The first UK arena to open in 13 years, the First Direct Arena in Leeds has opened with shows by Elton John, Leonard Cohen and local heroes The Kaiser Chiefs. Showsec has been made sole event security company for the venue by SMG, including the Phones 4u Arena Manchester and Metro Radio Arena Newcastle. Since being awarded the contract in February, Showsec reports that preparation began with a recruitment drive from the event security and stewarding contactor’s Leeds office. It saw the numbers of staff double, from 300 to 600. The contract firm says that it focused on recruiting for some dedicated roles that required hospitality people from the hotels, sports and event sectors. Led by Showsec’s head of security for the first direct arena Richard Eliott, teams deployed in the venue across the opening concerts comprised of around 30 supervisors, more than 150 SIA licensed staff and 125 stewards. Pictured is Richard Eliott outside Leeds First Direct Arena.
The contractor reports that it provided new staff members with experience working in other arenas so that they could be mentored and appreciate what was expected. During a test event at the arena in July, Showsec were able to monitor crowd flow around the venue, and the practicality of best routes for getting people to their seats.
Before the venue’s opening, Showsec held a three hour venue familiarisation towards achieving most effective deployment of staff given the unique layout and design of the arena.
Alan Wallace, regional manager for the north office, said: “SMG has made a great transition into the First Direct Arena; they have transferred the best of their considerable experience into this venue while proactively encouraging new ideas. They have drawn on an excellent support network throughout the industry for many aspects of the arena. We have looked to be innovative in order to create the best possible operational systems in line with the design of the venue, such as the introduction of new technology. This has included the use of tablets for e-briefing supervisors prior to a show and to record any activity / incidents throughout an event, greatly improving the accuracy of the information over paper based recording.”
