Stage Management Company

 PETER HARGREAVES - Head of Production

I started in technical entertainment at school, lighting school plays and talent shows. After leaving school I moved on to offering a lighting service to other drama groups and stage schools and started lighting and being technical manager for numerous productions and events which led to myself and Jezz crossing paths. I've plagued his life ever since and Jezz and myself have since built the business into what it is today - a fully comprehensive Technical Entertainment Company.  I have lived in the Entertainment Industry bubble my whole life, attending Drama School from an early age which led to appearances in Theatre, Film, Commercial and Television, including; West Side Story, Whistle Down the Wind,  Love: Actually, One Man's Life, Emmerdale, Heartbeat, No Angels and more recently; Waterloo Road.  In latter years of Drama School I moved onto technical roles and responsibilities taking a hand in productions and events which led to becoming a technician with Bradford Theatres. Like Jezz,  I am very much "hands on" with all aspects of the company and my roles now, as they have been throughout my career so far, are that of Production Manager, Events Co-ordinator, Technical Manager, Lighting Designer and Programmer.  I am involved in all business areas of the company from admininstration to site management and I always have a very active role in each and every project the company is involved with, from initial thought processes through development of the idea and providing the perfect solutions for the clients' needs. My philosophy is not at just meeting clients expectations but exceeding them. 
During my career I have had the fantastic opportunities to work alongside artists and technical teams from Theatre Schools, Production Companies, Educational Establishments, Local Authorities and some of the most well known companies and artists in the industry including; Scouting For Girls, Jason Manford, BBC and Yorkshire Television.  When you call us it is more than likely that I will have some in depth involvment with some part of all of your project or request.       


 JEZZ HELLENS - Head of Technical                  

After several years of gigging and playing in various bands around the West Yorkshire area, I decided it was about time to go out and see the world; to begin a life long search for something better......this led to studying on a BTEC Nat Performing Arts course in Halifax before moving to "The South". Not long after arriving in Manchester I found myself graduating from the Arden School of Theatre with a BA Honours Degree in Technical Theatre Arts with Lighting Design as my speciality. In reality I spent the three years of study working for and around all the major theatres there as well as several visiting Companies as part of the City of Drama 2004. Cutting what seems like a very long story short, I've spent much of my Professional life in around Live Arts, Dance and Theatre for venues such as The Coliseum Theatre, Oldham [6 Sound Designs and 4 Lighting Designs]; The Library Theatre [Sound Design] and The Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester [3 Studio Lighting Designs and 1 Main House design]; Axial Dance Co. [Northern Tour '96]; Graeae Theatre Co [Blood Wedding National Tour 2001].
In 2001 I accepted a role as Technical Manager for Partnership Events and Entertainment Ltd looking after the technical responsibilities to Cruise Ships under their control. Later that year I was offered a position to work for White Light Limited in their Yorkshire based office and took on the role of looking after and developing Hires and Rental logistics and new work. Duties were too many to mention but covered the whole gammet of Installations, Negotiation, Quotations, simply rental of goods to organisation of transport and crew if required. I utilised my knowledge of Audio to develop and grow a successful sound rental arm to the company and we began to offer audio as part of our general terms for many large and  small ascale clientelle. The results were many satisfied customers with a problem free attitude and after sales care for any rental from a single followspot to full Event Management including Lighting, Audio and Rigging.  This position came to an abrupt end in 2006 with the closure of the northern office but led to my career coming full circle to end up basing myself in the Bradford area. Recent work has seen me taking on Production Chief roles for many long term events around the Country as well as my daily event roles for Stage Management Company events, working with some of the highest regarded practicioners in the industry and that's basically it, that's what I've achieved so far in, but not the total sum of, my career. As part of Stage Management Company I still continue to offer a first class service to all our current and future clients. From single items to full package deals we can prove that money isn't just the reason to take us on - we care about the product, you as our client and most of all our reputations! Both Peter and I still work 'hands on' for all of our events and love every minute of it. Our personal clients aren't just customers they're also our friends and we work hard to keep that relationship going time after time for their events. So that's a bit about me, what about you...?