A-mazing!

The client said it, the venue manager said it and there was no other word for it! Last night's big show at Hampton Court prompted the same adjective from everyone we spoke to. Choreographed to a soundtrack of contemporary classics, including I Gotta Feeling by the Black Eyed Peas and Rule the World by Take That, the show crackled with class. Our client, a multi-national company celebrating a recent merger, wanted something special with which to impress the 500 guests. We illuminated the fountain by the Long Water, lit up the sky with our powerful, multibeam searchlight, and provided guests with the warm glow of two Olympic style 'flambaux' flames on arrival. After dinner they returned outside for the big finish, a 7-minute display which sparkled with style and pezazz. Giant flames hissed into the sky as Bjork sang Shhh...it's so Quiet, then a volley of shell bursts shattered the silence. This sequence drew a round of applause before the show drew to a tumultous close with Rule the World and a sky full of gold. A-mazing! Show credits: Design, Ian Woodroof. Senior Firer, Paul Roberts. Sound & lights, Rob Stokes.

It's a long story

'What happened to Lord Brocket? How come he gave up this place?' asked the well-refreshed American wedding guest as he surveyed the stately pile that is Brocket Hall. Looking out over its majestic, manicured grounds and its moonlit lake, it was indeed hard to imagine anyone giving it up. 'It's a long story,' I replied. 'Do you know Lord Brocket? Have you met him?' continued the American, eager for my insight into the English aristocracy. 'Hey do you guys want a drink?' And so with an hour to go before the start of our show last night I recalled our Brocket years. When I first started Fantastic Fireworks back in the early 1980s, Brocket Hall was one of the first places I began sending my brochures. As one of Hertfordshire's premier locations (alongside Hatfield House & Knebworth) it seemed a good prospect. It took about a year before I received a phone call booking our first display. In those days Brocket Hall was run by Lord Brocket, his PA Felicity Buxton and his butler, known simply as Alan. High-powered political conferences were held there and fireworks were a new and exciting way of entertaining the international delegates. One of the most memorable events was in 1989 when a Japanese television company took it over for a day and beamed a live show back to Tokyo. There were London taxis, a helicopter, a red double-decker bus and dozens of actors doing crazy things. The high spot (apart from our own cameo performance of daytime fireworks) came when the Pet Shop Boys and Bananarama suddenly appeared to mime their hits (You Were Always on my Mind & Robert de Niro's Waiting). Magic days! I met Lord Brocket several times and invited him to give a talk on fireworks to one of our training courses. He was always very charming and helpful. Fast-forward 20 years and Alan the butler is still there, as lovely as ever, and Felicity, known to all as Flic, is just down the road running Wrotham Park. Brocket himself pops up in the gossip columns on a regular basis and despite the slings and arrows of losing his freedom, not to mention an outrageous fortune, seems to be in fine fettle. He has remarried, become a father again and can look forward to Brocket Hall one day returning to his children. 'Yes but why did he give all this up,' asked the Amercian. 'Well,' I reply, 'there was a little matter of some Ferraris.' More guests suddenly appear on the terrace and it's time to fire the show. I never did get that drink. Thanks to Justin, Martin & Laura for an excellent show and to Rob for manning the PA.

David is in the CAD class!

Earlier this year we resolved to be better trained, better informed and generally better prepared for the challenges of another busy fireworks season. This month two of our staff have been attending classes which will take us a step nearer achieving our goal. Our Display Manager Hayley Maddin completed a First Aid course, which means that if any of us are bruised, burned, scalded or electrocuted (to name just a few of the many hazards lurking in any office) she can now administer an assortment of bandages, lotions and resuscitation procedures. Meanwhile our Operations Manager David Willsher has been immersed in NEBOSH - the National Examination Board in Occupational Safety & Health. It's quite a mouthful, and so is the course! Two solid weeks of training followed by a week of revision followed by an exam. At the end of itall, David will know his CoSHH*from his CoMAH**and his CAD*** from his CLER****, all of which should mean that Fantastic Fireworks ticks the right safety boxes.
* Control of Substances Hazardous to Health
** Control of Mass Accident Hazard
*** Classification and Authorisation Document
**** Classifcation and Labelling of Explosives Regulations

Oh so wonely!

Today I'm writing to you from my lonely little desk in an eerily quiet and still Rocket Park! (I'm sure I can hear your sympathetic oohs and aahs from here!) But do not fear, I haven't been abandoned or desserted - it's just so incredibly busy for Fantastic Fireworks at the moment that I have been left to man HQ on my tod for a bit while the others go off on all sorts of important engagements...

