Freeman UK and Aztec Event Services today announced that they have signed an agreement whereby Aztec will become Freeman UK’s preferred AV partner. The agreement means that Aztec will provide Freeman with AV equipment and technical support across that UK and Europe.

Aztec have opened a warehouse in the Midlands. As part of the deal, Aztec has also taken over Freeman UK’s outdoor electrics and AV business, and the associated employees have joined a new division of Aztec called Aztec Live.

Each year Aztec provides AV equipment and technical support to over 300 high profile exhibitions, events and conferences. These include World Travel Market, the Ideal Home Shows, Marketing Week Live and corporate clients such as Arsenal and Cisco. Because of this there is a high degree of synergy with Freeman UK which will be extremely beneficial to both parties.

Aztec’s Managing Director, John Robson, commented, “We are the official AV supplier to a high proportion of UK shows and have established ourselves as providers of quality service and equipment. Our clients recognised this recently in the EN Elite Awards where we won the category of Best AV Hire and Production Company. This partnership with Freeman is a natural progression of our business that will lend our expertise and service ethos to Freeman’s client base”.

Aztec is thrilled to be named the Best AV Hire and Production Company in Exhibition News’ ‘Elite List’ for 2014. This is the first year Exhibition News has run this poll in which over 2,000 industry peers and clients voted to determine the best suppliers across eleven categories.

This win is of special importance because it is based on clients’ opinions and acknowledges the hard work Aztec puts into each and every job it undertakes. This award cements Aztec’s reputation as being the best at what they do.

M.D, John Robson commented:

“Our customer’s opinion is always by far and away the most important thing for Aztec. That is why we are genuinely excited to find out that our clients have voted for us to be the Winner of the Elite Awards AV Hire and Production category.

Aztec has had a busy and successful year with its largest deployment of LED walls and Digital Signage yet. These are exciting products for us and it is thrilling to see them being so well received by our clients too. 2015 already promises to be another fantastic year for us, with further penetration of new products, the development of our Digital Studio and new partnerships , all in the pipeline.

However, our success is only ever as good as the service our expert technicians deliver on the ground, on the day. It is these guys I really want to pay tribute to and thank for all their tireless hard work. So, thank you to everyone who voted Aztec as the best and thank you, team Aztec! Merry Christmas and we’ll see you all in 2015”.

Aztec Event Services has been appointed as official AV supplier to the EIC Connect Oil & Gas 2014 at Manchester Central, 25-26 November 2014. This is the sixth successive year that Aztec will be official AV supplier to the show.

EIC Connect Events organise two oil and gas industry events, which take place alternatively – EIC Connect Energy and EIC Connect Oil and Gas.

“The EIC has worked with Aztec since 2009, from the initial launch of our first major exhibition at Manchester Central. Aztec has the unique ability to recognise the right solutions to offer and understand where their services contribute to the success of the overall event. Aztec’s positive attitude and attention to detail comes as standard and even after 5 years, they consistently demonstrate a keenness to work with us, our presenters and our exhibitors,” said Sarah Lansdell, head of UK national events, EIC.

Aztec has been contracted to supply a full range of AV services to the organiser, exhibitors and to the conference, including its Silent Seminar technology, and this year is predicted to be the largest event to date. In addition the exhibition, with over 65 exhibitors expected to attend, EIC Connect Oil & Gas 2014 also includes a series of Supply Chain Briefings which attracts a global audience keen to hear about opportunities and updates on major international energy projects.

Aztec’s sales director, Leo Speck, commented, “We are very pleased to be working with EIC Connect Events for the sixth year in a row, and it’s immensely gratifying that our hard work and effort are appreciated and rewarded with the opportunity to deliver our services to the show once more.”

IP Expo 2014, held this year at ExCeL London, 8-9 October, saw Aztec Event Services deploying it’s largest EventIgnite digital signage installation to date. Aztec installed and configured 32 digital signage screens throughout the exhibition.

The majority were placed outside the 21 theatres to inform delegates of the daily schedule, and the remainder were employed in the 3 “MyVisit” feature areas. The system displayed time-sensitive theatre agendas outside every theatre, and included several sponsored adverts to help exhibitors generate traffic to their stands.

Alex Joicey, operations and customer services director at Imago Techmedia, the organiser of IP EXPO, was impressed with the EventIgnite digital signage system, commenting “Aztec’s digital signage proved its worth at IP EXPO this year, keeping delegates fully up to date on theatre content and schedule changes whilst remaining resilient to network problems. Aztec worked with the show sponsors to produce eye-catching multimedia content to interleave with the schedule information. Our audiences are not easily impressed by technology, but Aztec’s digital signage was a winner with them too!”

