Prima Protects Pitch For Inaugural Concerts At Leicester Tigers Stadium

16 August 2010 15.31 BST

Leicestershire-based flooring and access solutions specialists, Prima, provided premium pitch protection for the inaugural concerts at Welford Road Stadium, home of the Leicester Tigers rugby union team.

Following completion of the stadium’s new, 11,000 seat Caterpillar stand, Leicester Tigers commissioned Squareleg Entertainment to host two concerts, headlined by James Morrison and Will Young, with the main stage infrastructure situated on the pitch. As a local supplier, Prima was the instinctive choice to provide pitch protection for the stage and adjacent LED screens to be constructed on and the team installed over 1500m² of their award-winning Prima Terra-Tech instant roadway and Prima Gridmat pedestrian walkway.

Malcolm Spencer, event director, Squareleg Entertainment explained: “As a locally based company with an excellent reputation for their product, Squareleg Entertainment was very happy to invite Prima to supply and fit the temporary flooring service for the two inaugural concerts at Leicester Tigers Rugby Club. As a new partner for us in the provision of equipment and services for our stadium concerts, we were extremely pleased and satisfied at the level of professionalism, attention to detail and flexibility of those at Prima.

“Their product proved to be a more-than-worthy contender to others in this specialised field and we would be very happy to use them again.”

To provide even further protection, Prima also installed a geo-membrane underneath the Prima Terra-Tech, which acted as a second layer between the pitch and the stage. During breakdown, a number of screws from the stage had fallen loose and were found on this layer, proving it had served its purpose extremely effectively.

Jonathan Vaughan, Prima’s managing director said: “Both Leicester Tigers and Squareleg Entertainment were delighted with the condition of the pitch following uplift and pronounced it in an acceptable playing condition just two weeks later. This resulted in the club giving Prima preferred supplier status for any future events, which is an achievement the entire company takes great pride in.

 “To have been an integral part of the inaugural Welford Road concerts was extremely pleasing for Prima, but to know our involvement will continue in the future is a real accomplishment for the team. We are greatly looking forward to strengthening this professional association,” Concluded Vaughan.

Charles Rayner, head of stadium operations, Leicester Tigers commented: ‘’Prima is a local company with a local workforce but with a national product. Wherever possible we do work with local companies. Prima won the contract for the two concerts by offering a superb pitch protection system at a highly competitive price which the club, including the Head Groundsman, had every confidence in. The pitch suffered no undue stress and completely recovered within two weeks of the events. We look forward to working with Prima again in the future.’’

The two concerts attracted a combined crowd of 11,000 people.

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