2024 Highlights
What a Year! From Festivals, Street Fairs, Sporting Events and Music Concerts – all the way to a Royal Visit. 2024 Has been an exceptional year for the Crowdguard team.
2024 – Where to start?
How about Edinburgh, at the beginning of 2024, when we were asked to protect the lively crowds for the Annual Hogmanay celebrations?
Our teams installed ATG SurfaceGuard and the Highway Care’s RB50 and Claw HVM systems in multiple locations across the city centre, removing the additional protection overnight in the early hours of New Year’s Day to help the city get back to normal as soon as the festivities were over.
Later in the year we were delighted to be appointed as the main framework contractor and Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) supplier to The City of Edinburgh Council, in partnership with The University of Edinburgh and Assembly Festivals, to deploy Highway Care Claw, Husson International H-Stop, and ATG SurfaceGuard HVM solutions to protect the vast crowds that attended the summer events taking place during August, including the Edinburgh Fringe, as the city celebrated its 900th anniversary. This was a significant milestone for us, and we couldn’t be prouder of our team’s dedication and hard work throughout the tender process.
We deployed the Highway Care Claw and the Husson H-Stop for the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
But we didn’t stop there. We were back in Edinburgh for their Winter Festival, as we knew the key access points and junctions that were the main traffic thoroughfares, as well as those that attracted high footfall. As part of our ongoing partnership with the council, we conducted another Threat Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, as the main focal areas of the Winter Events were slightly different from those in the summer, so we deployed the ATG SurfaceGuard at a range of key locations – as Edinburgh in the winter is a very different proposition, as you’ll see from the image below!
ATG Surface Guard in place, in the snow, for the Edinburgh Winter Events 2024.
2024 truly has been a year to remember for Crowdguard. From our dedication to upholding and enhancing industry standards, to fostering key partnerships and delivering world class security solutions, this year has solidified our position as leaders in the HVM field.
Our collaborations with esteemed organisations like the FSOA, PSSA, and UKCMA have played a pivotal role in shaping and elevating industry best practices. Together, we’ve made meaningful strides to ensure safer and more secure environments across a wide spectrum of projects and events.
2024 Festivals
We love festival season! It’s sunny (mostly), warmer, and there’s always so much going on.
Take the Bermondsey Street Festival in London. What originally began as a small gathering between a dog collar shop and a couple of restaurants in Tanner Street Park, has now grown into a major street party that attracts visitors from far and wide.
Organised by a team of dedicated local volunteers, this ‘Village Fete in the City’ took place on Saturday 21st September. The colourful annual festival spans Bermondsey Street, Leathermarket Gardens, and Tanner Street Park and showcases the vibrant community spirit and independent businesses. The day’s attractions include food stalls, artisan and craft booths, performances, live music, wellness activities, and even a dog show! H-Stop was our recommended temporary HVM product, due to its ease of deployment and removal which made it the perfect solution for this scenario. Units were stored at the side of the road overnight, before being quickly deployed by one operative at each location in a configuration previously marked out by our teams, when we conducted an in-depth site visit, in the weeks before the event started.
H-Stop was the ideal solution for the 2024 Bermondsey Street Festival.
Another festival highlight of our year was the Pride Events in Dublin, Doncaster and the East Coast. So much colour, so much joy – and so many people to keep safe from hostile vehicle incursions! For Doncaster Pride, we worked with Doncaster City Council to ensure that the thousands of people that turned out for the Pride Parade were able to focus on having a great time, and celebrating their diversity.
H-Stop were deployed to keep the spectators to the Pride Parade safe and secure.
Concerts
Who doesn’t love a bit of Taylor Swift? Her ‘Eras’ Tour captivated audiences at Murrayfield Stadium with nightly crowds reaching over 70,000. We played a crucial role in ensuring the safety and security of attendees by collaborating with The City of Edinburgh Council, the Scottish Rugby Union, and Police Scotland to implement a comprehensive HVM scheme.
We deployed 115 metres of rated equipment that was strategically placed around 12 locations to enhance security and ensure both ingress and egress of the thronging Swifties was managed safely.
Specifically, we deployed 32 metres of Highway Care’s RB50, across four locations. These barriers provided necessary access for authorised vehicles and emergency services. 48 metres of ARX Stopper were installed at three locations using the IWA14 configuration and at two additional locations in the VADS configuration. 16 metres of ATG Surface Guard were rapidly installed (in less than 15 minutes) at the main egress points to accommodate high footfall. And last but not least, H-Stop was deployed at three locations to allow immediate authorised vehicle access as and when required.
Swifties on their way home from Taylor Swift’s gig at Murrayfield pass through the ATG SurfaceGuard HVM protection
But we didn’t only protect Swifties – we were also responsible for the TVRAs and VDAs with temporary HVM measures for the Take That concert, Rob Stewart’s Dublin gig with our partners at Actavo, and the Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen, when he played to tens of thousands earlier in the year!
Sports
We regularly work with Premier League and EFL Clubs to help protect matchday football crowds from the risk of hostile vehicle incursions with a selection of our Traffic Management (TM) partners, such as Chevron TM. We’ll use the most appropriate range of temporary HVM solutions, following on in-depth TVRA, VDA and counter-terrorist risk assessment. Where appropriate, and in conjunction with the Football Club, we have also installed semi-permanent HVM barriers, like the versatile Unafor Core, in a bespoke, branded solution with the club’s colours.
