STUART FRASER TALKS STADIUMS

Meet Stuart Fraser, he is Head of Entertainment products and has been with LTM for 1 year 3 months

• Firstly, tell us a little bit more about your background…

I have been working in the Entertainment industry my whole life, from amateur technical theatre from 16 to LTM now. I initially did lighting work for theatre, but started to move into stage engineering, and for 10 years worked as a project and design manager building venues globally. Nowadays I specialist in overhead lifting equipment and control systems for the entertainment market, including stadium work!

 

• What drew you to working with LTM?

I actually knew the team here and worked with them as part of the supply chain for nearly 13 years before I moved here full time, and actually did a couple of weeks making chain hoist cable sets whilst at Uni!! It seems the right time to come on board and grow the entertainment business here, it’s a great group of people, and having fun and enjoying the work is at the heart of what we do!

 

• What does your role consist of?

 it’s a bit of a mixture, between going to see clients in whichever country they may be in, provide quotation and solutions for clients to suite there needs, and also a lot of technical assistance and support, to ensure they have the right product and right solution.

 

• How does a stadium / sporting venue project start for LTM?

Usually with a very rough idea. Most of the equipment we do in stadiums is particularly for audio, announcement and PA requirements, and the need to maintain these safe and efficient manner. A lot of our production clients use the hoists temporarily for large events and performances also!

 

• What are the main things you have to take into consideration when working on a stadium / sporting venue?

Weather usually!! the hoists are raised for the majority of the time, but depending on the location means different weather conditions to consider. Luckily the hoists we tend to use are IP65 as standard, so this makes the start of this very easy!

 

• Are there any difficulties that you experience on a regular basis?

As with most build projects, timelines are always tight, and with the size of stadiums the hoist requirements and idea usually come in very late!

 

• What stadium / sporting venues have you worked on recently?

There is a few large music tours and events out using our hoists in stadiums at the moment, such as Ed Sheeran which is always good to see!

 

• Do you have any stadium / sporting venue projects coming up in the near future?

We do have some overseas stadiums coming up but can’t talk about these, we are sworn to secrecy!!

 

• What would you say has been your favourite stadium / sporting arena project so far?

The team here did some project at Twickenham a while back, which being a rugby fan is always nice to know!!

 

• What would you say is the next big thing in terms of stadium / sporting venue technology?

For our equipment really its all about size, weight and capacity, we are working hard with the new range of hoists to make these as light, robust and small as possible to fit into the tight locations needed on some of these projects.

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