Entrepreneur takes centre stage with new events innovation

A Black country engineer with a passion for sustainability is making his mark on the events industry with a new stage innovation.

Andrew Teverson, who started The Stage Bus in 2006 with inheritance money from his grandparents, has used years of experience to develop the Stage Box, a stage platform that can operate from the back of a truck or as a detachable unit that self-dismounts using hydraulic legs.

Built into a converted 20ft container, the entire stage is solar powered, can run for up to eight hours on a full charge, takes less than one hour to set-up and comes with all the audio-visual and PA systems a band or organiser could wish for.

It can be used for events or festivals attracting up to 5000 people and has already been chosen by Battersea Power Station to celebrate the King’s Coronation and by the London Marathon.

The Halesowen-based entrepreneur is now looking to scale up manufacturing to provide the concept for longer-team leases or for sale in the UK and overseas.

It is an ambition that could generate an additional £600,000 of revenue and create five jobs at the firm’s Black Country base.

“We supply 150 stage days every year with our different stage solutions, so have significant experience of what it takes to put them up and all the things our clients want included,” said Teverson, who studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Birmingham.

“All of this knowledge has been brought together in our latest product – The Stage Box. There’s nothing else like it on the market when it comes to set-up times and environmental performance, not to mention all the technology that is fitted to it as standard.”

He added: “We’ve been leasing it out for six months and the reaction from clients is phenomenal – it makes their production/event seamless, as well as helping them green their carbon footprint due to the solar powered features it possesses.

“The level of demand got us thinking and we’ve taken the decision to actively market The Stage Box for sale or long-term lease – ideal for organisations who may hold multiple events at multiple venues throughout the year.

“This will mean setting up production to initially manufacture four models over the next 12 months.”