Public Sector & Events

Managed temporary event infrastructure, from survey to de-rig

A graduation ceremony cannot be rescheduled because a structure arrived late. Families have flown in, the timetable is printed, and the campus still has to work around it. Everything that makes the day run happens in the weeks before it.

We design, supply, install, maintain and remove temporary event infrastructure for universities, colleges and councils, and we run the logistics behind it so the client's team can run the event.

What we cover

Design and layout

Site survey before specification: ground conditions, levels, access routes, service runs, anchoring constraints and the pedestrian flow around the structure. Layouts proposed against the actual capacity and the actual timetable, including seating, stage or platform position, robing and photography space, queuing and accessible routes. Where the ground or the building will not take what has been asked for, we say so at survey rather than on build day.

Supply and installation of temporary structures

Marquees and temporary demountable structures supplied, delivered and erected to the approved layout, with flooring, linings, doors, heating, lighting and power arranged as the event needs. Structures installed to their design specification, with anchoring or ballast chosen for the ground on site rather than assumed, and handover documentation provided at completion.

Fit-out inside the structure

Seating, staging, furniture, counters, barriers, matting, signage and wayfinding, branded dressing and any client-supplied items installed as part of the same build. This is the part universities most often have to coordinate separately across several suppliers, and it is exactly the work our installation teams do every week in retail.

Transport and storage

Delivery sequenced to the site's access windows rather than to our convenience, with vehicles arriving when there is somewhere for them to go. Client-owned event stock, from branded dressing to furniture, can be stored between events, condition checked, and returned ready to use rather than sitting in a campus store room.

Event support and attendance

Crews on site through build, event days and de-rig, so that a fault during a ceremony is handled by someone already there. Daily checks on structures, flooring and exits, weather monitoring against the agreed wind management plan, and a single named contact for the client's event lead rather than a phone tree.

Removal and reinstatement

De-rig to the agreed window, with the ground and hard standing reinstated and inspected, waste removed through licensed carriers, and a condition record handed over. Campuses judge event suppliers on what the site looks like the morning after, not on the build.

How an event call-off runs

A walkthrough of how we would run work of this type. It describes method, not a completed contract.

Brief and survey. Dates, capacity, ceremony or event timetable and site constraints captured, then the site walked with the estates and event teams. Ground conditions, access, services and pedestrian routes recorded with photographs.

Layout and specification. Structure sizes, flooring, power, heating and fit-out proposed against the brief, with a drawn layout for approval. Structural and anchoring requirements confirmed for the ground on site.

Planning and documentation. Site-specific risk assessment and method statement, delivery and build programme, lift plans where needed, wind management plan with the stop criteria agreed in advance, and the crew list with competence records.

Build. Deliveries sequenced to agreed windows, structures erected to the approved design, fit-out installed, and the whole build checked and signed off before handover to the client, with photographic evidence.

Event days. Crew on site, daily checks recorded, weather monitored, faults fixed in place. One named contact for the client throughout.

De-rig and handover. Structures and fit-out removed to the agreed window, ground reinstated and inspected with the client, waste removed, and a completion record issued including any certification.

Why an implementation business is credible here

Our core work is installing manufactured items into premises we do not own, to a deadline, with the public present, and with evidence captured at every stage. An event is that discipline compressed into a fixed window that cannot slip.

• Fixed deadlines, where a retail campaign going live on Monday and a ceremony starting at ten have the same tolerance for lateness, which is none.
• Working around the public, keeping safe routes open while the work happens.
• Survey before specification, because the site is routinely not what the drawing says.
• Multi-vehicle delivery sequencing, so a constrained site is not gridlocked by its own deliveries.
• Crews managed on someone else's premises, to a documented standard, with condition recorded before and after.
• Storage between events, so client-owned dressing and furniture is held, checked and returned ready to use.

Temporary structures and specialist trades are delivered through our contracted partner network. The contract, the accountability and the single point of contact remain with us.

How we work with public sector buyers

We are set up for framework and call-off buying: mini competitions answered with a drawn layout and a programme rather than a price alone, named contacts, and documentation issued before mobilisation instead of on request. Our policies are published rather than promised, including our Carbon Reduction Plan, Environmental Policy, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Ethical Employment Policy.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does managed temporary event infrastructure actually include?

It covers the whole life of the temporary build, not just the hire of a structure. That means site survey and layout design, supply of the structures and the fit-out inside them, delivery and installation, maintenance and attendance while the event runs, then removal and reinstatement of the ground afterwards. Around that sit the things that decide whether an event runs smoothly: flooring and matting, furniture, power, lighting, heating, signage and wayfinding, crowd routing, accessible access, and crews on site who can fix a problem during the event rather than after it.

Why are graduation ceremonies different from other events?

Because the date cannot move and the audience is not a crowd of strangers. Graduations run on consecutive days to a fixed timetable, with families travelling from abroad, guests in formal dress, robing and photography to accommodate, and a campus that has to keep functioning around the event. There is no opportunity to reschedule if a structure is late or a floor is unsafe. That pushes the real work upstream, into surveys, method statements, delivery sequencing and contingency, so that the build is finished and checked before the first guest arrives rather than being finished around them.

How do you work on a live campus without disrupting it?

The same way we install into occupied retail stores and residential blocks. Access routes, delivery windows and noise limits are agreed with the estates team before the first vehicle moves. Pedestrian routes stay open and safe throughout, including step-free routes for wheelchair users and anyone with limited mobility. Vehicles are sequenced rather than turning up together, because a campus service yard is not a loading bay. Materials are never left where they block an escape route, and the site is left clean at the end of each day rather than at the end of the build.

What safety evidence should a buyer ask for on temporary structures?

For any temporary demountable structure, ask for the structural information: design documentation for the structure, wind loading calculations, the anchoring or ballast method for the actual ground conditions, and a completion or handover certificate confirming it was erected to that design. Then ask for the site-specific documents rather than generic ones: risk assessment and method statement for that site, a lift plan where mechanical handling is involved, competence records for working at height, and evidence of a recognised health and safety accreditation. Finally ask what the wind management plan is, because the decision that matters most on an outdoor event is who stops it and at what wind speed.

How does a framework call-off or mini competition usually run?

A buyer issues the requirement to the suppliers on the framework, usually with the dates, the location, the capacity and any specific requirements, and asks for a price and a method. Suppliers respond, the buyer evaluates on the framework's criteria, and a call-off contract is awarded. In practice the difference between suppliers at this stage is rarely the structure itself, which is broadly comparable, and usually the clarity of the plan: how the build is sequenced, who is on site, what happens when the weather turns, and what the buyer has to do themselves. A response that makes the buyer's own job easier tends to score well.

Why is a logistics and installation business credible on event infrastructure?

Because the disciplines are the same ones we use every week. Our core work is storing, kitting, transporting and installing manufactured items into other people's premises, to a deadline, with the public present and evidence captured at every stage. An event is that work compressed into a fixed window with no tolerance for slippage. Surveying before specifying, sequencing deliveries, managing crews on someone else's site, keeping the public safe while working around them, and de-rigging cleanly are all things we do on retail rollouts and council contracts. The structures are delivered with our specialist partners, and the coordination stays with us.