Capability Events Blog www.capabilityevents.co.uk

Recent Events inc The Boat Race

2008-04-07T16:00:00.002+01:00

The past two months have been our busiest enquiry months in our history and we have all been working towards what will be our largest summer yet. With new employees being sought and new bars being built we've just been too busy to write up all of the recent events. Here is just a taster of what we've been up to:

6th February 2008 - Corporate Hospitality at 5* Celtic Manor Resort

22nd February 2008 - Maxim Live 2008

8th March 2008 - Swingland UK

29th March 2008 - The Boat Race

5th April 2008 - 2 x private functions

We've got some very exiting functions upcoming, alongside some big household names so keep an eye for our latest videos, pictures and blog entries as the summer approaches us quickly!

Proseal 10th Anniversary Party

2008-02-13T12:34:00.012Z

In October 2007, Proseal approached us to discuss their upcoming 10th Anniversary in February 2008.
Our brief was to design an event at their modern offices and factory worksite in Adlington, Cheshire. They wanted to invite 300 employees and guests and create a relaxed and fun environment for them to enjoy. Aside from wanting BBQ style food and a free bar the client was not sure what else they required to give their guests a memorable time. After a couple of lengthy site meetings we advised on a number of entertainment options and the client decided on various fairground attractions both inside and outside.

Producing the event on a clients private grounds always entails executing a detailed production plan, allowing clients to keep working right up until the start of their event. The event plan space covered all of their main car parks, and suppliers had to been installed in order to maximise the set up space and time allowed to build.

Despite howling gales, bitter temperatures and snow the build went relatively smoothly. We erected two 12m x 24m frame marquees with a long entrance tunnel, before the large fairground rides and mobile toilet units were installed in place. The following 24 hours gave us plenty of time to install the smaller elements of the function, including a full mobile disco, an 18ft long main bar, bucking bronco, animatronic quick draw, furniture and a colour changing smoking/chill out area.
From 7pm on the 2/2/08 guests started to arrive. After a short walk beneath our bespoke tri lite entrance with flame cannons, they were greeted on the red carpet with a drink by our staff. Our award winning flairers provided fantastic bar interaction, mixing bespoke cocktails throughout the night. Guests were free to explore the event area, and they were soon enjoying all the attractions, despite the cold weather! Fresh BBQ food was served all night, alongside a pasta and salad bar. Bacon butties and coffee were served at midnight and all the party-goers were kept safe by our SIA registered security staff and FPOS medic.

It was a fantastic night, and after enjoying a live jive band the guests danced away until 2am. With personalised projections gobos shining both inside and out and city colours lighting the outside area some were still dancing as they walked home!

Dawn Malone, Office Manager, of Proseal said: “Everyone had a great time. The evening was absolutely wonderful and will be talked about for years to come. The only problem we have now is what to do for our Christmas party as nothing will top our tenth anniversary. The snow caused several pre-event jitters but any worries I had were dissolved as Capability Events executed the perfect event keeping all our guests warm despite the bitter February weather.”
As testament to this, guests partied well into the night leaving with huge smiles on their faces and continued to dance on their way home.

We thoroughly enjoyed Proseals' fresh approach to their employees and this function. We wish them all the best for the nest ten years and hope to see them again next year! (Without the snow!) Enjoy the video:

The Capability Events Team 2008

Press realease

CAPABLITY EVENTS CONDUCT THE CELEBRATIONS
FOR PROSEAL’S TENTH ANNIVERSARY

February 2008 marked the tenth anniversary of Proseal, a Cheshire based company, who are the leading manufacturer of heat sealing machinery and tooling in the UK. To commemorate this auspicious occasion the Directors of Proseal decided to have a relaxed informal party for their employees and guests, and called upon Capability Events to work their magic in delivering a truly memorable event. The brief was to conceive, produce and manage an informal event for 300 guests on site at Proseal’s manufacturing facility and despite the snowy weather this was achieved.

Capability Events utilised the car parks encompassing Proseal’s offices and factory, executing a detailed production plan, which allowed Proseal to continue operating while the party venue was being built. Capability Events designed and built a maze of marquees, which housed an eclectic mix of entertainment, including: a casino, bucking bronco, animatronics western shooting gallery and dancing to a live band and disco. Outside the entertainment continued with fairground dodgems, coconut shy and a shooting gallery.

