Labour Party - Spring/Annual Conferences

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WHO: The UK Labour Party

WHAT: Spring/Annual Conferences 

BRIEF: To produce the annual spring and autumn conferences for the UK Labour Party, over a nine year period.

RESULT : Each of these five day conferences – the largest political events in Europe – required a five day build, during which time we transformed expansive venues such as Manchester Central Convention Complex. This old railway station featured a vast open-plan glass ceiling in the main hall, so we worked tirelessly over several months on key issues such as blackout and soundproofing to ensure the venue’s suitability. Today, this space remains in frequent use for large-scale conferences and events.

In addition to set and staging, and as the party’s production company, our duties also extended to the safety and security of 3,500 daily delegates. Working in close alliance with Special Branch and G4S we were responsible for the hub of the island site with regards to lighting, sound, and production autocue. Most importantly, we ensured smooth transmission of the leader speech, through live camera feeds to worldwide television and press.

Our innovation saw the traditional conference as a thing of the past. We were the first company to bring the leader into the audience, with Tony Blair conducting his main speech in the middle of the hall. We placed delegates behind the speaker to give a more inclusive look and feel – something that the White House subsequently applied to their political conferences, and a practice which is still regularly used in the UK. We were also the first company to bring innovation in technical design, with the introduction of wide screen and one-screen interaction with Labour supporters around the country. Again, these advances have since been emulated by others in political conferencing.

Our compliance with police and national security was of paramount important, and we were key in ensuring the smooth running of all the cabinet speeches, debates and Q&As. Over the course of nine years, we worked with two prime ministers, leaders of the opposition and numerous political figureheads, including Bill Clinton and Hamid Karzai during times of world unrest, putting us at the forefront of national security.