Experience:
Rightly regarded as "Mr Showforce" Ian saw a gap in the event personnel market and formed the company back in 1991. A true larger than life character Ian’s passion, drive and determination has been instrumental in creating a company and a brand that twenty years later is instantly recognised for quality and professionalism in the world of events and entertainment. Born and bred in London’s East End, he now resides in Dubai, drawn there by the opportunities arising in the world of entertainment from this emerging market and by his ambition to achieve global domination! Ian’s most recent venture, creating a scenic workshop from scratch has been an instant success and Showforce now produce groundbreaking set and scenery to event companies across the Middle East region. Our charismatic MD has been the driving FORCE behind Showforce's meteoric rise and has hands on approach to the business, getting involved in every project at grass roots level. Ian is a self confessed workaholic living, breathing and eating SHOWFORCE 24/7.
Interests:
On rare occasions away from the cut and thrust of commerce, he enjoys the more modest things in life and sharing these moments with his wife and children is a top priority. Family time is extremely precious but often limited in the MD’s hectic lifestyle but is the one thing he cherishes more than Showforce itself. Away from work the boss has also been known to spend hours on a river bank, rod in hand and worms at the ready pursuing his passion for angling, or can often be seen riding his custom Harley across the sand dunes and off into the sunset! Ian is something of a seasoned raconteur when it comes to recalling memories of his 30+ years in the business and has far too many interesting stories to share online. Those that know him will certainly have their own favourite Ian Spendlove story, and for those of you yet to make his acquaintance you will have to wait for the biography!
Dave Clayton - Chief Financial Officer
As Chief Executive Officer, Dave reports directly to Showforce’s owner and Managing Director, Ian Spendlove. He is responsible for the development and implementation of the business strategy in the UK and Middle East and leads cross-functional teams to achieve the company objectives.
As a qualified accountant with extensive experience in sales and marketing, Dave plays a key role in securing key account clients and developing new products and markets, to achieve business growth targets. He is involved in management of our key accounts, including agreement of Key Performance Indicators, costs and contract terms and monitoring client satisfaction with our service.
Dave Bellamy - General Manager UK & Middle East
Experience:
Dave has been with the company from the start and is as much a part of the Showforce family as our iconic stick men. Giving up a less than promising career in accountancy after discovering the distractions of the student bar, Dave’s first job involved cleaning cars on the Ford Sierra launch on London’s deserted docklands back in 1982. He has been involved in the event business ever since and has been at Showforce for over 20 years, starting life as crewman unloading trucks, before progressing his way through the ranks to become Operations Director and finally General Manager in 2009. Dave has been involved with virtually every project that the company has been involved with over the past two decades and lists staying friends with MD Ian throughout his tenure as one of his life’s great achievements!
Interests:
Dave enjoys family life, following West Ham FC, country music, working unsociable hours and bar b ques! but not necessarily in that order!
Mark Campbell - Sales and Marketing Director
Experience:
Mark joined the company in 1999 as an experienced crew member having been in the events industry since the late 80’s. Mark progressed through the ranks from general crew to accounts manager finally arriving at his current position as Sales and Marketing Director. Mark has overall responsibility for all sales and marketing at Showforce over the last decade he has been responsible for securing a number of prestigious contracts Including 2010 Papal Visit, The BBC Sports Personality of the year and The European MTV Awards. He is a familiar face in the events circle and is key account handler for many of our biggest clients.
Interests:
Away from the cut and thrust of daily Showforce life Mark enjoys rock and indie music, scuba diving, playing Texas holdem poker, backgammon and playing golf off a fairly respectable 14 handicap.
Chris Martelly - Operations Director
Experience:
Chris joined Showforce as a crew member in 2003 and was a regular out in the field gaining firsthand experience across all aspects of our business. He worked on
a great variety of projects including exhibition builds, theatrical installations, car launches, temporary seating stand construction and most notably the Athens Olympics opening and closing ceromies.
In 2006 he moved into an office role a crew booker using his knowledge, experience and relationship with the crew to further establish Showforce as the leaders in our field.
As Operations Director, Chris has overseen many of the company’s biggest crewing projects such as Red bull Air Race & X fighters, Olympic touch relay, Papal Visit 2010, Cannon Expo Paris, & Sports Personality of the Year.