Hayley & Pascal are currently out at meetings in the Cambridge area, visiting some very interesting people to discuss potential displays... David meanwhile is on the 5th day off a highly intensive NEBOSH course, and will soon be the FF authority on all things to do with Health & Safety... Jon's out and about too, making last minute preparations for The Event Show next week (which we are all very excited about)... and last but no means least, Tom and Paul have worked super-hard all morning in order to have the afternoon off - and very well deserved it is too! So that just leaves little old me in the Display Team, Becky in Retail, and Ian in our sister company Confetti Magic - and working extremely hard we are too! (Just someone please remind me to hide the board-games and party food before the boss comes back later! *wink wink nudge nudge*)

25 and counting!

Hello everyone, Happy New Year, and Happy Burns Night to all our Scottish friends and Firers!

This is my first post of 2010 and, as promised in the Firers Times, should (hopefully!) be the first of many! Our 25th year has got off to a flying start so far. We've begun to revamp ourselves completely with a new logo & a fresh new look, in fact a whole new FF for the next 25 years! David and Steve have just got back from an exciting & fruitful trip to China, where they were on the hunt for all the most fabulous and innovative of the new fireworks for the year ahead. All Firers should now have received my Questionnaire; the new and improved FF Firers Database is shaping up nicely with all the responses I have received so far (thank you). The Event Production Show in Olympia's Grand Hall, London, takes us nicely into February (on Tues 2nd & Wed 3rd to be exact). Here you will find Hayley, Pascal, Jon and myself manning our fantastic new-look stand, logoed up and waiting for you with welcoming smiles and eager for a chat! If you happen to be in the area please do pop in to see us! Who knows, you may even walk away with one of the many bottles of champagne we will be giving away during our two day stint there...

We have so many more exciting plans to take us through the rest of the year and, unlike this famous quote from the aforementioned Mr. Burns, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men Go oft awry"... we know that we will see ALL of our plans through to a thrilling and successful finish!

I am certain that this anniversary year will be a year for us all to remember - roll on the next 25! x

Lost in translation

Being in China provides plenty of opportunity for amusement, if only from the translated public signs, (see picture). And only in China would you find a Yoshiba television in your hotel room, Dandy kitchen appliances around the home, a JBC digging holes and a Rolls Royce angel and grill stitched on to the front of what can only be described as a clown's car waiting to pick up some lucky bride. In fact today Steve and I drove past a restaurant called Fukang Pawn which provided a good laugh. And If that's not enough, for those of you with no friends theres always the ‘knob coffee bar’ where you can meet like minded people.

On a more serious note the people have been very welcoming and hospitable. The locals also seem to enjoy practicing their English as we walk past on the street by shouting out “hello” to which we respond with a very poorly pronounced ‘Nihouw’, one of only four words we’ve managed to learn in our time here.

This is my first time in China but it is Steve’s fourth visit and he is completely shocked at the amount of development that has taken place over the past few years. Towns that were once quite a small community have turned into bustling cities and everywhere you look something is being built. The speed of development is truly quite shocking. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Posted by David via the hub.

A vision for the future

As Steve & David touch down in Beijing, their work colleagues back home are hard at work on the company's blueprint for the future. While office staff across the country were forced to stay at home because of the snow, a dozen of our finest made it to to the Holiday Inn for a full day's agenda. Fantastic Fireworks celebrates 25 years of success this year and while I'm delighted to have got us this far, I wanted everyone to be able to have a say in how and where we go from here. My 'bible' for the day was a book called the E Myth - Why Most Small Businesses Fail. Its premise is that they fail because they don't have a plan. I have to admit that I didn' have a plan when I started the company back in 1985, in fact I didn't have a clue. We succeeded because the fireworks phenomenon was in its infancy and we were among the first to realise its potential. Twenty-five years on we face a new challenge: How to build on our past success in a rapidly changing market place. Firstly it is highly competitive, with hundreds of firework companies chasing the same targets, second our buying public are far more sophisticated, and third we are fighting against a recession. What then will make our clients hear us above the din of all those shouting for their business? Our agenda included topics such as how to provide a better, more consistent customer experience, how to make our displays even more fantastic and, in this health and safety conscious era, how we can maintain and improve our already highly regarded safety standards. There was no talk of sales targets or gross margins, just a united desire to live up to and beyond the name which got us here in the first place. We have a young, creative and energetic team all eager to make their mark. Adding a wealth of experience and expertise to the mix are our highly respected senior pyrotechnicians Ian Woodroof, Steve Boothman & Paul Roberts plus a legion of the most dedicated firers in the land. I'm proud to be leading this team on its first exciting steps into the next 25 years.