Hacienda Classical and A-Wing Promoters lit up the skies around Lancaster in May. The event followed the Hacienda Classical in Manchester in February and March. Some 2900 people attended the event, at Lancaster’s Williamson Park, and the guarding company FGH Security deployed over 40 staff for the build and break and the event itself to ensure that revellers could enjoy the songs such as New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ and Rowetta’s rendition of ‘You’ve Got the Love’, and spectacle, safely.
The park above the county town provided the backdrop for the strings of the Manchester Camerata Orchestra and the synths of Hacienda legendary DJs Graeme Park and Mike Pickering. The site itself, 54 acres of woodland and landscaped open spaces topped by the early 20th century Ashton Memorial, pictured, required regular perimeter patrols alongside the entrance security checks, static security positions and response requirements that would normally be expected of such an event.
Amy Stanley, the Operations Supervisor responsible for the running of the event described the evening as a learning curve. The fact that Williamson Park has never seen anything of its like before was challenging admits Amy; ‘but despite this from a security perspective the evening went smoothly. The most important thing is that customers and staff enjoyed the evening and we got some really positive feedback from event organisers.’
Meanwhile FGH has recently completed its 2016 SIA ACS audit, by the National Security Inspectorate (NSI).
The firm achieved a score of 166, a 2-point increase on last year’s score of 164. Such an increase may seem negligible but as the maximum points available are 174, every additional audit point involves an investment of hundreds of man hours and watertight quality management, the firm says. Peter Harrison, Managing Director, says: “In the UK only 40 companies score 150 and above. As such we estimate that our score of 166 places us within the top ten of the UK’s estimated 2000 manned security companies.”
