show being the opening ceremony of the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.

Having been selected from 23 competing tenders, Star Hire has been contracted to provide their Mobile 11-09 StarStage along with video screen, sound, lights and power. They will also be responsible for the design, manufacture and fitting of all branded imagery on the stage and all the associated vehicles. "The logistics of setting up 50 events consecutively is challenging but not unfamiliar territory," said Star Hire’s technical director Roger Barrett. "The combinatio

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The newest property in Las Vegas, the Palms Hotel and Casino, celebrated its grand opening 15 November 2001. The 265 million dollar property with 447 rooms in the 42-story hotel tower is also home to one of the hottest new nightclubs: Rain in the Desert. This multi-level nightclub/concert venue consists of an array of special effects and custom equipment made possible in part by Tomcat USA and Kelly Communications. From the private booths with water sofas and skyboxes with private balconies to the lagoon-shaped dancefloor, Rain has been a big hit with locals and tourists alike. Lavish special effects throughout the club include intelligent lighting and an amazing play of water, fog and pyrotechnics. A state-of-the-art lighting rig contains a computerized intelligent lighting system, as well as the means to create effects like fog, haze, 16ft fire plumes and 3ft fireballs. Above the dance

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Autograph Sales Ltd, the European distributor for ATM Fly-Ware, has had an active few months supplying loudspeaker flying hardware systems across the continent, to rental companies as well as a selection of loudspeaker manufacturers. Show Presentation Services in the UK, and Letusa in Spain are eminent rental companies in their own field and devoted ATM Fly-Ware users. Both companies have recently purchased product from the highly-acclaimed MEGS series of loudspeaker flying hardware. The MEGS series is ATM's answer to a standard side-mounted loudspeaker flying system. It is ideally suited for large-sized loudspeakers and clusters, but works equally well in smaller applications.

Wema Elektronik, Kling & Freitag, Fohhn Audio and GAE are all European loudspeaker manufacturers who have also purchased product from the MEGS series. Mackie, who now manufacture EAW loudspeakers, have been purc

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Kent College, Pembury, is the latest in a long line of educational establishments to recognise the potential of Maltbury's Metrodeck, having recently bought 68 units of the versatile staging system towards the conversion of the main hall into a £1m state-of-the-art theatre facility intended for use by Kent College and the local community. Working closely with Philip Sparkes, managing director of Maltbury, was Chris Hinks, bursar of Kent College. According to Hinks, the decision to use Maltbury staging was based on a number of factors: "I have read several articles about the company and its various installations and I know that it has an excellent reputation for top quality service and products. Having used Maltbury before, I am aware of the wide range of staging systems it has, which meant it was able to offer me a bespoke solution to my brief."

For the multi-purpose complex

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Edwin Shirley Staging (ESS) rounded off the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in a mood not dissimilar to the British Women's Curling team, jubilant. Working with Imagination's New York office ESS produced the Olympic Rendezvous @ Samsung pavilion for one of the Games' main sponsors, Samsung. The two-storey pavilion was created for the Olympic Square site in Salt Lake City for Samsung to use as an Olympic HQ. The building included a visitor experience dedicated to Samsung's products and it also provided recreational facilities for athletes and the public. Imagination estimated 8,500 visitors per day used the facility during the Games and subsequently declared the project a success.

ESS worked closely with Imagination's design team to make the building an integral part of the experience. Both companies have received praise from visitors, members of the Salt Lake City Olympic Organising Com

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Alun Edwards has been promoted to take over the responsibility for sales in all areas of TeleStage’s sales activities. The move is part of the continued strategy within the company, which specializes in theatre engineering and control systems, to improve its service and response to clients in all areas of its business. Edwards will be responsible for sales activities at home and overseas, and will work closely with TeleStage's parent company Waagner Biro Buhnentechnik to secure major projects worldwide.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Following increased demand for its rental products in and around the capital, trussing and staging specialist Litestructures has opened a new hire operation based in Wanstead, East London. Strategically positioned close to the City and the newer docklands venues of Excel and the Arena, the location also allows easy access to the north circular and M25, offering excellent links to the wider region.

The operation is being fronted by Emma Church, who re-joins the company after a two year break, and who has a wealth of product knowledge gained from the three years she spent working at Litestructures’ head office in Wakefield.

The key products available for hire include the Astralite Original 3 truss range, the Litedeck stage units/system and the Litedeck rolling risers, which are proving increasingly popular thanks to the fact that they greatly reduce set-up times at gigs where se

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Sheffield company Gripple Ltd expanded both its productivity and its workforce earlier this month when new recruit Chris Middleton came on board as divisional director. The company has recently split into two divisions - agriculture and industry - to cope with increasing demand for Gripple goods. The new role means Chris is responsible for industrial operations, heading up the management and sales of product group Gripple Hang-Fast.

