DELIVERY LEGAL
Not having enough toilet facilities can seriously damage an event’s reputation
Don’t get caught short
How the smallest snag can turn into a legal quagmire
BY NICOLA STOW S
ometimes the smallest things can trigger the big- gest problems at outdoor events…like a stale sand- wich, a lengthy queue for
the coffee kiosk or, heaven forbid, a shortage of chemical toilets. And should the latter scenario
present itself, the legal ramifications for the event’s organisers could be disastrous. In fact, according to Andy Fraser,
an associate and member of the brands team at top Scots legal firm Harper Macleod, not having enough lavatories to accommodate the
masses could potentially destroy a brand’s reputation. “Tere are valuable lessons to
be learned from all events,” he warned, “One extremely important lesson being that, quite often, it’s relatively small things that can damage the brand. For example, you could put on the biggest, most spectacular, fantastic event in the world, but if you only have one Portaloo, with about 500 people queuing for that Portaloo, it’s going to ruin the experience for the cus- tomers and, ultimately, could ruin the brand’s reputation.” Andy is part of the Harper Ma-
cleod team who gave legal advice to organisers of Glasgow 2014 Com- monwealth Games, which attracted over half a million visitors to the city. Prior to the event the legal team
worked on around 20,000 sepa- rate legal contracts, ranging from small-scale agreements – there is
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such a thing as a ‘toilets contract’ – to extremely large and complex contracts covering elements such as transport, security, ticketing and broadcasting. But as Andy points out, it is usu-
ally the most obscure affairs – the kind of occurrences you wouldn’t even think to consider – that cause the biggest legal headaches. For example, do your contracts with catering providers include sample menus with options for all kinds of food intolerances, or cater for vari- ous religious and cultural require- ments? And are you covered for incidences such as food poisoning? “You have to look at it from the
perspective of the attendee,” Andy explained. “Working on the Games we did receive the odd letter - peo- ple complaining about stale sand- wiches or having to queue for ages to get a coffee. When you’re trying to promote a brand and create value in an event, even if it’s a one-off
event, there is still a reputational risk of things not going well, either legally or financially. If people don’t have a good time it clearly dilutes the brand. You have to think about all the small issues that make up the bigger picture.”
WILDLIFE protection issues must also be considered – to ensure en- vironmental laws are not breached. Tis recently became an issue for T-in-the-Park organisers when a pair of osprey were discovered on the festival’s new site at Perthshire’s Strathallan Castle. DF Concerts then had to pay for two 28-day long public consultations. Tey also had to move the main stage and bring in bird experts to make sure they were not disturbed – and introduce a buffer zone, as well as restrictions on lighting and fireworks. T-in- the-Park boss Geoff Ellis claims the cost of the osprey pair has set his company back to the tune of £1m.
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