In 2006, Star Events Group (SEGL) celebrated 30 years in the industry. Such longevity does not come about by accident. It is the product of a lot of hard work, expertise and forward thinking — something that company founder Roger Barrett and his team have in abundance.

There is also a complete lack of complacency about the way this company works, which is another factor in its continued success and, although probably still best known for its figurehead of Barrett, there’s a lot more meat on these bones.

The last year has seen a series of strategic acquisitions, mergers and expansions, as well as the essential insurance of an exceptional team having been put in place, ensuring that the business does not fail or succeed on the efforts of just a few. Anyone running a company of any size, big or small, knows that this is a key part of the formula, but is also extremely hard to achieve.

This follows a successful foray into China, where SEGL is now quite firmly established. It now has a permanent team of both local and UK imported staff. This, says Linus Liu, in charge of the Chinese operation, brings the vital combination of western know-how and local knowledge. “China is a very particular market,” he says. “You really have to be able to understand the legal system to know how to work over here.

“We currently have our head office in Shanghai, which includes 600m2 of warehouse space, and a branch office in the Central Business District in trendy Chao Yang in Beijing, along with three full-time Chinese staff and five fully trained freelance crew.

“We’ve been over here for two years and business is growing fast. Amongst other projects, we supplied a stage for the Chinese Live Earth concert and an Orbit stage for the Faithless gig in Shanghai. The promoter set up the latter as a mini festival in Zhong Shan Park. This was quite a momentous occasion as it was the first time that an audience was allowed to attend a concert that wasn’t completely seated. It’s great to be part of this pushing of boundaries!”

As well as its ventures further afield, SEGL has also been ensuring that Europe is not neglected, with both Star Orbit Italia and Star Orbit Iberia expanding fast into the staging market, informs Mike Goodwin, Star Orbit director.

Star Orbit Italia currently has 12m, 15m and 20m Orbit Flexidome stages as does Star Orbit Iberia, with the addition of 85m of front of stage barrier and a Vertech 10m x 10m Pyramid Stage, which has been very well received in the Spanish market.

“Star Orbit Iberia has a sister production company,” says Goodwin. “As well as concentrating on its staging business, it is also heavily involved in the promotion and management of well-known Spanish band Berrogueto.”

Meanwhile, SEGL is just as busy in the UK as it always has been. Its mobile fleet now numbers 14 stages — from 8m x 6m to 15m x 12m — which, it claims, constitutes the most comprehensive range of stages of any company in the world. “We’ve had the usual run of festive season events,” says group sales director Jane Russen. “We provided seven separate stages for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations alone and 2008 is already looking extremely busy.

“We also have a number of ongoing contracts looking after rigging requirements at venues such as the Cardiff Millennium Stadium, Wembley Arena, Manchester Evening News Arena and have recently been awarded the rigging service contract for the Echo Arena Liverpool.”

“This is a brand new building,” adds David Bond, senior projects manager. “It’s slightly different to the Cardiff Millennium Stadium, where we were brought in to maximise their existing facilities and increase the rigging flexibility. For the ACCL, we are starting from scratch and installing a mother grid and secondary ‘daughter’ grid. But all the contracts such as this call on our consultancy, project management and risk assessment abilities and mean that these venues can benefit from our combined experience, which is vast and varied.

“Our existing contracts have also been very busy. Cardiff Millennium Stadium hosted two major boxing events as well as concerts by Rod Stewart and The Police, all of which couldn’t have happened without our experience and special kit. We provided kit, crew and consultancy packages for Ultimate Fighting Challenge in the O2 and Dublin’s The Point, the BCSC British Council of Shopping Centres convention in Gateshead, the NFL Tailgate event at Wembley Arena and Nike Supersonic event in Battersea, just to name a few.”

Add to this the provision of touring kit for the recent Aerosmith, Bill Bailey and Muse tours, as well as V Towers for various festivals and events and one can see that SEGL is making a big impact on a global basis and has everything lined up to do even more in the coming year.

www.stareventsgroup.com