Established by Sadler’s Wells in 2004, Breakin’ Convention hosts performances by the best hip hop dance companies from the UK and across the world, as well as films, workshops, DJ demos, graffiti demos and many other interactive events.

The May Day bank holiday weekend saw 5000 eager members of the public - from toddlers to grandfathers - keen to be a part of Breakin’ Convention 2009. And with such a wide demographic, AP Security’s firm but friendly and fair policy ensured that everybody had an enjoyable and safe time.

“Breakin' Convention is very different to what we normally do,” says Steve Hyde, Sadler’s Wells Operations Director. “There are lots of different areas of the building being used, the seating in the main auditorium is unrestricted and it’s a different, much more varied kind of audience to those who normally attend our performances.

“Operationally-speaking, it’s very much out of the norm for us, so we have to manage it differently. The team that run this event do other hip hop events and they suggested bringing in APSecurity because of the work they do at the Brixton Academy.”

This was AP’s first year at Breakin’ Convention and showing a friendly face was essential for the festival’s audience.

“Our brief to AP was that it’s a very family-orientated event with a reputation for being trouble-free, so we wanted them to be very low-key and approachable,” says Steve. “Our initial meetings with them showed that they are very good communicators - they had some good ideas, but they were also happy to listen to us and the organising team. They understood our requirements very quickly, they were very attentive and showed great attention to detail.”

Under AP Senior Operations Manager Freddie Botha, the company deployed just over 20 staff. Importantly, the same members of staff were present for every day of the event, helping to build familiarity for the many people who attended on more than one day.

“Our roles were principally to direct people, to keep stairways clear, make everywhere accessible, ensure that seating people for the performances went smoothly, ensure people were in the right queues and to answer any questions they had,” says Freddie.

“At the back of the theatre the road isn’t particularly wide, so safety was an issue there, while at the front we were ensuring the queues didn’t spill all across the pavement.

“The most important thing was the friendly face - greeting people with a smile, interacting with the youngsters and organising people, where necessary, in a low-key way.”

The relationship between AP and Sadler’s Wells was very proactive throughout the event, which went an enormous way to making Breakin’ Convention 2009 a major success.

“The team at Sadler’s Wells were fantastic,” says Freddie. “Duty Manager Linda Nichol was on the front door with our staff and that access to a senior person was incredibly useful.

“It made the whole operation run smoothly, because we could always get an answer to any question in a matter of seconds - anything from how many spare seats there were for a performance to getting a spare chair for an elderly or disabled person. It was a very productive relationship throughout.”

“It was a very enjoyable, very successful event and AP did an excellent job,” says Steve Hyde. “We were very happy with them, the whole team here is very pleased about how it went. AP deserves a lot of credit.”