Chris has been instrumental in developing the company’s bespoke booking and management system which forms an integral part of our day to day business.
Interesting Anecdote:
A stickler for punctuality organisation and making sure the boys are properly prepared, Chris fell afoul of his own efficiency and found himself in an awkward situation at St Pancras station last October.
“I’d organised 90 crew from our regional offices to meet me on the Eurostar platform station ready to go out for the Canon Expo derig in Paris. Once I’d handed out all the crews tickets and extra uniform needed for the gig I realised that I’d left my passport on my desk at the office! I told the boys I needed to nip to the loo but in truth I dashed back to Stratford to get my passport. Luckily I made it back by the skin of my teeth and managed to convince everyone that it was all part of the plan!”
Jon 'JD' Davis - Head of Special Projects
Experience:
JD started in the event industry running nightclubs such as the Ministry of Sound and then turned his hand to Tour Management which took him around the world with some of the best acts of the 90’s. He moved on to run a crewing company specializing in the supply of technically skilled crew to the live events industry before taking his role here at Showforce.
Interesting Anecdote:
JD has many interesting anecdotes from his time touring but one that sticks out is when he returned to his hotel late from a gig late with the road crew. He decided to have a bath and get some rest however 5 minutes later the female artiste and her make-up artiste called him to their room armed with a kettle. All the hot water had been used so he spent the next 2 hours pouring boiling water into the bath that they were sharing. God bless rock and roll!
James Cobb - Health and Safety Manager
Experience:
James has 20 years’ experience in live events as a production, site, event and safety manager and has joined Showforce as our SPA passport trainer and health and safety advisor. James has a postgraduate certificate in occupational health and safety management, and is a graduate member of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health. He currently chairs the Production Services Association and has been a passport trainer since the scheme was launched.
James Cobb will be working with the company to integrate the passport scheme into the existing and well developed training and induction system. "It’s much more than just delivering the course for all their staff. I’ll be tailoring the training to run alongside the existing induction courses, and am looking forward to helping Showforce develop an industry leading integrated staff training and competence programme."
Interests:
James is another self confessed work-a-holic, however during his limited time away from the desk he is a dedicated family man and provides a parental taxi service for three sporting mad children!
Becky Meers - Operations Manager North/Midlands
Experience:
Becky started her career in the recruitment industry, before joining Showforce as the Operations Assistant for our Northern office in 2009. Always looking for a new challenge Becky now look after the UK side of our Promotional business supplying hostesses and promotional staff to a wide range of clients for marketing campaigns, road shows, exhibitions and live events the length and breadth of the country.
Interests:
Becky confesses to being a bit of an adrenaline junkie and has taken part in several charity bungee jumps for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. She would love to do a sky dive in the future if the chance comes around.
Experience:
Experience: Jazz Started his career in the post room at Network Rail and gradually worked his way up to become Document Control Manager a post he filled for the best part of a decade. Jazz decided on a career change in 2011 and joined Showforce as a crew member working out of our Midlands office cutting his teeth on jobs such as Red bull Speed Jam, Game fest, Avant-garde Mini Stunt and The Clothes Show Live. A natural flare when dealing with clients, an all round enthusiasm for our business and an uncompromising work ethic soon resulted in promotion to Crew Chief. During this spell he gained valuable experience working out of our Dubai operation leading our local teams on the Dubai Air & Motor show’s and the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In Jan 2012 his whirlwind Showforce career reached new heights when he was appointed as our Midlands Operations manager.
Interests::
Jazz likes going to the gym and keeping fit by playing football. He is an avid Manchester United fan which doesn't go down well with his Brummie pals! He enjoys most types of music, and has a passion for food, both cooking and eating!. He enjoys spending time with his family and socializing with his many friends.
Jacqui Garraway - Accreditation Coordinator
Experience:
Jacqui joined Showforce early in 2011 and brings a wealth of experience in line and functional management roles with her.
She has an established recruitment and Training background, and worked with the local Authorities in East London on the Re-generation programme with the local of residents of Newham. This included working alongside the Learning Skills Council, Job centre plus and Tower Hamlets College in delivering training services to SME’s covering the five host boroughs.
Interests:
Her interests include Gardening, socializing, listening to all kinds of music, and keeping fit.
