We are delighted to announce that we are sponsoring a team in this year’s Sue Ryder Bigwigs Business Challenge in aid of the Sue Ryder – Nettlebed Hospice.

Now in its fourth year, the Bigwigs Business Challenge asks individuals and businesses to use their innovation and business acumen to fundraise for Sue Ryder.

Our advertising agency Purple Frog is aiming to raise £15,000 for Sue Ryder by taking part in this year’s challenge. To raise awareness of the challenge they are visiting everyone of the 270 London Underground Station on one day, 9th November 2011.

When asked by Purple Frog to sponsor a team, we were more than happy to offer our help and support as Sue Ryder hospices provide an invaluable service and rely heavily on funds raised by donations from local communities.

For live updates from our team on the day visit facebook.com/purplefroguk or follow them on twitter @purplefroguk

If you would like to make a donation, you can do by sending a text – Text TUBE50 £3 to 70070
Alternatively you can visit their Just Giving page www.justgiving.com/purplefrog-tube-challenge

Safely transporting rowing boats and team equipment around the world, between international rowing regattas, team training camps, World Championships and Olympic and Paralympic Games is no simple logistical task, but it is an area in which EFM has years of experience and demonstrated a solid understanding of the challenges involved.

EFM has worked with international rowing across all corners of the globe, including the 2000 Sydney Olympic and Paralympic Games, 2004 Athens Olympic and Paralympic Games, the World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan in 2005 through the 2006 World Rowing Championships at Dorney, UK, to the Olympic and Paralympic Games rowing events in Beijing in 2008, the 2009 World Rowing Championships in Poznan, Poland, the Commonwealth Rowing Championships at Welland, Ontario, Canada and the World 2010 Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro, New Zealand.

The services provided by EFM to international rowing teams and event organisers, sponsors, media and event suppliers, have included providing vans and experienced drivers to transport excess baggage and equipment around the world, hiring / purchasing, racking out and loading / unloading shipping containers, building custom made shipping crates, door to door sea freight and airfreight services, arranging cranes and lifting equipment, warehousing, raising ATA carnets, preparing customs documentation and attending on-site to ensure that all goes smoothly.

Rowing teams travel not only with their rowing boats and oars but also with a plethora of supplies necessary for successful performance – such as gym and fitness equipment, competition clothing, medical and physiotherapy equipment, bicycles, office supplies, energy drinks and nutritional products. Each country carries its own challenges which EFM has successfully navigated around, including arranging quarantine inspections, import permits, steam cleaning, ferry bookings, security screening procedures, and liaising with the competition organising committees and making MDS bookings, to comply with the various regulations for each shipment and event, making sure that everything is delivered safely and on-time to venues worldwide.

Between 2007 – 2010, EFM was given the responsibility to look after the movement of “Formula One: The Great Design Race” – a touring exhibition charting the history of F1 from its origins to modern times and comprising several historic and modern Formula One racing cars, which have been transported by EFM across the world for a series of major exhibitions. With the age of several of these cars, it was extremely important to handle them with the due care and attention usually reserved for fine art. For example, they were only able to be moved by pushing the wheels – no body parts could be touched – and all the cars could only be moved around in covered vehicle transporters to prevent exposure to the elements. Prior to the sealing of each container, EFM had to secure the cars and place a large amount of silica gel bags in each container and car to help reduce the moisture in transit. The fragile mirrored glass display plinths were also professionally crated by EFM into custom-built exhibition touring crates to protect them in transit during the tour.

The collection of the Cooper, Brabham and Williams cars from their Donington Grand Prix Museum home heralded the start of the world tour. The addition of the classic Lotus and the modern day Renault from EFM’s long term storage warehouse completed the group, which was on its way by road to the Design Museum in Helsinki before travelling onwards to the Tokyo Opera City Gallery via ocean freight. On arrival in Tokyo, the street outside the Gallery was closed off for an intricately orchestrated night move – due to the size of the cars, they would not fit in the main Gallery Lift and had to be lifted through the 3rd floor window via crane and a bespoke platform. EFM Project Managers were in attendance at all stages to supervise the safe handling of the cars and the exhibition display components in and out of all venues and loan locations.

Following on from Japan, by 2009, the exhibition had grown in size, with another world tour kicking off. The full original exhibition plus a number of additional cars were loaned and shipped down to New Zealand by sea freight for the next leg of the tour, which opened at the Te Papa Museum in Wellington. Eight cars and the display materials were crated up and shipped on their long voyage across the world, to the waiting team at the Museum, where again the EFM Project Managers were on hand to receive the containers, unload the cars and safely position them inside the museum. Fortunately this time the cars did fit inside the museum goods lift, which left time for the newly loaned McLaren to be hoisted into position above it’s mirrored plinth. At the close of the Te Papa exhibition, the cars were again safely returned to their lenders in the UK but were turned right around and were soon off once more by road, via dedicated vehicle transporters to spend a month at Sportmax in Budapest during the Summer of 2010.