Ben Leeke, Capability Events, commented: “To bring the whole event to life Proseal projection gobos shone both inside and out, while city colours illuminated the outdoor party area with an explosion of colour. To keep all the guests safe, behind the scenes our SIA registered security staff and FPOS medics were on hand if needed.”

Amid the fairground theme, guests were treated to a barbeque supper and breakfast at midnight plus a free bar throughout the evening, which also included entertainment for Proseal’s party goers in the form of Capability Events signature cocktail flairers who added a touch of spice to the proceedings.

In amongst the excitement of the evening a character photographer took photographs of guests throughout the evening, superimposing the images onto famous film posters providing a fabulous memento of the evening for all those attending.

Ben Leeke added: “Proseal has a great commitment to their team of employees and it was a pleasure to work with them in celebrating their tenth anniversary.”

Dawn Malone, Office Manager, of Proseal said: “Everyone had a great time. The evening was absolutely wonderful and will be talked about for years to come. The only problem we have now is what to do for our Christmas party as nothing will top our tenth anniversary. The snow caused several pre-event jitters but any worries I had were dissolved as Capability Events executed the perfect event keeping all our guests warm despite the bitter February weather.”
As testament to this, guests partied well into the night leaving with huge smiles on their faces and continued to dance on their way home.

RAF Innsworth Closure party 18/01/08

2008-01-22T10:56:00.001Z

Since 1940 RAF Innsworth has been the administration HQ for all of the Royal Airforce in the UK. It is a huge base and has been the training facility for aircraft fitters, technicians and by the end of the second world war over 5,000 personnel were living on the base.

In September last year the base approached us to discuss a function that was to mark the closure of the base. It was a great shame but the base wanted to have a 'stadium rock' style function and were determined to organise a great event to thank all their employees past and present.

The event was to be in a large 70m x 30m hangar, which was to be converted into a function space for 1,000 guests.

Our brief was to supply everything required to turn the hangar into a fantastic looking concert space, with a large bar,food stalls, toilets, giant stage and lighting rigs. This was a mammoth task as the hangar was just a shell.Our build started three days prior to the event date. As there were no secure rigging points in the hangar, our dedicated light and sound team had to install free standing rigs and light towers to give sufficient event lighting. A 30ft x 20ft stage was installed with a powerful 20kw PA system for the four bands and disco that the base wanted.

The bar was to be a cost price bar and we installed a 60ft run of front bar, down lit in red white and blue. A mobile chiller unit was placed behind the bar for refrigeration and 17 bar staff (including two of our flairers)were booked for the night. At the far end of the hangar was the food and seating area, serving BBQ foods, crepes and hog roast baps. The seating was themed in red, white and blue and gas fired heaters were professionally installed at all corners of the hangar.
As with any function of this size, but especially with military functions, health and safety is of paramount importance. Teams of carpenters were brought in to construct and install fitted fire exits in place of the huge shutter doors, and to drill holes in the walls to install the gas pipes for the heating and food elements of the event.

A small chinese hat marquee was erected just outside the hangar over looked by a tri lite hung with spot lights. This was to be the main entrance and two flame cannons guided guests across the base to the party space. They were greeted on the red carpet by professional door staff.

Four luxury mobile toilet units were maneuvered by the Capability Events into place at the stage end of the hangar and positioned to create a bathroom area behind the stage.

A complex logistical plan was executed perfectly, ensuring over 20 suppliers arrived in order for the production of the event.

The main stage saw 4 live bands, a disco and a compere and well over 1,000 guests danced on until 3am.Although hard work to produce within a limited budget we thoroughly enjoyed working with the RAF for this event and are happy it was such a resounding success.

Flight Lieutenant Paul Morgan, RAF organiser of the party comments: "It was a bittersweet evening, celebrating RAF Innsworth’s 60 year anniversary but saying goodbye at the same time. Although many of us will be posted to Air Command High Wycombe, which will take over RAF central administration, we will be leaving behind many of our civilian colleagues who have helped with the smooth running of the camp during out time here.Morgan adds: The party was a sell out, with 1000 RAF and civilian personnel attending. Capability Events were the consummate professionals and executed the event without any hitches. There is no doubt without them I would have even less hair!"

Enjoy the video of the event below!
The Capability Events Team 2008

Ledbury Hunt New Years Eve Ball

2008-01-03T15:46:00.000Z

For the second year running we helped organise and produce the Ledbury Hunt Ball. Called the Golden Button Ball the evening again proved to be a great success.