Unafor Core semi-permanent installation branded in Club colours
But’s it’s not just football clubs that we partner with – there was the Rugby Autumn Nations Series at Murrayfield, the Olympic Fan Zones in King’s Cross London, the Red Bull Tyne Ride, the Great Scottish Run, and Chester Racecourse – each venue, and each event requiring a different approach and a different equipment deployment.
Russ Phillips, Director of Counter Terrorism & Risk gave his thoughts on the year:
“I’m incredibly proud to have been involved in such a diverse range of projects this year, from advising on high profile global events to supporting smaller scale events. What I value most is our honest, tailored approach, sometimes it’s implementing a range of tested and rated vehicle security barriers, and other times it’s as simple as suggesting smarter ways to manage queues to reduce risk. Being able to focus on what truly matters for each client, supported by such a dedicated and innovative team, makes me proud to be part of Crowdguard.”
By Royal Appointment
We were honoured to be selected to provide temporary HVM solutions – in the form of Highway Care’s RB50 units – for the visit of Her Majesty Queen Camilla to Shrewsbury, earlier in the year. The RB50 isn’t just about security; it’s about smart, efficient protection. Installed in mere minutes, it offered the flexibility to open access for authorised vehicles in seconds – blending security with the seamless flow of the day’s events.
Queen Camilla’s visit to Shrewsbury, and the decision to appoint Crowdguard to provide a detailed HVM solution, was a great honour for us.
Crowdguard Protects Remembrance Day Parades
Remembrance Day events, like those that we delivered temporary HVM solutions for, on 11th November in Liverpool City Centre, Taunton, and Barnsley, draw communities together in solemn commemoration. These gatherings are inherently low-profile compared to larger public events but remain potential soft targets for individuals seeking to exploit vulnerabilities.
At Crowdguard, we believe that every Publicly Accessible Location (PAL) should have a risk assessment as part of the event planning process. It’s part of our due diligence that ensures threat and vulnerability are considered so that risk can be identified and planned for – whatever the size and nature of the event.
Working in partnership with Hardstaff Barriers and Liverpool City Council to deploy permanent and temporary HVM solutions (ATG SurfaceGuard) for the 2024 Liverpool Remembrance Day parade.
Iain Moran, Crowdguard’s MD comments:
“What stands out most to me about 2024 is the sheer dedication of the incredible team we have at Crowdguard. Every challenge we’ve faced, every project we’ve delivered our team has risen to the occasion with professionalism, passion, and an unwavering commitment to customer service. Our mantra has always been partnership, and it’s something we live and breathe in every aspect of our work.”
New Partnerships
This year, we celebrated new partnerships and the ability to provide new products to our customer base. With Husson International, we can now offer the remarkable H-Stop temporary HVM barrier solution, which is a rated, highly versatile and stylish addition to our ever-growing stock – and one that we have deployed widely this year, across a number of diverse types of events.
With CLD, we are able to offer a robust, rated and easily deployable temporary fencing solution, with the FenceSafe range – which we expect to be hugely popular for the 2025 festival season.
The CLD FenceSafe system is robust enough to be deployed in the most demanding environments.
ARMIS ONE is a new solution that we’ll be seeing next year, which offers a robust solution that is tested and certified, with just a single unit offering fantastic pedestrian permeability and quick authorised vehicular access. We think it will be suitable for events of a longer duration than just a weekend, for example – and it looks great too!
With TM companies such as Quality Traffic Management and Chevron Traffic Management, we have found TM partners that understand the complexities of matchday crowd dynamics, and fully embraces and supports the additional support that temporary HVM solutions can bring to vehicular and pedestrian movement in crowded places.
We pride ourselves on working across a number of diverse sectors, and understanding the specific needs for each of those. With that in mind, we also partner with the Football Safety Officers Association (FSOA), where we are delighted to be their Main Official Partner and Platinum Sponsor. The FSOA offers us expertise into the world of Football Stewards and Safety Officers, which is invaluable in our continuing work with football clubs across the country, as we look to educate clubs on the benefits of HVM solutions to protect their matchday crowds.
The United Kingdom Crowd Management Association (UKCMA) represents the interests of key commercial organisations whose primary business is providing crowd management and event security services, and offers a voice to the tens of thousands of security professionals engaged within the events industry. As we are in the business of protecting crowds, this is a key partnership with us, and gives us a platform to help educate event security professional in the benefits, and necessity, of HVM solutions for crowded places.
Expect to see more of our Protection in Partnership projects throughout 2025.
It’s not all work!
As a family-led business that supports grassroots sporting activities, we encourage giving back to our local community – which is why we are delighted to sponsor the Ponteland Girls U10’s football team. Superstars, every one of them!
Deborah Ainscough, Founder & Director of Crowdguard, comments:
As we look back on 2024, I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve achieved together at Crowdguard. This year has been a testament to the power of collaboration, innovation, and an unwavering commitment to protecting people and places. Every project, every partnership, and every milestone has demonstrated the strength of our team, and the trust placed in us by our clients and partners.
AS 2024 draws to a close, we’d would like to say thank you to all of our clients, supporters, partners, and suppliers – we appreciate your trust and value your business.
To all of the Crowdguard team – thank you, you’re all amazing. Time to let your hair down and enjoy a well-earned Christmas break.
The incredible growth and success we’ve experienced as a team this year, pushing boundaries, innovating delivering high standards, and serving as a source of education, echoes everything that we stand for at Crowdguard – you can expect more of it next year!