Due to time constraints and to coincide with the inaugural Korean F1 Grand Prix, a select part of the exhibition tour, including several of the cars, was then sent via air freight by EFM from UK out to the Hangaram Design Museum, Seoul Arts Centre in Seoul, Korea, where it was exhibited during September and October 2010, before EFM finally moved the exhibition back home from Korea to UK and safely returned all the cars and display materials back to their lenders and the Design Museum. All lenders and owners expressed their delight in a successful exhibition and the safe return of their priceless vehicles.

Avantgarde were appointed by the Ministry of Education in Oman to organise the 40th National Day of Oman Celebrations in December 2010 at the Sultan Qaboos Stadium in Muscat. With over 90 production consultants for the event and 120 suppliers from around the world, including Germany, UK, Italy, Spain, USA, Australia, UAE, Qatar and Oman, the vast logistical challenge was presented to EFM, to manage the safe and on-time transportation of technical production equipment in and out of Oman over a 6 month period, with the first shipments leaving by sea in August 2010 and the last containers returning to suppliers in January 2011.

In total for the project, on behalf of Avantgarde and their multitude of event suppliers, EFM arranged the door to door shipping of around 80 shipping containers, over 300 tons of airfreight, and 20 trucks, in addition to EFM on-site project management and supervision, customs clearance and liaison with the Omani customs and government authorities, as well as the provision of on-site material handling equipment including a fleet of cranes and operators that worked around the clock.

The materials transported into Muscat, by EFM, for the event included a vast array of costumes, set and props, specialist floor covering for the stadium, lighting, video, audio and rigging equipment, power distribution, pyrotechnics, special effects, cabling, cameras, broadcasting and communication equipment, all requiring careful handling and a significant amount of detailed and accurate advance planning, and paperwork preparation. The EFM offices in UK, Germany, UAE, USA and Australia all came together as a slick team for this event, coordinated by EFM’s Global Director, Lisa Ryan, Middle East Regional Director, Dylan Owen, and Regional Manager, James McSweeney – all working in close partnership with Avantgarde, its technical and production team, and appointed event suppliers.

Given the volume of equipment needing to be cleared quickly through customs, both in and out of Oman, and in coordination with Avantgarde and the relevant authorities, a procedure was devised for clearing all shipments through customs directly at the stadium, to ensure there were no delays on the way in or out. A logistics office was set up in the grounds of the stadium by EFM, to house senior local customs officers and the EFM project management team, for the load in and load out of the event. Although much of the audio visual equipment came in over a staggered period of time as per the production schedule, once the event had finished, EFM had to return costly rental equipment back to suppliers across Europe as quickly as possible, in the run up to Christmas, successfully moving 200 tons of equipment by air within a 7 day window.

In response to being asked about the logistical challenges surrounding the event and other events being handled by Avantgarde, their technical team commented, “In our case for the event in Oman, we worked closely with EFM. They understand the nature of our business perfectly!”

EFM’s successful delivery of a reliable and on-time logistical solution to the Oman National Day Event at Sultan Qaboos Stadium, demonstrated once again the importance of enlisting an expert freight company with solid experience of handling multi-modal shipping for international events and particularly one with local knowledge of the processes in the Middle East.

An unusual project is underway with the EFM Australia team, who have been given responsibility to look after all the logistics for the Berocca Sudoku Challenge that is rolling out up and down the East Coast of Australia, in August 2011. A series of Sudoku Challenges has been set up by the event organisers, sponsored by Berocca, with the face of John Eales – the former Wallabies Team Captain. Contestants are timed and one lucky player is being offered the opportunity to represent Australia at the 2011 World Sudoku Championships in Hungary later in 2011.

EFM have been engaged to store, transport, unpack, assemble and set up the Sudoku Challenge at key city locations including Martin Place & Wyndham Station in Sydney, before moving on to Bowral, Brisbane & Melbourne, including the pack down and storage between each event.

http://www.sudoku-challenge.com.au/

EFM were appointed by FilmMaster Events in UAE, to handle all the logistics of transporting production equipment from around the world into Saudi Arabia for the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Inauguration Ceremony, located just outside Jeddah. The University was inaugurated by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia on National Day, 23rd September 2009, in the presence of some 3,500 guests, members of the Saudi elite, as well as 50 heads of state, 400 journalists, and 30 Nobel Prize Laureates. The ceremony marked the establishment of an educational institution dedicated to the most advanced research in science and technology.

