Event Organiser Profile, European Events

LIFE AND SOUL

Jane Wade of European Events tells Annica Wainwright about her passion for parties

When we caught up with Jane Wade, the director of European Events, in September, she was about to go on maternity leave. Even so, you could tell she was excited about the upcoming festive season. Like the vast majority of her colleagues, she absolutely adores big events – and that’s just as well, for with a venue portfolio that includes large temporary structures at London Zoo and Coram’s Fields, as well as the mammoth marquee in the Honorable Artillery Company Gardens (HAC) in the City, her company entertains some 60,000 people in the run-up to Christmas alone.

As she starts to describe what European has in store for this December, Wade decides – new baby or not – there’s no way she’ll be able to stay away. ‘Those venues are only set up for a few months at a time and they’re never the same twice so I’m going to have to at least pop my head around the door or I’ll feel as though I’ve missed out,’ she insists. So what is it that makes them so special? ‘It’s hard to describe but when the HAC has been dressed to seat 1,500 guests for dinner it just has an amazing feel to it. The moment you walk through the door, you know you’ve arrived somewhere special – it just takes your breath away.’

It was one of these stunning set-ups that greeted guests to supermarket chain Tesco’s annual charity dinner this summer. European Events had created a truly impressive event, kicking off with a drinks reception on the HAC’s beautiful lawns (where the evening’s main raffle prize, a brand new car, had been parked) ahead of dinner and dancing in a beautifully dressed marquee. The Bootleg Beatles headlined an entertainment package that also included chocolate fountains, fortune tellers, casino tables and a full funfair. ‘It was our second year of working with European Events and I was delighted with the service and delivery on the night – we’re currently in negotiations to go back next year,’ says Emma Marshall, the senior planner at American Express Corporate Services’ Tesco office.

The client wasn’t the only one who was impressed, as Wade explains: ‘We used Chester Boyd Catering for this event and, on the night, I bumped into [the company’s chief executive] Charles Boyd himself. I asked why he was there and he said it was the biggest sit-down dinner his company had ever done and he just had to see it in action. It was huge.’

Like the vast majority of events organised by European, the Tesco dinner was entirely bespoke, something Wade deems very important. ‘Our account managers always try to understand exactly what each client wants to achieve with their event. This makes a real difference not only to the clients but to our event managers as well – especially around Christmas when they’ve got parties back-to-back. These guys may look after over 60,000 people in the space of a few months but, because they never have to do the same thing night after night, they don’t become jaded.’

It’s not surprising that Wade describes her favourite client as someone who is prepared to take an imaginative leap. ‘I like people who are up for trying new formats and move things on,’ she says. And, while keen to challenge the widespread misconception that using an event organiser makes for more expensive events – ‘it’s simply not true’ – she also wishes people would realise there’s no point doing events if you’re going to skimp on them. ‘You can’t get people to take time out of their lives to come to a corporate event and then just give them a glass of wine and some sausage rolls and expect them to be grateful – it just doesn’t work like that,’ she insists.

Hence, European Events always puts on a good show for the popular shared party nights it hosts in its marquees for each year’s summer and Christmas party seasons. For instance, this December will see the HAC marquee transport guests to 1950s Hollywood on the first and the ninth of the month, while London Zoo will feature an elaborate silk route theme on the 15th and Coram’s Fields will provide a glamorous art deco backdrop to dinner, dancing and gambling on the eight and the 16th.

Wade assures us the shared nights are always terrific fun. ‘Sometimes, as many as 40 different companies take part in a single event. Everyone always gets on as people are genuinely interested in meeting each other, particularly in the City where most of them are in the same business. Also, in such large groups inhibitions tend to go out the window,’ she adds with a glint in her eye, presumably holding back on some very colourful details from past events. What happens in the marquee clearly stays in the marquee and, with each of European’s big party sites hired from registered charities, revellers have another reason to let their hair down with a clear conscience.

Aside from raising money for various good causes by hiring such venues, European Events also runs its very own charity, Youth Backstage, designed to introduce teenagers from all walks of life to events industry. ‘This business isn’t a closed middle class club anymore and I think it’s important that we show that. Many of the kids we’ve put through the programme have come from unprivileged backgrounds – we want to break the old stereotypes of what kind of people can fit into this industry and, although we’re probably de-glamorising it in the process, we’re also broadening these kids’ horizons and showing them how much work actually goes into events,’ says Wade.

Speaking of work, there should be plenty for Wade to get stuck into when she comes back from maternity leave. The highlight of her career so far was winning exclusive rights to run events at the HAC – ‘it basically doubled the size of our company overnight’ – and although this contract runs out at the end of 2006, she doesn’t seem to worried about her future at the site: ‘We’ve just delivered them their most successful summer ever, so I’d say it’s very, very likely that the contract will be renewed.’

Furthermore, European Events has just secured an 800-capacity space within the Old Truman Brewery in Brick Lane for next year’s Christmas season. Then, of course, there’s the matter of the upcoming Olympics (European is already in talks with the 2012 committee) so, for a woman that loves nothing more than providing the life and soul of a party, the future looks full of possibilities.

From Square Meal The Magazine, Autumn Issue 2005