Earlier in the day on New Years Eve the Golden Button Challenge took place over prime Ledbury countryside. Here are some pictures from fence 7. Carnage takes place.

East Thames Christmas Party - 20/12/07

2007-12-21T14:37:00.001Z

In April this year the East Thames group approached us again and asked if we could replicate their successful Christmas party we worked on last year. Once again, it was to be held in the beautiful Stratford town hall.

Our brief was to provide bar and DJ services for up to 500 guests. Each guest had five free drinks tokens. after which they had to pay for their drinks. Food was supplied by the hall and the world famous Titch from 'Fantasia' was booked by us to play an eclectic array of music from around the world to ensure the diverse mix of guests had a great Christmas party.

We arrived in our 7.5 tonne lorry and used the service lift at the venue to move 7 sections of bar, lights, drinks and bar equipment up to the function room. We installed an 18ft long main bar down lit in red, that served a full range of drinks including draught. Opposite to this we installed a 12ft long cocktail bar down lit in blue. Both bars had back bars with our bespoke mirrored back bar attachments. The main bar had 5 staff members, whilst the cocktail bar saw Chris Withey performing as a cocktail flairer alongside our very own Lorcan Lynch.

A great time was had by all, and we look forward to working with the group again for Christmas 2008. Check out the video below!

BT Christmas Party 18/12/07

2007-12-19T13:38:00.000Z

Last night we ran a private party for the workers of BT global services on the 34th floor of the world famous BT tower in the heart of central London.

Access was suprisingly easy for central London and the client was most helpful in ensuring we had the correct access information and required parking spaces (a welcome alternative to most events in central London!)

We installed a 12ft cocktail bar down lit in blue, with our bespoke mirrored back bar attachment. A professional cocktail flairer entertained guests as they arrived at the party shortly after finishing work. We also installed a working ice luge onto our black marble bar top, allowing clients to try some Christmas shots in a unique way.

3 of our young and eleqount staff served guests a free drinks from a full bar range including tailor made cocktails. We really enjoyed this event. not only for its fantastic views across London, but also for the lovely comments from guests and appreciation of our quick set up time. We wish everyone at the BT Tower a Merry Christmas and we look forward to working with them again n 2008

6 EVENTS OVER 4 DAYS - IN THE FESTIVE SPIRIT!

2007-12-19T12:03:00.001Z

Last week saw our busiest run of festive events, both in the corporate and private party sectors.
The 11th of December saw us working for Georgio Armani at their flagship store on Regents Street in London. Full of celebrities and press the event saw our bespoke mirrored bar fronts being installed to make the most of the event sponsor brands 'Grey Goose'. Armani hired an 18ft front bar from us, and despite a difficult install the event was a huge success.

The following day we ran a private office party for 100 guests for a prominent London agency.
We ran one of our hugely popular free cocktail bars, with tailor made cocktails for the evening, alongside our normal full bar range. We have noticed a good increase in the amount of corporate clients who choose to have their Christmas party in their office. It means no venue fee and complete control over their function. However, this also means we have to ensure that the day to day running of their office is not affected by our event set up, but that the bar is ready and open for guests shortly after they finish work. With this in mind we've got our set up time down to under one hour and guests enjoyed a basement party full of dancing and debauchery!
On the 13th December we had a last minute dry hire for another London agency. They required
two separate back bars, each with built in glass fronted fridges and our bespoke mirrored back bar attachments. We worked late into the night on the 12th in our workshop giving the back bars a respray and delivered them into central London on the morning of the 13th.

On Friday 14th December we organised and produced a party for 100 guests in a private residence just outside London. The event was to celebrate Christmas as well as our clients 25th wedding anniversary. The brief was to provide a fun and informal atmosphere, alongside our standard premium services. We installed a fully heated 12m x 9m frame marquee into the clients garden with easy access for guests though the house. The marquee had one of our bespoke cocktail bars installed, a black and white dance floor, some LED lights, a PA system and our relaxing stylish white leather furniture. Outside the house we rigged our powerful coloured flood lights to give some architectural lighting.

Guests were greeted at the front door with a glass of champagne before enjoying first class catering and bespoke cocktails. As always, we ensured minimum disruption to our clients house and gardens.

The next day saw a very grateful client full of praise for a very successful party! We look forward to working again with them in summer 2008.