The logistical operation took place between July and December 2009 and included the handling of 9 x 747 nose-lift freighter aircraft containing the main temporary structure for the event, over a 2 week period, followed by 250 tons of airfreight, over 50 sea freight containers and multiple truck moves from across the GCC region. Everything was re-exported again by EFM after the event. It was a huge logistical exercise for all involved. Production equipment transported by EFM for the event included pyrotechnics, water screens, lighting, audio, rigging, carpets, furniture, special effects, projection equipment, video, staging, an exhibition, tents and camera equipment. Shipments were brought in from as far afield as New Zealand and Australia and from across Europe. As well as co-ordinating with all the suppliers to the event, EFM sent a senior manager to Jeddah to co-ordinate with the Saudi authorities and to oversee the customs clearance procedures for each shipment and the safe and timely delivery to and from site of all equipment.

When international band ‘No Doubt’ was asked to perform at a private New Year’s Eve party on the stunning island of St Barts in the West Indies, a call was placed to EFM Management to request their expertise in the management of the complex logistics to bring the tons of backline and production equipment required for the show. A number of challenges presented themselves to the EFM team…

The equipment had to be ‘floated’ over from neighbouring island St Maarten, as wide bodied aircraft were not able to land on St Barts, due to their runway being one of the two shortest in the world.

In addition, the party venue – a secluded beachfront property, was only accessible by a narrow road, so special miniature flatbed trucks had to make a number of trips along with a single 20 foot truck which barely fitted into the estate entrance.

Brian Santos from EFM’s Los Angeles office was on location to ensure everything went smoothly through customs and was safely delivered to the party. Everything went without a hitch due to the close working relationship EFM have with their local agents and the team’s expertise in overcoming logistical challenges.

To celebrate EFM’s fourth successful year in Dubai, Group Managing Director Mike Llewellyn was enthusiastic to combine their celebration with a great cause – the Peace One Day concert, held at Dubai’s Aviation Club on 27th April 2011.

For those involved in events in the region, an invitation to this party was the hottest ticket in town, as EFM had quickly built a reputation for hosting the best parties, attended by the top people in the events industry.

Not only did they host a great VIP backstage party, EFM also pledged to sponsor the event, alongside some of the key suppliers in the Middle East region, to ensure the money raised at the concert went to the charity. Set against the current backdrop of mass protests, civil unrest, violence, military offensives and the desire for political change in key areas of the Middle East, a resonance and urgency was added to the values embraced by Peace One Day and the importance of boosting public awareness of its goals.

The short lead time presented a number of logistical challenges, but the EFM team stepped up and successfully co-ordinated the logistics of this momentous concert, which was the first of its type to be hosted in the region and the largest event to be held at the Aviation Club, with the biggest and most sophisticated array of production equipment. Ali Campbell, former lead singer of UB40, headlined the event.

EFM Director Lisa Ryan says “The concert was a great boost to the profile of EFM, and a brilliant idea with so much future potential. We are all delighted to be a sponsor and to have offered our guests the opportunity to enjoy the Ali Campbell Voice of UB40 show – which looked and sounded amazing – as part of a memorable and fun evening”.

Other key sponsors of the project included Al Laith Event Services, Creative Technology, Delta Sound, Neumann Mueller and Pains Fireworks.

More information about Peace One Day can be found at www.peaceoneday.org.

After 15 years in captivity, two European brown bears – Midas and Noe, were airlifted to freedom by WSPA (the World Society for the Protection of Animals), with the assistance of EFM Management Ltd.  The bears, born in Israel in 1990, had been moved to Cyprus where they have spent over 10 years living in cages in Limassol Zoo.

EFM received a cry for help from WSPA, who had been engaged in desperate negotiations with local Cypriot authorities for many years and campaigning for the bears’ release.  Having secured their freedom, the next challenge was to come up with a way of moving Midas and Noe from Cyprus to their new home – a bear sanctuary in Budapest.

Overnight on 16th/17th June 2005, the bears were coaxed into their travel cages, collected from Limassol Zoo by EFM’s local representative, and transported by enclosed truck to Larnaca Airport, where an AN12 cargo aircraft was waiting on the runway to take them and their vet to Hungary.  On arrival in Hungary the necessary paperwork had been processed in advance, so the bears were met by another truck and transported, under the watchful eye of the local Hungarian media, to the bear sanctuary, where they were kept in quarantine for several weeks before being released into their safe new home.

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