It’s a family affair at Site Event, with a brother and sister at the helm of one of the creative event toilet providers in the market
Name: Amy Gilbert
Role: Director
Company: Site Event
Contact: 01256 384134 / www.site-event.co.uk
Favourite tipple: A classic G&T
Last holiday destination: Backpacking around India in the quiet season!
Cats or dogs? Dogs, we have two Labradors who come to work with us
Current box set / TV must watch: Marchella
Something people may not know about me: My brother Adam and I have both done ‘Ski Season’ – at different times!
What is your background?
Events! I started off doing work experience for a festival, which turned in to a seasonal job year after year, then went to Brighton University to study Events Management. I moved to a marketing agency to run its events department and then found my way back to the family business and worked my way up to director, doing everything from sales, to operations and accounts. My brother Adam is the event sales manager.
How did you get started in the business?
My parents founded the company 30 years ago, with three toilets. I have always been involved in the business, whether that was helping my dad deliver toilets on a weekend, credit control and sales during the summer holidays of school, or helping out with the marketing. It was a natural progression to move into the business to develop and grow it.
What is the history of Site Equip and Site Event?
Site Equip (our sister company) started in 1988. With the events industry taking off, we decided to open Site Event to cater exclusively for the event market to deliver a higher level of product and service to what was known as the builders’ loo! We moved from Haslemere to Farnham and have now settled at our three acre yard in Alton – which we are quickly outgrowing.
In 2010 we decided to take our first leap into manufacturing, with our range of themed units, which has been hugely successful. Due to the success, in 2014 we decided to open our own manufacturing company, Site Build, to produce high quality, durable and ascetically pleasing units, providing our clients with something a little different.
As we don’t like to sit still, and are always looking to challenge ourselves, we have opened a second depot in Paddock Wood, Kent. With this depot, we can now support our customers in a large capacity, increasing our customer service and support.
What made you decide to launch themed toilets into the market?
Looking across the market, there wasn’t anything different or unique available to our customers, and we have always been a very creative family. One day, across the dinner table, we were brainstorming and thought why not! So we put our ideas into practice, and developed the range year on year.
What features and benefits do Site Event’s toilets and washrooms offer?
Site Event’s ultimate goal is to make your event as worry free as possible. By building our units in-house we can ensure the highest quality control. All our staff are well trained in how to maintain and fix these units, as they are the ones that have built them! We also offer more flexibility to our products as we build them here ourselves. Over the years we have designed and built bespoke units for weddings, festivals and corporate events, for clients including Google, Greenwich Meantime Festival, and for one bride who loved horses so much she helped us design the Horse Stable!
What are your predictions for the growth and shape of the outdoor event industry?
The event industry has dramatically increased in size, and is continuing to do so at a fast pace, but what is most exciting about the industry is seeing the creative side develop. We work with events of all sizes who are constructing innovative backdrops and unique entertainment, such as Boomtown and Loxwood Joust.
What are you most proud of?
We are most proud of our staff enabling us to deliver excellent service, being supportive to our growth and being excited and proactive about the future of Site Event. They help us develop products and systems to become a bigger and better company.
Are you working on any exciting projects you can tell us about?
We have just launched a VIP section to Site Event, which allows us to set up an area specifically for the highest quality toilets and showers, using a new vacuum based toilet system which is at the height of cleanliness and has no ‘festival toilet’ smells. The VIP area can be controlled by us which takes away the worry from the event organiser.
What plans do you and Site Event have for the future?
We have ideas every day of how we can grow and what products we can develop! The future is looking very bright; with lots of talent and drive within the business we are ready to impress the event industry with our toilets, showers and event accommodation.
