FEBRUARY | SECTOR FOCUS
“Trends are very much driven by
architectural design”
— James Anderson, commercial director,
Arena Structures
CHANGING SCENE
JAMES ANDERSON –
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
ARENA STRUCTURES.
How much do cost come into the
equation?
The market is highly
competitive when focusing on
structures in isolation. Where
we differ is the ability to offer a
broader range of products and
services. Arena make money on
our ancillaries, the fact we can
bring so much more to the table
than just temporary structures.
Such as scaffolding, seating,
furniture, interiors, tableware,
refrigeration, crowd control.
It’s a difficult business to make
profit so we leverage our vertical
integrated model which means
added value along the chain
of products and services – we
aren’t so reliant on structures as
other companies. We will reap
the rewards by offering a single
supply source for a number
of services, this is what our
customers want. Peace of mind
that Arena have everything
covered. They are in safe hands.
Is Brexit going to impact you?
We think it will impact Arena.
As many of the UK structure
companies will find, we import
and hire additional equipment
and indeed labour from Europe.
Therefore we may feel the
impact of rise in import duties
and tariffs and reduction in
labour supply. We are lucky that
The Arena Standard attracts
people to our business, our
investment in learning and
development means we attract
and retain high quality staff so
we do not envisage this will be a
concern.
What does the future of
temporary structures look like
in 10 years time?
Trends are very much
driven by architectural design.
Currently we are moving away
from a more traditional A frame
structure towards a more
cuboid look and feel, trends
evolve as the architectural
design progress evolves. Arena
recognise as well that the look
of the structure is key, clients
want a tent that doesn’t look like
a tent, the focus on the interiors
as a point of differentiation
is paramount. Arena have
an awesome Interior Design
team working on behalf of
our customers to ensure
we are delivering live event
environments that are beyond
the ordinary.
Will you be launching any new
products and services?
Over the last few months we
have purchased a number of
new companies adding value
to our vertically integrated
offering. Events solutions an
events barrier and crowd control
business, ice house which is
a temporary refrigeration
company and Bash Bars, a
temporary bar solution for
live events. We believe that
adding value to our supply
chain by offering new products
influences the customer decision
making process. They want to
work with companies who are
easy to do business with and
give them peace of mind that
their business is being taken
care of. This is much more
convenient with one partner
supplying multiple offerings
than a multitude of suppliers to
deal with. This is a real USP for
Arena.
What advice would you give to
event organisers?
Plan early would be our
advice, do not believe that
a temporary structure is
something to be purchased off
the shelf last minute. Rather
40
than sending a quote request
and expecting an immediate
turnaround we would advise
that you allow time for the quote
to be personalised and well
thought through and ultimately
delivered back in line with your
needs and expectations. Ball
park figures don’t work in this
industry, we pride ourselves on
crossing the t’s and dotting the
i’s and offering ground breaking
innovative ideas and solutions.
Allow the time for this.
Not all marquees are the
same, they are bespoke. Not all
consider structural capability
and health and safety in the
same we way do. It’s difficult
to compare like for like on this
basis, you cannot put a price
on the Arena Standard, which
delivers arguably the best
people in the industry, our site
teams are NEBOSH qualified
as standard. Every job comes
with a quality kitemark, detailed
drawings are presented and all
things are considered. A second
hand ford Mondeo will do the
same job as a new BMW but
they are inherently different
products, this also applies to the
temporary structure market.