Jovan Maria, account manager at Aztec added, “This was the largest digital signage installation we’ve undertaken, and our analytics revealed that we were able to show eleven thousand sponsor messages on the signage over the two days, whilst keeping the signage clear, functional and perfectly up to date.”

We are thrilled to be shortlisted in three different categories at this year’s Merton Best Business Awards. The categories are: Best Creative Sector, Going Green and Best Young Person for Ryan Colburn.

“Best Creative Sector” recognises the business that can show real creativity, outstanding initiative, boldness and imagination in the trade. Aztec has shown its creative approach and business initiative highlighting innovations within the industry such as our Digital Signage Solution.

“Going Green” distinguishes companies that can best demonstrate a company-wide commitment to minimising its impact on the environment. We explained how our sustainability policy has critically helped reducing our carbon emissions’ footprint or how our felt recycling programme works with schools within the community.

“Best Young Person” celebrates the work taken forward by employers working with Merton Chamber of Commerce and local training providers under the ‘Take One’ initiative. Since Ryan joined the company as an apprentice back in 2011, he has been awarded NVQ Level 2 Storage & Handling and NVQ Level 3 Live Events & Promotion making his way up from Apprentice to full time Technician and becoming a valuable assest for the company.

The awards recognise the companies based in Merton and are organised by the Merton Chamber of Commerce, Merton Council and WSM Business Advisory and Accountancy Services.

Aztec Event Services’ technicians were out in force last week, providing a full spectrum of AV services to IP EXPO 2014, 8-9 October, ExCeL London. This year’s IP EXPO, organised by Imago Techmedia, was the biggest yet and featured Aztec’s largest ever deployment to the event.

In a logistically challenging project, Aztec supplied, installed and configured the AV for 21 theatre areas within the exposition, comprising projection system, PA, support screens and Aztec’s Silent Seminar system in three of the theatres. Each theatre AV system was operated by a dedicated Aztec technician. Aztec sent 26 technicians and four articulated lorries full of equipment to the show for a four day setup period.

At the centre of the exhibition was the main 350 seat keynote theatre where Aztec installed a 7m x 4m projection screen and 14,000 lumen projector, using its video streaming system to deliver Sir Tim Berners-Lee’s keynote address live to the other 20 theatre areas, ensuring that the maximum possible number of delegates could enjoy this presentation from the inventor of the world wide web.

Aztec’s expertise with LED displays was brought to the fore with the installation of a 5m x 3m 3mm LED video wall, and it also deployed its EventIgnite driven Digital Signage system with 32 digital signage screens throughout the event, ensuring delegates were kept fully informed of the schedule of events and any late changes.

A file server was put in place by Aztec so the speakers could centrally upload their presentations. These were automatically sent to the correspondent laptop in each seminar theatre. If last minute changes were necessary on the day, speakers could do that from the “Speakers Ready Room” and re-upload the presentation back to the server for distribution.

As official provider to exhibitors, Aztec supplied AV services to more than 120 exhibitors, including more than 200 wall mounted screens, laptops and MicroTile walls.

Alex Joicey, operations and customer services director at Imago Techmedia expressed her satisfaction with Aztec’s contribution after the show, saying “Aztec mobilised an army of technicians to deliver superb AV services right across the show. I was impressed by how well they managed a very complex project, proving they have the capacity and bandwidth to service the most demanding events.”

Jovan Maria, account manager at Aztec, was very pleased with the performance of the whole team, commenting “IP EXPO is an incredible event, and I’m delighted that it was such a success for the organisers. We worked very closely with Imago to envisage an integrated AV solution across the show, and in spite of tight deadlines and the scale of the task, the team really pulled out all the stops to deliver what I think was an excellent result for everyone.”

Aztec Event Services has been chosen by Centaur Exhibitions Ltd to provide AV equipment and services to The Meetings Show, July 8-10, Olympia, London.

Aztec will be responsible for equipping 5 conference theatres with full AV facilities, including projection, P.A. and lighting. Aztec will also be deploying its comprehensive digital signage system, powered by EventIgnite throughout the show. Five digital signage screens will be installed outside the conference theatres to inform delegates about individual theatre schedules and events, two screens will be mounted in a ‘monolith’ in the Hosted Buyer Lounge, and two further digital signs will be installed outside the lifts. Aztec will have seven personnel on-site servicing the show, including five theatre technicians, one signage technician and a general show technician.

Aztec is also exhibiting at the show, and has an impressive installation Christie MicroTiles planned for its stand, where they will be promoting their full range of event production services.

