The above company provided the tour crowd safety co-ordination on behalf of Oasis at their three concerts, which took place the City of Manchester Stadium in the summer of 2005.

As part of that process Steve Allen produced a document outlining the Showstop Procedures to be adopted in the event of any major safety issues arising during the performance of Oasis.

This document was dependant on effective communication between key personnel in the event of a situation occurring and the onus of that lay with Steve Allen.

I think it would be fair to say that the are sometimes tensions between venue management and promoters at events like ‘pop’ concerts and my experience is that some of the promises made seem never to materialise. I welcomed Steve Allen’s document but do confess to being a little uncertain that the contents of the procedure would be delivered. This should not be seen as a reflection of Steve Allen but more to do with previous experiences with other companies.
On the Saturday concert just as Oasis took to the stage a massive surge took place towards stage right, it could be likened to a tsunami of people and there were many thousands of spectators caught up in this. As it hit the pit barrier it dissipated left and right and the pit barrier moved forward about two feet, remarkably no one was injured.

This was immediately recognised by Steve as a major safety issue and the Showstop Procedure was instigated.

Everything that Steve said would happen did happen and there were some very tense moments whilst the situation was evaluated. The liaison between Steve and Noel Gallagher was excellent and he clearly respected his judgement. The show was stopped for twenty minutes whilst temporary repairs were made and the show continued with the proviso that it could be stopped at any minute depending on whether or not the repairs to the barrier held. I was absolutely confident that if those repairs had not held then the Showstop procedure would have again been implemented immediately.

There is no doubt that without a Showstop procedure in place and properly documented then all kinds of criticisms could be levelled should an incident occur. Not only did Steve Allen provide such a document but it was well written, easily understandable and more importantly it worked.

Peter Fletcher, Stadium Safety Manager
Manchester City Stadium (UK)

KTS Events

Steve has been excellent to work with on some demanding and niche projects – responsive, professional and robust. I’d whole heartedly recommend his health and safety consultation services.

Liz Axten
KTS Events

Sheffield Arena

The Sheffield Arena is a major venue within our portfolio of properties, accommodating thousands of fans and the full spectrum of entertainment including motorsport, concerts, exhibitions and sporting events. Fire Safety is a legal requirement and invaluable to ensure the safety of our spectators, staff, contractors and performers.

We required a new fire risk assessment to be carried out and sought a company with vast experiences of Fire Safety within the leisure and entertainment industry. We were delighted to have found Crowd Safety who from the very outset instilled us with confidence that we had made the right choice. The fire risk assessment identified areas which I absolutely believe will contribute to the safety of all persons within our Arena.

The service has been exceptional, the advice has been pragmatic whilst providing legal compliance and cost effective solutions.

I would fully recommend, without hesitation, the professional fire safety and crowd management services of Crowd Safety to any client looking for a competent service supported by extensive experience, professional qualifications and memberships within the fire safety management sector.

Head of Corporate Safety
Sheffield Arena

Indian Independence Day

From the moment we met Steve Allen, we were installed with absolute confidence that the local authority would be satisfied the event would be well managed and safe. We found that Steve and his team, simplified everything and removed complex issues to ensure transparency. He resolved historical crowd issues which gained significant praise from those attending our event. We only wish we had contacted him directly in the first place. Highly recommend the services this company can provide, they delivered…

Indian Independence Day

Steve Allen was recommended to the Soundclash team following some difficult situations with the local authorities in our area. Steve quickly focused our resolve by bringing the team together in both a professional, yet somehow relaxed manner considering the mountain we had to climb ahead of us.

Since our introduction we have staged a hugely successful event, with a complete overhaul of our event planning, security, traffic management and health and safety functions. We now have a string of events planned in several counties, confident in the knowledge that we have a highly qualified and capable individual as a member of our team.

I would have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Steve Allen to anyone who is serious about producing quality events.

Gary Bennetton, Co Founder
Soundclash/Sunsets On The Beach

Paléo Festival

Steve came to Paléo Festival Nyon (Switzerland) to share his knowledge about safety and security and more specifically about artist’s security requirements. This workshop was really helpful for the team. Steve gave us interesting inputs on event safety management, linked to his huge experience and background in the field. His presentation was very professional and pragmatic and will help us to improve our safety and security policy. I would highly recommend Steve and his company for any event production.

Pascal Viot, Head of Health, Safety and Security
Paléo Festival, Nyon, Switzerland

UK Rugby Football Club

Just a quick note to say thank you for the excellent training you delivered this morning. I have had plenty of positive feedback and it has really hit the mark. The level you pitched it at and the engaging style with which you presented was spot on.

