Now that the party season is over, it’s finally time to sit back and reflect on what was an insanely busy first year of events for Summerley Recruitment. All Sam’s preparation during lockdown bore fruit, and the students and staff he recruited were sent to events and festivals across the country. They pulled pints, chopped up lemons for cocktails, brewed coffees, cooked up some feasts and served them to hungry customers.
We wanted to share some of the highlights of 2021, to thank our brilliant staff who worked their socks off for us. To thank our clients for trusting us to deliver quality staff, rising to the challenges that the pandemic brought to the catering and hospitality industry.
Goodwood Festival Of Speed
The Festival Of Speed is an annual event at the Goodwood estate near Chichester, and is a celebration of motorsport and car culture.
Held in early July, it was Summerley’s first big event and there were lots of moving parts. We were supporting multiple clients, providing staff with different shift times, so transport needed to be organised.
To throw a spanner into the works, Sam tested positive for covid in the week before the event so had to mastermind everything from his bedroom! This meant liaising with a team of helpers who ferried staff onto the site from various pickup points, met them in the car parks and took them to their workplaces. Each member of the team had to undertake a lateral flow test for covid too, to add to the fun!
The event was a great success and we were given further events as a result. The staff enjoyed it too and everyone was just pleased to be out and about again after a year of lockdowns.
Silverstone Grand Prix
Now out of isolation, Sam was able to manage the British Grand Prix weekend at Silverstone in person.
We were delighted to supply staff at such a prestigious event. Some of the team camped and some stayed over at Stowe school which is a beautiful building.
It was a scorching hot weekend and everyone worked really hard. As a pilot event, the Mahiki enclosure became the only place in the UK where people could legally sing and dance to music!
Henley Royal Regatta
The weather wasn’t great at Henley in August but it was great to be part of such an historic event, supplying two areas of the site with staff.
Our team included baristas, bar staff, chefs and cocktail fruit preppers.
Victorious Festival
Victorious was our biggest event of the year and Sam rose to the challenge to cover 340 shifts over the three days.
It was great to be part of such a huge event, supporting bars throughout the site.
Salon Privé
It was September already and we spent the first weekend at Blenheim Palace for the Salon Privé event. Salon Privé is a high end motor show, showcasing elite new and vintage collectable cars.
It was cool to be at this high end event with helicopters arriving constantly to transport the guests to the site.
Goodwood Revival
At our second big Goodwood event we were really lucky that the weather was kind, with bright sunshine for most of the weekend.
We provided staff for the Salvadori Pavilions and Retro Fair.
Boundary Festival
Later in September we headed over to Brighton for the Boundary festival. It was great to support this event and expand our staff base over there.
London Events
In November we started supporting awards ceremonies and Christmas parties at Evolution in Battersea. It was a fantastic venue which had a different theme every night, from Oktoberfest to Apres Ski. It was a huge production to change the venue overnight ready for the next event.
Looking ahead
2022 promises to be even bigger and better than 2021 too, and Sam’s calendar is bursting with new events and festivals.
If you’d like to join our team for temporary, flexible work over the summer and beyond then you can find out more here. You can work around your studies, work with your friends and experience some fantastic events.