On Saturday 15th December we travelled to Kent for another private party for 120 guests.

Set in a historic old barn we had to work hard to ensure guests were kept warm throghout the function. However, it was a beautiful atmosphere and after installing our 'i' colour lights, a PA system and one of our bespoke 12 ft cocktail bars everyone enjoyed themselves.

That night we also ran a pay bar for 250 guests at our local rugby club. We did this as a favour for the club that many of us at Capability Events play for. Since the floods in July 2007 the club lost its club house and held this Christmas party in a nearby hall to try and raise some much needed funds. The night was a huge success.

MTV - MY SUPER SWEET UK - SCOUTING FOR GIRLS

2007-11-28T15:23:00.001Z

In a carbon copy of the extremely successful ' My Super Sweet Sixteen'series on MTV in the States, filming for the UK series has been going on for several months.

Boys and girls between the ages of 16 and 18 are filmed in the planning, preparation and production of their dream birthday party.

We were approached by a private client who was organising a 17th birthday party for her daughter. It was due to be filmed by MTV. Luckily we had already been in touch with the production department at MTV for several months, as they wanted to film some of our other young adults functions. Unfortunately those clients didn't wish to be filmed - until now!

Our client for this function had already booked her marquee, power, sound and lighting and some theming. When she asked us to be the event organisers we reluctantly turned it down, as we would not have control over these keys elements to her funtion. Therefore, if anything went wrong with these we would be responsible and this would appear to be our fault - especially when filmed!

We agreed to be the event co - ordinators, ensuring that suppliers worked together to create an unforgettable function for the client. On the event night we organised the layout of the marquee, controlled the entrance to the event and liased with MTV for all their filming requirements. We installed a 12ft long cocktail bar and our bespoke mirrored back bar.

With three good looking bar staff, including an award winning flairer from London, the bar had an immediate affect on the guests, ensuring it was busy all night.

We also provided a fire juggler to add to the excitement to the entrance as guests waited for the birthday girl to arrive in costume on a themed horse!

With 4 main camera crews capturing every aspect of the function, a dance troupe, a town crier, an ice luge, a chocolate fountain and a surprise gig from 'Scouting for girls' the party was enjoyed by 200 young adults who had travelled from schools nationwide.

Despite the usual drunken antics and a quick dash for more generator fuel the evening went without a hitch.

Check out the video below for a very small sample.

We look forward to watching the hour long special in mid December 2007!

AXA Awards Ceremony 21st November 2007

2007-11-28T14:23:00.001Z

This prestigious event was held at the Sheraton Hotel Park Lane in London and was an evening of corporate awards. A pay bar was provided by the hotel. We installed a 12ft front bar with a 6ft back and as soon as the awards had finished a curtain was drawn to reveal our fully lit and stocked cocktail bar. Our two top cocktail Flairers, Chris and Magic performed a short flairing routine to guests before commencing a free cocktail service for two hours.

Despite terrible access to the venue, the event went well with guests enjoying the expertise of our cocktail staff together with freshly made bespoke cocktails.

Please view the video below for footage of our staff and bar at the event:

21st Birthday Party - 17th November 2007

2007-11-28T13:36:00.000Z

This was a private party for 120 guests held in a private residence.

Capability Events provided a premium 'free bar' service including welcome drinks and personalised cocktails. We installed two of our bespoke bar sections giving a 12ft front bar, along with a 6ft back bar.

The bar ran from 7pm until Midnight and served a full range of drinks.

This was originally a dry hire function, with the client then choosing to hire four staff from us to comprehensively manage the bar and tend to all of her guests needs. Her email the following day stands testament to our customer service:

"Thank you for your services at the party you were fantastic really helped to make it a terrific evening. Lots of compilments about you ,your staff and the bar itself. Will certainly be recommending you and hopefully you will get more business through this"

The Showmans Show 2007

2007-11-06T12:41:00.001Z

This year saw our first time of exhibiting at the world famous Showmans Show at the Newbury Showground on October the 17th and 18th of October.

As a company, we have been to this show every year since we started the business. Despite going to several exhibitions and shows throughout each season the Showmans show is the most relevant and useful for trade to trade business in the outside events market. For us it sets the industry standard and allows us to meet and chat to potential trade clients and see how our competition!

