Behind the scenes of events: the work that makes it happen

By Becky Stevens, Managing Director of Hybred Events Ltd.

When people think about events, they picture huge crowds, live performances and great moments — but they rarely consider what it takes to make them happen. The reality is that behind every festival, mass participation event, or national occasion is an entire network of skilled professionals working to ensure that everything runs smoothly and, most importantly, safely.

Whether it’s Britney Spears in Preston Park or managing the queue for the Queen’s funeral, large-scale events don’t just happen — they require expertise, meticulous planning and a ‘make it work’ mentality. As an event safety and operational support company, Hybred Events has played a role in the delivery of hundreds of events for hundreds of thousands of people.

Why I started Hybred Events

I launched Hybred Events in 2012 with one goal: to help clients bring their vision to life in the safest way possible. After a decade working across local authorities, charities and PR agencies, I was frustrated by the lack of a ‘can do’ attitude in the safety advisors I worked with. Instead of looking for solutions, too many focused on saying “no”.

Determined to change this, I went out and gained the only event safety qualification available at the time, then began working across a wide range of events — always with a focus on making the impossible possible.

The invisible work that keeps events moving

Over the years, we’ve supported clients to grow and transform their events. Our work happens behind the scenes, but it is the oil that keeps everything moving. We handle the boring but essential elements that nobody notices unless they go wrong:

• Writing event safety plans

• Managing licensing applications

• Creating risk assessments

• Delivering safety training

• Ensuring compliance onsite

We work alongside incredible security, crowd management and welfare teams — the unsung heroes behind the ‘fun stuff’. The work we do is rarely seen, but without it, events would grind to a halt.

The risks we work to prevent

And when things go wrong, they can go catastrophically wrong. Every year, we see examples of avoidable crowd disasters. As part of the UK Crowd Management Association, Hybred Events collaborates with colleagues across the industry to analyse these tragedies, understand what went wrong, and create guidance to prevent them happening again.

Breaking down barriers for women in event safety

One of the biggest challenges facing our industry is attracting more young women into event safety and crowd management. There are still major barriers to entry, and we need to ask:

• Do women even know this career exists? It’s rarely presented as an option when choosing a degree or considering careers.

• Do they think crowd safety is just about security? While security plays a huge role, crowd management is a far more complex discipline that benefits from an academic and strategic approach.

• Do we have the right support structures? The event world isn’t regulated, long hours are expected, and pay can be low — but those of us in it do it because we love it.

At Hybred Events, we actively champion women who show an interest in event safety and crowd management. Through my teaching at BIMM, I work to engage, educate and encourage young women to consider this as a career — showing them just how exciting and vital this industry really is.

If we want to bring more brilliant women into this field, we need to be louder about what we do and why it matters. It’s time to open doors, break down barriers, and change perceptions — because the future of event safety needs more diverse voices, fresh perspectives and skilled professionals ready to take the industry forward.

https://www.hybredevents.com/