Operations and Event Health & Safety: Marylebone Christmas event for Howard de Walden Estate

Background

The OPS team have worked with The Howard de Walden Estate, one of London’s leading property estates, since 2016 – during the build, live and break of the company’s summer and winter events. We enable their events to go ahead by providing a range of event health and safety services, including documentation, Safety Advisory Group [SAG} attendance, supplier auditing and on-site health and safety.

For the vast majority of these events, we work alongside our sister agency We Are Placemaking, who manage the event.

Merry Marylebone is a recurring festive event – bringing the community together and showcase the showcasing the best of the village’s shopping and dining destinations. This year’s edition featured an array of entertainment and activities, from food stalls and alfresco bars, to live music, funfair rides, arts and crafts, and Santa’s Grotto.

 Challenges

  • On the morning of the live event, a water main burst on the site where the event was due to take place. This was an unprecedented challenge but one that had to be overcome. We therefore relocated some of the stalls and infrastructure to accommodate for this issue. This involved liaising with the relevant authorities and maintenance staff to ensure everybody was aware of the issue and the up-to-date plan.

  • High winds on the day of the event also led to safety concerns. To avoid any danger to guests, we re-located and re-secured Santa’s Grotto, finding a new, more spacious location that enable more flow to Marylebone Gardens, which effectively aided queue management.

Delivery

  • Onsite Health and Safety during element of the build, break and live show

  • Documentation including an Event Risk Assessment and Fire Risk Assessment

  • Supplier Auditing, including documentation reviews for over 50 stallholders and suppliers

Results

  • Effective management of weather and other unprecedented challenges, keeping guests safe but enabling them to still enjoy the range of activities on offer

  • The event raised £20,000 for nominated mental health charity, Mind in Brent, Wandsworth and Westminster.

  • Exceptional feedback from the client who look forward to working with us again