We plumped for a 12m x 12m stand size and erected 40 ft x 40 ft marquee into which we displayed our various mobile bars. Our idea was simple: to completely blackout the marquee so visitors to the show can see our services in situ; exactly how they would look if they booked them for their event. We had never seen this before at a show but it is very important to note that potential customers need to see products in their realistic event environment, as opposed to broad daylight! Although this decision would mean a much higher production cost for the stand, we felt it was the only way to realistically showcase what Capability Events was all about.

We installed 6 units of our standard bar sections. This gave us a 36 ft long bar down lit in various colours with temporary vinyl stickering across the two center sections. Behind this long run we installed two of our bespoke mirrored back bars. In between these back bars we erected a 6ft x 8ft projection screen to show some of our most recent event photographs and videos.

We then installed 12ft of our new remote controlled LED down lit bar in the left corner. This was to be our main service bar and we had our award winning flairer Chris working alongside a walking encyclopedia of mixology, Tim who created free cocktails for visitors. This bar had one of our bespoke mirror back bars. We also served free draught products.

Opposite our LED bar we installed a 12ft fully mirrored bar. This is one of our most popular bars, taking our traditional bar frame and cladding it in 'true mirror' acrylic; giving it the finest mirror possible within health and safety remits. Once again, this had one of our bespoke mirror back bars behind it.

The whole room was blackout, with LED star cloth covering the ceiling and all walls. A length of truss was erected, running centrally along the marquee, from which lights and custom made projection gobos shone.

The atmosphere was finished off with some light back ground music.

Guests were encouraged to enjoy a free drink, or sit on our white leather event furniture and chat to one of our three event managers who were there over both days.

Overall we had over 500 visitors to our stand with 48 solid enquiries, meaning the show was very worthwhile for us. We also had a chance to have a look around the show.

Why do caterers who are there to showcase their services insist on charging premium prices for their products? Surely they should be giving some out for free to entice new business from the trade visitors. After all, the Showmans Show is pre dominantly trade to trade and they are there to generate new business! We were appalled at being charged £4.00 for a hog roast roll with no crackling or apple sauce! Suffice to say we won't ever use that company!

We gave all our drinks away for free from our stand in an effort to show customers the different kind of services they can have at their events.

In summary. we enjoyed our experience of our first exhibition. We are grateful to all who came and visited us, and special thanks for all the great press coverage and pictures!

See you next year!

Croome Court Summer Ball 2007

2007-10-09T13:56:00.002+01:00

This was a corporate event for 250 guests, where the old tradition of a three course sit down meal and a disco at a local hotel was definitely not on the agenda!!

Our search for the requested 'Country House' venue was nationwide, until we found a privately owned property in the heart of the Worcestershire countryside. With its own river, stunning views across the nearby hills and ideal location near to the M5 this was to be our event site.

After sourcing a 5* hotel in nearby Birmingham for the guests accomodation we set about creating a memorable summer ball at the venue.

After a champagne reception at their hotel, guests were coached to the venue. After driving along the sweeping private roads of the country estate, and through Capability Brown designed gardens they arrived at the magnificent Croome court.

Greeted with another glass of bubbly;guests could then wander through the huge house before coming to the double doors at rear of the property, that opened up into their party site.

Before them lay a fairground complete with dodgems and a giant ferris wheel, giving rides allowing guests to see over the whole country house and estate. We also had a hot air balloon giving guests breath taking flights over the whole venue.

The main marquee lay at the steps of the giant stone steps leading down from the back of the court. White picket fencing and a red carpet entrance enticed guests in to take their seats for a full three course meal.

After the meal an interactive quiz was held,with guests jumping up and down and rolling about in laughter as spoofs of classic TV quiz shows were played with the guests.

One of our bespoke cocktail bars was positioned in the corner of the marquee, with flairing cocktail staff serving from a list of themed cocktails. Guests could also visit the casino room attached to the side of the main marquee.

At 10.30 pm, after a good meal, entertainment, the fairground, casino and hot air balloon guests were treated to a cat 4 professional firework display.

They were then ushered back inside the marquee for a live 7 piece boogie band on stage.

From 11pm - 2am rolling coaches meant that guests could return to their 5* hotel whenever they wanted to, allowing older guests to leave earlier then the more rowdy young guests who danced all the way until 2am!

We had so many lovely comments about this, and as it was a surprise for its guests 100 of them did not show up as they thought it would be the same old traditional office party! We hope next year they will have learned their lesson and will come and enjoy a evening of absolute luxury and entertainment, set in the decadent surroundings of Croome Court. Please look at the video below.