Alex Cohen, Head of Operations
UK Rugby Football Club

Steve Allen`s contribution on topic of fire risks and fire risk assessments at Romanian Event Health and Safety Conference in Timisoara, Romania, had a great impact on all attendees. Everyone, including state officials and major promoters drew significant conclusions on how to improve existing legislation and event planning in the near future.

We appreciate Steve`s straight forward approach to sensible issues, and ability to create awareness that incidents happened, happen and can happen anywhere and anytime. What we all experienced is one clear, well structured and informative presentation which raised general awareness.

Darko Flego, Organizer and Project Manager
Romanian Event Health and Safety Conference

Abu Dhabi Sports Council

The best trainer so far, thank you very much for the amazing experience.

Abu Dhabi – January 2016, Senior Management
Abu Dhabi Sports Council

Sheffield International Venues

Steve Allen was engaged by Sheffield International Venues Ltd to audit and review, our safety systems and legal compliance in relation to high profile events.

Steve was a pleasure to work with and has an incredible amount of knowledge on the subject and his approach immediately puts people at ease.

As an organisation Steve has shown us our areas of vulnerabilities and the processes we need to put in place to safeguard our Company and ensure that we provide a safe environment for our Customers, Staff and others that may be affected.

Steve’s services have proved invaluable and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending his services and expertise to any organisation seeking a professional service, underpinned by extensive sector experience of the leisure and event industry.

Steve Leese, Fire Safety & Health Safety Manager
Sheffield International Venues

SOHO Theatre, London

Steve’s training is practical, realistic, and engaging. He knows how to make serious relevant points, and motivates everyone into taking responsibility for excellent safety, with examples of the consequences of doing otherwise. We will be upgrading some protocols off the back of this.

Julie Marshall, Operations Manager
SOHO Theatre, London

Cousins Entertainment

Cousins Entertainment installed, and managed, temporary ice rinks across multiple sites in the United Kingdom throughout November and December. Said sites included Historical Palaces, Prestigious Shopping Malls, Cathedral and Castle grounds and other city centre locations, entertaining 100’s of thousands of customers.

Apart from our morale and legal obligations, brand reputation is of significant importance to our organisation and was a contributory factor when choosing the services of Crowd Safety to assist us with the planning, safety management, crowd management and fire risk assessments, across all of our UK event’s.

Crowd Safety provided simple solutions to sometimes very complex situations, ensuring our legal obligations not only satisfied the local authorities, and venue management, but improved safety for our customers and staff under normal and emergency conditions, with crowd management processes vastly improved to deliver better circulation whilst aiding our commercial entities.

I have no hesitation recommending the services of Crowd Safety, for any organisation that is seeking professional event safety services with a pragmatic approach, by an event safety organisation who have extensive experience of the live event industry and are abreast of the current legislation relating to health, safety and fire safety.

Alan Abretti, Managing Director
Cousins Entertainment

Mothership Events

Steve, was contracted by one of Australia’s leading event security providers, Reddawn Australia, a company we have used for many years, who had the foresight to bring a UK crowd safety expert to Australia. Steve brought with him an unrivalled international experience in crowd management and safety at the highest of levels which would prove to assist in the safe planning and implementation of major events in Australia.

Heading up Reddawn Australia’s Crowd Management & Safety wing, Steve worked closely with me on all facets of crowd management and safety planning, including the tactical, operational, monitoring, review and compliance elements for events which required his expertise.

We embraced event safety from the embryonic phase of each event, through to the final piece of equipment had left the site. By adopting this event safety mindset, we produced very safe and very successful shows, attended by mass crowds, from a wide range of cultures and demographics, in the knowledge that foreseeable risks had been identified, and any other incidents would be managed effectively.

We have formed a strong working relationship that has enabled us to have worked together on major events and introduced a positive safety culture at events we now work on.

The Australian event industry, has now fully embraced these international event safety standards and I firmly believe that the combination of Mothership Events, Reddawn Australia and Steve’s international experience benchmarked safer events in Australia.

As seasoned event producers and promotors of world class events, we have a responsibility that goes far beyond regulation, but rather extends to moral obligations to protect all persons attending, performing and working and the brand reputation considerations for all stakeholders associated with the event. Steve Allen’ input has aided Mothership Events in raising the benchmark of safety, at the full spectrum of our events. This service would provide absolute confidence to any Event Organiser requiring professional event safety, crowd safety and event fire safety services managed at the highest levels in the event sector, be it corporate, festival, events of national significance, or other events requiring world class safety expertise.

