The History of Capability Events parties and event organisers.

Being the technological whiz kids that we are you can now find up to date information about all of our recent events on our blog.

We often shoot some video footage and edit it together so you can see a short film of the event.

Please note that during our extremely busy periods we cannot write up all of our events so we just choose the most unusual and challenging ones.

You will probably find an event we have done that is similar to one you are planning. Have a look at the 'Labels' section on the left hand side of the blog where you will see different event categories such as 'Corporate Party' or '18th birthday party'. Click on the most relevant one to your event to see similar events we have produced.

2007 saw our biggest events yet, with our bespoke mobile bars really taking off.

PGL

On the 17th of August we were approached and asked to organise and manage the funeral for the founder of PGL. This took the form of a humanist ceremony. Within three days we fulfilled the spec required and the event saw 500 guests, within a marquee, with outside mobile bars. This was a particularly challenging event, especially given the very tight time frame. Although the site was a fitting location for the service, it needed a lot of work to accommodate the 15m x 30m marquee required. Within two days the ground was prepared, the area fenced and the team had moved in to erect the large marquee. This left two days to erect the three small chinese hat marquees which would house the catering and bar. Through a combination of careful liasing between client, catering, grounds men, staff, suppliers and ourselves the service began without a hitch, until the weather set against us. In the face of a torrential downpour we carpeted the worst patches of ground and the guests relaxed at the bar. PGL contacted us a few days after the event to thank us profusely for fulfilling their needs, organising and producing the event within five working days.

Virgin Staff Party

Every year Sir Richard organises an enormous event, over two weekends, for all the staff within the Virgin group. Our task was to supply a bar that would accommodate the 12,000 guests that were anticipated each weekend. This evolved into a 40m bar, arranged in a giant square formation. Despite diabolical weather rendering the site a quagmire, both weekends were enjoyed immensely by guests and staff alike. Our crew arrived on site three days before the first weekend and began constructing the bars in the centre of the huge big top, facing the enormous outdoor stage being built for the bands. Down-lighting was used to great effect as the design team branded the fronts of the bar and is surrounding areas. As we had a clash of events we unfortunately could not stay for either of the weekends, but to all accounts the huge event went very well, especially Sir Richards entrance on a tightrope! We look forward to next years Virgin party.

Welsh language and cultural show

Well, the Welsh seem to claim they have their own language and culture and they displayed it nicely as we struggled through this event, with all the guests and staff speaking only Welsh! The Angelsey showground saw nearly 1000 guests over the weekend with live music on the main stage in the evenings. We constructed a 38ft long marble topped bar, and built a 6ft mirror backed bar behind the main bar .This event also saw the introduction of a local spirit called "Toffoc" - a vodka toffee drink. This appeared to go down very well amongst the guests, although its market outside of Wales has yet to be discovered! However, the highlight of the weekend for us has to be the Welsh American wrestling on the main stage on the Friday night. What a way to celebrate the Welsh language and culture! Great fun. When a client approaches us for a pay bar at their event we often produce a sliding scale of payment per head for our client. This means that not only are we making money, but the client is also. For this event we paid the client £1 per adult who attended the event.

Delta

This was a corporate function for clients and guests of Delta, a recruitment company based just outside Windsor. The site was fantastic, with huge gardens, floodlit trees and even a lake. Our bespoke marble topped bar was branded with Delta logos and the guests danced to a live band until the early hours. When a client wants to give drink away for free to guests we often get asked to serve free drinks until a certain time. However, we find it far easier for clients budgets that we arrange a pre-determined budget. Once guests have drunk that amount we would then start charging or the client has the option to increase their drink budget for the event. We buy all our drink at trade cost price and we pass these prices directly onto clients.

Amongst all this mayhem we have also managed two weddings, a birthday party and two polo cross functions, all with our mobile bar services. When a client wants a pay bar at their event, we organise all the licensing and insurance required to cover it. We have expert knowledge in this field and can often obtain a license within a few days should a client require us to organise a pay bar for them. All of our bars come on site with suitable refrigeration in the form of freezers, coolers and fridges that fit snugly below our custom made mirrored back bars.
For one of the wedding events the client utilised one of our firework packages, to surprise the bride. We have our own pyrotechnical expert, and we have a licence to store category 4 fireworks. We're not talking about small jumping jack flashes or sparklers in the garden. These are big fireworks (up to 16inch mortars!) that light up the sky above an event. They are a very effective way of using the site to maximum appreciation with the guests. For this particular wedding our fireworks team hid behind trees at the bottom of the site until the father of the bride signaled for us to begin. The timing was impeccable and the display was a huge surprise for all the guests.

Art Rocks

In November, London saw the Art Rocks event take place at the Trueman brewery. It was a collaboration of famous artists and musicians to raise money for the 'Make a wish foundation'. The venue was absolutely fantastic and we built a champagne reception bar and a main fully lit bar in four hours, ready for the first guests to arrive at 7pm. The bands were particularly good and he highlight of the evening saw little Richard performing his last ever UK gig. We saw over 300 guests, and nearly £50,000 was raised for the 'Make a wish foundation'

Within a few days we organised a staff party for the post-production department at the main television studios in Wood Lane, London. Our venue was studio 8 and after negotiating the heavily guarded entrances we managed to get into the studio that was to be our home for a few days. With sets for 'Ab Fab' and 'Two pints of lager and a packet of crisps' surrounding us we started to set up. The BBC made every effort to make us feel truly welcomed and everything was at our beck and call. Being a fully functioning studio, we had a fantastic lit rig which gave us a fantastic back drop for the evening. With a live funk band, dressed to the hilt and staff from our friends at the Fetish club we all had a great night. We look forward to going back to the beeb for more events throughout 2005.

The Future

2008 is gearing up to being twice as busy with functions being booked all across the UK and Europe.

Ben,
Two weeks on, time to reflect. Many thanks indeed for Capability events contribution to the success of the above party. Your understanding of the needs and behaviour of the target audience, and ability to satisfy and control it on the night, does you immense credit. Well done! Your additional input into the vexed question of electrical equipment safety, was very much appreciated. I feel you have the right ingredients to make a very successful service company and I wish you the very best for the future. Should you wish for a more formal endorsement or any further support, do not hesitate to contact me.
Best regards
Mike Tunnell
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Ben,
Just a quick note to say thanks and congratulations for the splendid job Capability Events performed at our recent Village Bash which was a huge success.
Feedback from your staff on the night confirmed that commercially it was a success and we sincerely hope that you'll be able to work with us again next August Bank Holiday.
Please pass on out thanks to all concerned.
Regards,
Gary
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Hi Ben
Big thanks to you and your staff for Friday, good bar well staffed, great success and a good night
How did you do it
Thanks
Ad
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Hi Ben
Just a quick email to say a very BIG THANK YOU to you and your team for the excellent job on Saturday. You really did a great job and the bar looked great. You have a great team who are a lot of fun!
Kindest regards
Vikki

Our History

PGL

Virgin Staff Party

Welsh language and cultural show

Delta

Art Rocks

The Future