Video of an 18th Birthday party

2007-09-18T17:06:00.000+01:00

Taking a small garden in a private house and turning it into a full nightclub with award winning flairing cocktail staff and a chill out room.

18th & 21st birthday celebrations

2007-09-11T10:07:00.000+01:00

This event season has seen our largest number of 'young' adult celebrations. The majority of them have been for approximately 150 guests in a marquee at a private residence. We have quite a unique way of approaching these events and ensuring there success.

We all know the story; a daughter or son has reached a landmark age and they want to celebrate with friends and family in a way befitting their age. Their parents,however, want to ensure that the event is safe, and that all the young adults do not simply get steaming drunk and leave a nasty mess all over the venue!

We are here to help. We take our time to talk with the son or daughter to best understand how they want to create their ultimate birthday celebration. We encourage then to use their imagination and allow them to be as 'adult' as they like. There is no patronising, just time taken to listen to their likes, dislikes and tastes.

We've heard the dream; we then talk to the parents to discuss the practicalities of realising their childs' dream. We have an in-depth and no obligation discussion about budget, naturel concerns and the production aspects of the event. Most of these events take place at the family home so time is taken to explain the disruption clients can expect and all the pros and cons that can be associated with 'young adults' events.

With ALL of our events that run a free bar to guests we ALWAYS supply drink at cost price and on sale or return. We charge no mark up. We normally set aside £10.00 + vat of cost price drink for guests over 18 yrs old. This normally equates to around 10 - 15 drinks per guests over the course of that event. However, with 'young adult' celebrations we have some strong views. Experience over the years has taught us that we would much rather see young guests have 6 - 7 'weak' drinks or cocktails and really feel part of a bespoke party, as opposed to having two full strength cocktails and falling over early in the evening. Everything is identical to that of an adult event, even down to the look of the drinks and bar. If anything, more of an effort is made to decorate the bar and drinks, especially with young ladies parties.

We know these strong minded production value works. Letter from grateful parents stand testament to our unique way of managing these events. With minimal disruption to your family home, we ensure your children enjoy a safe and memorable celebration!

Russian Spectacular - Mongolia Rally

2007-09-06T19:34:00.000+01:00

Capability Events are proud to have been involved in the launch party and rally start for the Mongolia Rally 2007. 200 teams bought a car each for less than £100 and drove them all the way to Mongolia..... for fun!

Working closely with the organisers of the rally we designed a launch party in the Truman Brewery in central London. Taking an old industrial brewing complex we added a large bar, Russian themed lighting and a large sound and lighting set up for the Dj and band.

Providing bulk dispense and bulk cocktails for the 1000 guests the venue rocked as the 200 teams and their hangers on realised that departure was the next day and they were really, actually, defiantly leaving for an overland trip to Mongolia in the sorts of cars you give to a 17 year old who's just passed their test!

The next morning bright and early we installed and stage, advertising banners and a public address system over 200m wide in Hyde Park to provide some sort of order over the teams before they drove off into the sunset.

All in all this was a very successful and exciting event to be involved with. We also managed to make a donation to the Mongolia Rally organisation from the successful pay bar.

Prince of Wales Polo

2007-06-18T16:17:00.000+01:00

Capability Events were brought in three days before this prestigious sporting event to manage and optimize the numerous bars.

This event was a private lunch in a marquee, an afternoon match of Polo, followed by a private evening party.

The Royal County of Berkshire Polo club is a private venue that has recently started to open its gates for private functions. It is ideally situated a stones throw from London and was voted one of England’s most beautiful settings by Harpers and Queen.

For us this was a 24 hour build, arriving on site on the morning of the 15th and building until 10pm that night.

The main marquee housed tables for 300 guests, a 9m main bar. stage and dance floor. It was pitched parallel to the Polo pitch and had perspex sides to ensure that guests could still watch the sport in case of foul weather.

There was also a VIP bar area attached to the main bar, with star cloth ceiling and budda bags. Outside saw an array of marquees with an outside bar, outside catering, furniture, equestrian art and even a Hustler power boat with over 880BHP.

We arrived on site at 7am on the morning of the event, and put the finishing touches to the event ready for guests arrival at 11am.

Shortly after 11am saw a torrential thunderstorm that blew away the outside bar marquee, and despite our best efforts to hold it in place we had to let it go due to the lightening. The marquee company arrived shortly after wards to re erect the marquee.