Previously employed as managing director of Rotherham-based Brooke Tools, Middleton brings to Gripple a vast and varied knowledge of the industrial market. He will focus on driving the industrial business into previously untapped sales sectors, maximizing opportunities for the Hang-Fast range.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Maltbury has unveiled Metrodeck Ultra, its new lightweight modular staging system. The Ultra is based on Maltbury’s popular mid-weight staging system, Metrodeck, with which it is also fully compatible. The lightest and simplest to assemble of all the Maltbury systems, Metrodeck Ultra is particularly suitable for use by schools, hire companies and in the conference and exhibitions industry.

Weighing a mere 10kg for a 1x1m unit, Metrodeck Ultra consists of a lightweight top, constructed from a speciality ply sandwich board with a foam filling, and a durable aluminium frame. For construction, Velcro straps are used to connect adjacent units, with smaller straps joining the decks and larger ones securing leg to leg connections. In addition, eliminating the need for a spanner, T-bars can be used to secure, by hand, the legs of individual modules. With detachable alloy legs of varying

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The 17th National Heritage Festival at al-Janadriyah (situated just outside Riyadh in Saudi Arabia) was the most successful yet. The cream of British production and design talent ensured that the creative elements of this year’s specially commissioned opera provided an unforgettable wow factor for the 1,000 assembled VIPs from across the Middle East, as the nine scenes of the pageant blended together to form an hour-long spectacular.

Organized by the Kingdom of Saudi, this is one of the most important annual cultural festivals in the Arab calendar. The festival has become a crossroads where poetry, intellect, culture, art, theatre, heritage and history meet, and is a fitting tribute to King Fahd of Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Abdullah.

The lynchpin this year was the partnership forged by Najdat Anzour, one of the most eminent and creative producer/directors in the Middle East

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Star Hire (Event Services) has added a new safety feature to its award-winning VerTech staging system. From now on all of the company’s 20m span and 25m span roofs will be fitted as standard with fall-arrest safety nets.

The new net system is a result of the experience gained on Star Rigging’s successful installation of similar permanent nets on the grid at Wembley Arena. These nets are the preferred choice of the HSE, as a net installation is the only ‘passive’ system that does not require a positive action by workers to remain safe, and the nets also allow for self-rescue in the event of a fall.

The nets meet all relevant British Standards, being fully fire retardant, with a mesh size suitable to pass chain hooks through. Satisfactory installation at each event will be an additional item added to Star Hire’s inspection and hand-over documentation and t

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Following the successful launch of the Dynaglide winches in December, Hall Stage has launched a new range of Grid and General Purpose Pulleys. With safe working loads of up to 500kg, the Dynaline pulleys use a new composite, lubricated nylon sheave design and profile. The range features three diameters - 100mm, 150mm and 200mm - suitable for most stage applications and operations.

All units have shielded ball bearing sets for silent running and the new design allows a customer or specifier to pick any sheave combination with any fixing option. The Dynaline range is available from stock in any of the three sizes, with a safe working load of up to 500kg in the 200mm units - with any sheave/fittings combination.

(Ruth Rossington)

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Trussing manufacturer Slick, part of the Outback Group, has launched a new website at www.trussing.com - featuring full details of the company’s recently-increased product lines. To aid customer service, the new website also includes a ringback facility, which enables customers to receive a telephone call from a member of the Slick team while they browse the site online.

Slick has also recently introduced a brand new catalogue, in which the updated product ranges are divided for the first time into Architectural and Professional ranges - the former for architectural, retail and display applications and the latter for touring and heavier duty exhibition applications.

(Lee Baldock)

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PCM is planning to host the first Advanced CM Lodestar Motor Course. This will run on 29 and 30 May at PCM’s HQ in Prenton, Wirral. The Advanced course will be preceded by a standard Motor School, run on 27 and 28 May.

PCM’s John Jones explained the background to the decision: "Whilst everyone benefits from the standard school, some clients who work on motors as their main job, need extra information and guidance in repair procedures and the more advanced principles." The Advanced school is open to anyone who has attended a standard PCM Motor School, and is free of charge. However, for practical reasons, it is restricted to 15 participants to give each individual the chance to work on their own hoists.

This course will be the first advanced Motor School held anywhere in the world. It’s specially designed to offer more comprehensive instruction and experie

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S Club 7 have recently completed a UK arena tour. Considering it’s only a matter of months since their last outing, it’s to the band’s credit that they decided to create a whole new image for this tour. The impressive set, designed by Hattie Spice (no relation to the Girls) and co-ordinated by Charlie Kail, included not only a series of lifts and moving elements, but a massive over-audience catwalk. To rig the show, rigging contractors Summit Steel used 220m of James Thomas trussing, along with 55 CM Lodestar hoists. These were used to provide backdrop, side screen, tracking screen and catwalk support trussing, as well as cable bridges and hoists used during daily fit-up for the scenic elements.

Total Fabrications Ltd were called in to manufacture the catwalk deck and handrail to fit the truss structure supplied by Summit Steel. "The catwalk was suspended using 2

  1. Summit Steel’s French connection
  2. Peter Hind joins Total Structures as VP Engineering
  3. A point of view from Edwin Shirley Staging
  4. Maltbury Steeldeck 7.5 at the Royal Opera House
  5. It’s cell cell cell with Milos
  6. Stage Electrics Wales off to a flying start
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