Chris Harris, account manager at Aztec was understandably pleased at Centaurs decision and said, “I think our digital signage solution is going to be a real hit at The Meetings Show, improving the visitor experience with better, constantly updated, information, increased sponsor branding opportunities and breaking news.”

The Meetings Show’s event director, Steve Knight commented: “The staging of an event as complex as The Meetings Show requires support from industry leading professionals, in particular, the AV, which is so fundamental to an event that we expect will see several thousand people attend. Aztec reflect our industry leading professionalism and expertise and we look forward to seeing their cutting edge technology in action next month at Olympia.”

Aztec Event Services is enjoying a busy three days at the London Book Fair, which has featured some top guests including an ex-England football star.

The Mitcham-based firm is providing extensive AV services to the conference suites, the press room and several private conference rooms at Earls Court.

Aztec is also providing business support services within the International Rights Centre (IRC), offering internet connectivity, print and copying services to agents and publishers.

Running from 8 to 10 April, London Book Fair is expected to attract close to twenty-five thousand visitors this year, nearly half of them from overseas, and Aztec is deploying simultaneous translation services for this strongly international crowd, using its Bosch technology to deliver conference addresses and keynote speeches in multiple languages.

Central to its efforts, Aztec is providing set, stage, lighting, sound and projection for the new London Book Fair International Book Industry Excellence Awards. The awards have 16 categories, including the ‘Crossmedia for best use of IP Awards’ where Angry Birds are pitted against The Walking Dead for the prize.

“There’s a real buzz around the new Industry Excellence Awards this year, so we’ve pulled out the stops to make sure they get the all ‘wow factor’ and panache they deserve,” said Chris Harris, Aztec’s account manager for the show.

“The IRC has once again proved to be a vital resource for some delegates, and it was great to see Sol Campbell having a go at the golf challenge.”

Aztec Event Services has welcomed its newest apprentice, 19 year old Gary Clarkson, to the fold, bringing its apprenticeship scheme into its third successful year.

Gary, who has a keen interest in audio production, opted for the apprenticeship because, as he put it, “this was a chance to start working with professional AV systems and equipment, and get a foothold in an industry that I’d like to work in.”

Gary, who plays in a rock band, has only served two and half months of his apprenticeship so far, but as Steve Colesell, Aztec’s operations director and manager of the apprenticeship scheme, said “Gary has definitely hit the ground running and settled in really well. His positive attitude and thirst for knowledge are just what an Aztec apprentice needs, I have no doubt he will flourish with the support of his trainer and the whole team here.”

Aztec’s apprenticeship framework will see Gary working in the warehouse, supporting the technicians checking equipment in and out, but he has already had a brief taste of working on-site. “Working in the field was a real buzz, and definitely the most exciting part of my apprenticeship so far,” said Gary.

Gary will be using his time getting to know the Aztec system and getting to grips with the vast array of audiovisual equipment, with occasional visits on-site shadowing Aztec’s technicians as they set up, configure and operate AV equipment at a variety of events. Gary will simultaneously be studying for his NVQ Level Two diploma in Events and Live promotion, following a syllabus set up and refined by Aztec.

Finding that existing qualifications were not well suited to Aztec’s core AV business, the company collaborated with NVQ training providers to create a tailor made syllabus in Events and Live Promotion. This qualification gives new apprentices a flying start in the industry, whether they chose to stay with Aztec or not. Aztec provides all its apprentices with generous study time and support during their studies.

Steve Colesell added, “Our apprenticeship scheme is an increasingly valuable route to finding the people we need, and over the last three years we’ve worked hard to established it as a successful pathway for conveying young talent into the company. I’m proud of what the apprentices have achieved so far, and our firm commitment to the scheme means we will be continuing to develop and refine the programme in the future.”

Aztec Event Services is set to provide AV facilities and services to 100% Optical at ExCeL London, 16-18 February 2014. 100% Optical, organised by Media 10, is the first design-led optical trade show to take place in the UK.

Media 10 is expecting around 8,000 international visitors to attend the launch event from buyers, designers, and dispensers, through to opticians, ophthalmologists, surgeons and students. There will be over 400 brands, 2000 product launches, 12 fashion shows and 60 international speakers over the three days in February. Aztec will be responsible for delivering AV throughout the show, including the main theatre and ‘hubs’.

Leo Speck, Aztec’s sales director, is looking forward to the show, “100% Optical is a fantastic opportunity for Aztec to be involved in as it is always exciting to support a new show in the UK exhibition calendar. Media 10 always deliver quality shows and we are sure 100% Optical will be a great compliment to London Fashion Week.”