I would be happy to recommend Steve in any event safety capacity and see him as a reliable and consistent event safety professional with a seasoned judgement and pragmatic solutions, who can communicate at all levels, ideal for the evolving event industry.

Justin Nyker
Mothership Events

Dancing Man Brewery Southampton

Steve Allen was tasked by our company to assist with Security, Health & Safety and Fire Assessments as well as Events management, after we experienced two unfortunate occurrences.

As novices, the legal requirements and regulations were a minefield, and yet at no point were we treated with anything but respect by Steve as he explained with great patience the consequences of ‘not getting things right’. He was able to guide us through the implementation of risk management plans and also the legal requirements involved, whilst being able to communicate the safety process to staff at all levels.

Additionally his knowledge and expertise in event security has enabled us to improve our own security procedures, which, in turn has allowed us to improve how we look after our staff, our neighbours and ultimately our customers.

As stated in a previous testimonial “Steve provides you with the absolute confidence that your event, audience, staff, contractors, performers and reputation are in very safe hands”.

Steve Allen’s services can only be considered as an asset to any organisation looking for a professional, customer focused approach, and we would highly recommend his company.

The Directors
Dancing Man Brewery Southampton

Auckland Stadiums, New Zealand

On my return to work yesterday I went straight into the Vector arena to meet up with Tour Security Colleagues travelling with the Queen show that I had worked alongside in past shows. I was able to pass on information that I had taken in from the two days spent at the seminar, and felt confident in doing so. I have already spoken to others about this seminar and have recommended it…

Nevile Carlsedine
Auckland Stadiums, New Zealand

This was a landmark step towards progressing a standard profession and training approach to this major industry in Australia.

RSA Liquor Professionals
Sydney, NSW

Allphones Arena, Sydney

Chris and Steve were brilliant…

Colin Dale
Allphones Arena, Sydney NSW

fedsquare

Excellent content and presentation…

Peter Middenway, Security Manager
FedSquare Ltd, Melbourne

Vector Arena, New Zealand

I found the calibre of speakers very high…

Steven Kinsler
Vector Arena, New Zealand

Security Providers Association of Australia

Well presented. Great location. Knowledgeable presenters.

Geoff McEvoy, Director
Security Providers Association of Australia

There was a good balance of experience and knowledge with the presenters.

SGT NSW Police

Sydney Showground, NSW

The presenters were very professional and their experience in their fields was amazing.

Suzie Weston, Senior Floor Manager, Stadium and Special Events
Sydney Showground, NSW

Orange Rooms

I have owned and operated bars and night clubs for over 20 years, winning numerous accolades along the way including BEDA, Theme Magazine and Best Bar None awards.

I first met Steve Allen in 2001 when I appointed him to do a complete package of health and safety, a security plan and a full fire risk assessment for a venue we were opening in Southampton. Since then he has gone onto provide his services for all our subsequent sites, major events and many colleagues within the industry.

Throughout our professional relationship I have found Steve to be highly efficient, moral, honest, trustworthy, proactive, timely and cost effective. He is without a doubt one of the best (if not the best) in the business and his resume will demonstrate that. Steve is not just a pen pusher, he is hands on which has been fundamental in enhancing the learning of our team

I have absolutely no hesitation in recommending Steve to any organisation that would require the services he offers.

Gary Bennetton, Founder and Owner
Orange Rooms

MOJO Barriers

Steve has always been a disciplined and efficient operator. I have seen him work under extremely stressful situations, often alone, and always remains composed and in control of the situation. He has a reassuring, positive demeanour and has always demonstrated excellent leadership skills.

Steve has advised me on many safety aspects of the events industry relating to site design and barrier layout, to pit team management and audience profiling. I have observed him working with every genre of musical acts, all with great success.

He has a great sense of humour and is the person you call to prevent “the proverbial” hitting the fan…

Jim Gaffney
MOJO Barriers

Pretty Green Limited

In a world of litigation and cost cutting, health and safety can often get left behind. Steven has hugely benefited our company and has a unique skill of being able to communicate the safety message at all levels. Our company is a safe place for workers, visitors and members of the public. We consider safety a key component to the success of our company.

Andy Johnson, CFO
Pretty Green Limited

LGD Interiors

LGD Interiors Ltd was formed in late 2002 and has quickly become one of the UK’s leading fit-out and refurbishment specialists. The company provides comprehensive design, fit-out and refurbishment services as a main contractor to a variety of clients in the private and public sectors. We have utilised the services of Steve Allen to manage our health, safety and fire safety management for Stadiums, Board Rooms, Hotels, Retail Stores, Bars Restaurants and retail outlets. Our clients expect a world class service which is complimented when using professionals such as Steve and the team from Crowd Safety.

