To say that my heart fell out my backside when I heard that Fortesqueues went bust is an understatement. Not only had we lost a considerable amount of cash (not ideal timing), but we also had just 7 days to re-organise a complicated conference for 450 people on a site that was being torn apart by angry Fortesqueues suppliers looking to minimise their losses by removing kit whilst they could.
Amidst the chaos I received a phone call from Mike Kershaw & Sam Gill who have recently received a lot of flack for trying to take on the Room by the River site and increasing their domination of the Christmas / Summer parties market. They offered me their assistance to help stage the conference at the Room by the River site and soon our 2 companies were working side by side negotiating new contratcs with the landlords, caterers, AV suppliers, furniture companies, Internet providers, security guards, generator hire companies etc etc - you get the picture.
Sure the Concerto Group had a vested interest in our event going ahead, as it would help them potentially keep 1 or 2 of their events in the same venue, but they offered their services at cost and worked tirelessly to help provide us with the services that we were short of, because we have a good relationship with us and wanted to help.
It annoys me that jealous rivals are slagging the Concerto Group off as it is really not their fault that they have a monopoly over the party market, seeing as it is their competitors poor financial management that has put them in such a strong position. AOK Events do not favour the Concerto Group over and above any of the other reputable event suppliers that we use, but on this occasion their support was above and beyond the call of duty and needs highlighting.