Fortunately after the private lunch summer arrived at the club and guests were treated to some world class polo in beautiful sunshine.

In the early evening more guests arrived for the private party, with celebrity DJ's. The bars operated until 2am.

We fulfilled our brief of managing the three bars and staff, as well as advising and helping on staffing, marquees and power distribution.

As a new venue for clients the Royal County of Berkshire polo club was very impressive and we look forward to working there again and recommending it to existing and potential clients

Wedding Bar

2007-06-18T15:49:00.000+01:00

With arrivals by helicopters, drag acts, dazzling fireworks, naked men and goldfish on tables this was a wedding out of the ordinairy!

This was a celebration of a civil partnership, based in Ormskirk, Lancashire. Our brief was to provide an 18ft long bar with one of our bespoke back bars.

Originally this was to be a pay bar, serving 200 guests. However, upon our arrival we found that the client had decided it was to be a free bar. After negotiaiting the difficult access due to the helicopter landing zone we managed to set up with an hour to spare in the sweltering heat.

The event was in the clients private grounds and as always, every effort was made to ensure their private life and home were not disturbed too much.

As guests arrived we served them with a recpetion drink of Kia Royale, helped out by our two naked butlers - much to the surprise of some guests and delights of others!

We then served a full free bar, including personalised cocktails to the wedding party. Cocktails were served by one of our flairing barmen and we also ensured our draught system kept up with the weather and poured ice cold pints for guests.

After a buffet, some great entertainments and the fireworks we served through until 1am, even helping to pacify the police when they turned up to ask us to turn the music down a touch!

BT chooses Capability for Gala Dinner

2007-06-08T10:11:00.000+01:00

Thursday saw BT host a large conference at the NEC, which was followed by a lavish gala dinner. One of the NEC halls was transformed into a blacked out party room, complete with dancefloor and live music, while other rooms boasted a casino and private bar. BT chose Capability to provide 3 mobile bars for the evening; two bespoke marble topped 3.6m bars with 1.8m mirrored back bar and one 5.4m diameter down-lit round bar. The fantastic down-lit, bespoke bars added to the ambiance of the evening and both BT and ourselves were more than happy with the final result.

HARD ROCK CAFE CHOOSES CAPABILITY EVENTS AGAIN

2007-05-31T16:24:00.000+01:00

After being impressed by our bars last year, 'Hard Rock Cafe' have again chosen Capability Events to supply large mobile bars for their Hyde Park concert this year where Peter Gabriel will play live to thousands of guests.

We are very pleased to once again be working alongside such a big company. We will be providing the following:

- A 10m x 4.6m rectangular bar for their VIP area.

- A 7.5m x 4.5m 'C' shaped bar for the public central area.

- 3 x 5.4m straight bars for the public area.

- Merchandise stands

- Bar optimisation and consultancy.

- On site transformation of bar fronts.

We look forward to installing this set up in two weeks time. We'll post a de brief of the event here.

CAPABILITY EVENTS TO PRODUCE REVOLUTIONARY LED BAR!

2007-05-31T15:45:00.000+01:00

We are extremely excited to announce that we will soon be launching a brand new concept in LED light mobile bars.
Using the latest in remote LED technology the bars will be capable of amazing guests and transforming spaces at the touch of a button.

Please watch this space.

SUMMER 2007 - The events market will never be the same

Kent University uses Capability Events for the third year

2007-05-31T15:18:00.000+01:00

Every year Kent University holds a Freshers and Summer ball and for the past three years Capability Events have been chosen to supply their large mobile bars to each function.

In particular Kent Universitys' summer ball is known for being one of the biggest and the best balls in the UK University events calender.

This year was no exception, and last Saturday over 6000 students danced the night away in three large marquees, with various stages and numerous well known musical acts.

To cope with these sort of guest numbers Kent University consistently chooses Capability Events' mobile bars for their practical design, sturdiness and appearance.

Our brief this year was to provide the biggest bars yet; three seperate bars stretching the length of the three main marquees, totalling over 204ft of bar front alone. We used 34 of our 6ft modular bar units, each with black marble tops, glossy down lit white fronts and two shelves for stock. These were then put together on site to create the desired lengths.

We are constantly thinking about the design of our bars to ensure their praticality in any event situation does not dimish their finished look. When we re built our bars last year we chose a bespoke metal frame specifically designed to withstand immense stock weight, the elements and guest numbers.