Nigel Grant, CEO
LGD Interiors

Pirtek Stadium NSW

Crowd Management for major venues and events is an ongoing learning process. Pirtek Stadium is the home of the most active fan base in the Country with the Red and Black Bloc at Western Sydney Wanderers ‘A’League games. To improve the all round crowd management strategy, of the venue, I engaged Steve Allen, from Reddawn to conduct a crowd management safety audit on our processes and procedures, not only for ‘A’ league, but for NRL games at the stadium also.

Steve brings with him international experience not only from the English Premier League, in relation to crowd management and safety, but has also worked for the biggest music acts in the world. His ability to work with our venue providers and law enforcement is exceptional.

Milton O Brien, Acting General Manager
Pirtek Stadium NSW, Australia

Reddawn Australia

In 2013, Reddawn engaged Steve Allen, a UK crowd safety consultant to initially assist with the crowd safety at Stereosonics Sydney, 65,000 per day event. The advice was well received and Steve provided simple, yet extremely effective measures to assist with the safety of the attending audience. This event was undoubtedly the biggest and best event to date, with thousands of revelers attending both days with an expert on hand to provide specific crowd safety advice The addition of Steve to our team was a major ‘game-changer’ for our industry here in Australia and New Zealand.

In 2014 “Reddawn Australia” engaged Steve Allen to further assist us in enhancing our Crowd Management and Safety expertise.

Steve passed his Crowd Management knowledge onto Reddawn Team members in a uniquely engaging manner that involved classroom facilitation, field-work and mentoring of key staff.

Steve pioneered our “sold out” inaugural 2 day Crowd Safety Seminar in Sydney, and the crowd management competencies he helped build within our business assisted greatly in our being awarded the contract to provide security and crowd safety services at a large theme park in Sydney, owned and operated by one of the world’s most prestigious entertainment companies.

Simon Auston, CEO
Reddawn Australia

I am an event manager, with over 20 years experience, who is contracted to deliver world-class events for a wide range of clients, each expecting a professional service, and outstanding event.

I rely on competent, pragmatic safety advice and cost effective solutions, that are legally compliant and do not impede on the overall event creativity.

What Steve Allen brings to the table is exceptionally rare and an intrinsic component to the overall safety management and success of any event. He has the rare ability of being able to effectively communicate the safety message at all levels from the client of a major organisation through to the contracted catering assistant. His skill set includes Health & safety, fire Safety, crowd management, event security, multi agency liaison, dynamic assessment, seasoned judgement and a very calm methodical approach to incident management. He is what I would call a naturalised critical decision maker.

If safety and brand reputation is a serious consideration for you and your clients, then the services that Steve provides will give you the absolute confidence that your event, audience, staff, contractors, performers and reputation are in very safe hands.

I have absolutely no hesitation whatsoever in recommending Steve Allen for Event Safety/Crowd Management and Safety, or Fire Safety Services in the UK or anywhere on the planet staging any type of event.

Paul Eyres, CEO
Events Guru

MOM Consultancy

I have worked with Steve both when he was a student on the first cohort of the Crowd Management Foundation Degree programme at Bucks and on training and eduction programmes and seminars in Australia and found him to be the consummate professional when delivering theoretical applications in practice. This kind of teaching is the most valuable tool in kinaesthetic learning as it helps those learning to understand and nature of the concept and how to apply it.

Professor Chris Kemp, CEO
MOM Consultancy

I have had the pleasure of working with Steve on a number of events in the UK, US and Sarajevo. Steve has a remarkable skill set, when it comes to strategic safety planning and the management and safety of crowds. He has an ability to make the impossible, possible. I have no hesitation in recommending him to any organisation that requires a consummate event safety professional to manage safety for their events, liaise with officials and provide you with absolute confidence of his capacity to manage all types of incidents (from lightning storms, fires and snakes entering the event site!!) no matter what the geographical location, crowd profile or type of event. From fireworks and live music concerts, through to International sporting events and product launches, he will always be my first choice when it comes to event safety services.

Bradden Young, Founder and CEO
Young and Inspired

Virgin Atlantic

Steve Allen ensures that your event meets all the necessary safety standards, without restricting its creative value this is a rare and unique quality. I would highly recommend him for any event production.

Janet Lance, Event Manager
Virgin Atlantic