The materials used to then clad these frames to create the finished product are the result of over five years of development. Not only do they create the right look of the bars, but they compliment the units' sturdy build and bulk dispense ability. With a large scale student event these wipeable and glossy materials also ensure spillages and general event mess can easily be removed, ensuring the bars are kept looking their best throughout the night. This also means we don't have to replace the bar tops and fronts so often, meaning cheaper installation costs for Universities.

The bespoke manufactured stainless steel down light housing was designed to allow all of our bar units to be down lit, without the risk of fragile lights being damaged by guests leaning on the bar. This ensures a clean run of illumination along any long front length of our bars - creating a real impact upon guests when they arrive. Gels can also be changed quickly on site, allowing clients to choose colour changes for different period of their events.

We are especially pleased that Kent University were impressed with our bars, both in apperance and bulk dispense abilities. We look forward to their next Freshers function when hopfully we can persuade them to have our new LED bars for the real wow factor!

James Moseley 40th

2007-04-19T14:15:00.000+01:00

New additions to the webite and new services

2007-04-06T17:39:00.000+01:00

I have spent all day updating the website. This is a gruelling task which we do from our macs running Dreamweaver. This does help massively but it's still a long task.

As we strive to be the best bar an event provider on the web we have to keep up to date with web site optimisation. Luckily like every other website in the UK we are called at least 5 times a day by people trying to flog us the snake oil that is their web site optimisation tools. Anyway we always turn them down as almost all know nothing about websites once you ask a simple question like how are you going to reduce my ad words spend.

I digress with that little rant.

What has become clear to me is that we are developing as a company as we grow each month. We have more new products an services which aren't on the website. I intend to add the following pages. Testimonials, Lighting design, Architectural lighting, Professional sound and lighting, History and How to pages. We are also developing a portable dispense product. This will enable us to supply all the weddings we turn down as they are too small for us. We will be able to help them now rather than disappointing all those brides!

Military Functions

2007-04-03T11:26:00.000+01:00

Historically we have worked with the Army, RAF and Royal Navy at a variety of MOD sites around the UK. Whether it has been a Officers mess ball or a less formal party to celebrate passing out, we have supplied staff and bespoke bars to ensure a great night is had by all military personnel.

There are a number of differences between military functions and civilan functions. One of those is that a bar on MOD land does not require a licence to sell drink. Military personnel are also used to paying a lot less at thier mess bars than on civvy street as military bars are not run for profit. For more formal functions we appreciate that there is a lot of history and tradition that must be respected and upheld.

We appreciate and understand all these differences, and with two of our key staff being ex Army officers we know how to approach any military function.

This summer we are running a number of bars for the 1st Battallion Irish Guards.

It will be a free bar at their summer ball. We will be running a free bar serving all our normal drinks, including our new draught system. We will also be installing a cocktail bar, and creating a tailor made cocktail list using the regiments' logo and history.

University Ball Visit

2007-03-22T15:44:00.000Z

Yesterday saw our first site visit for the Winter University Ball season at a college at Oxford University.

It is a winter ball for 1,000 guests, spread over a number of lawned quads within the hallowed walls of the colleges' very old buildings.

As with every site visit, we met with the chair of the ball committee and walked the event through eyes of guests, before sitting in the JCR to chat through potential ideas, problems and budgets.

One of the benefits of using Capability Events for a University ball is that the client only has us as a single contact, rather then 10 - 15 different suppliers. We also manage the build of the event, the event and the break down, to enable the ball committee to enjoy a hassle free function.

However, we also appreciate that committees need to experience the 'rite of passage' that organising a successfull ball involves. We offer as much or as little help, advice and guidance as required. Suffice to say we step in when we feel its needed!

After the initial chat with the committee, we walked around the site again talking measurements and photographs to allow us to create a tailormade ball package for the college.

We are now in the midst of doing just that and we look forward to presenting our quote next week.

We are always very consious of the wishes of not just the students at a college but also the administration and the rest of the faculty. It is usually a fine line between pleasing both parties!

Over several years, we have honed our skills with faculties and can happily liase between them, the council and the students covering matters such as licensing, electricity and health & safety!

This year we've created a more economical and safe way of illuminating the archways, buildings and quads outside college buildings. With less power being used, less wiring and more choice in colours we are confident that next season most of the University balls will be using our new method.

Watch this space!