In what is undoubtedly a broad-based role, the tour manager is effectively responsible for everything. Whilst the breadth of the task is dependent on the size and scale of each tour – the bigger the show, the greater the complexity and need for specialist support – common to all touring is the need for detailed planning and a reliance on a range of expert suppliers. From our perspective experience is paramount because when stuff goes wrong, as it invariably will, panic never offers a suitable solution!

To the touring party the tour manager encompasses a variety of guises that might, dependent on need, be satirized as: father figure; confessor; evil-uncle; mother; translator; time-piece; grown-up; person-with-a-printer; pointy-fingered guide to the location of toilets, stage, food, bed and beer, and keeper-of-the-money.

From our viewpoint, a successful tour results from great planning and the combined efforts of a team of professionals driven to produce an event that energizes an audience. The putting-it-up and taking-it-down everyday is all part of the fun!

Where once-upon-a-time production management was a role confined to major large-scale touring productions, these days acts of very differing sizes might utilize a production manager to keep a hand on the show's operational tiller.

The continued success of live performance as a medium has increased the need to employ cutting-edge technologies in show design. However, the exponential growth in health and safety regulation has forced the artist to proactively address their own responsibility within a safety culture. The addition of a production manager individually responsible for the show and its construction within a variety of venues of differing shapes and sizes has therefore become a virtual necessity.

And in a world gradually coming to terms with the global impact of non-sustainable energy usage, the production manager is well placed to become the driving force behind the greening of the touring model. Through positive endorsement of suitable materials and methods, both the performer's carbon footprint and damage to the environment can be positively reduced.

Another touring speciality and growth area is the day-to-day management of tour finances. Whilst this job might averagely be part of a tour manager's remit, occasionally the task is too time consuming for one multi-tasking individual to handle properly, necessitating the introduction of a specialist.

Number-crunching, and the power of an XL spread: we love 'em!

Given a wholly international business platform and a worldwide network of professionals we can call upon for local insight into nearly any territory, international venue-sourcing has proved to be an interesting addition to our repertoire.

Our maiden run saw us successfully source, and subsequently contract, a selection of eclectic venues on behalf of MTV and the European Community, for a series of broadcast 'Climate Change' shows. Once the venues were confirmed we moved into Events Management mode, sourcing the local supply of sound, lights, crewing and catering, whilst managing each show's ticketing and security issues, and addressing the PR needs of the EC.

We're neither wedding planners nor talent bookers, but if your proposed project incorporates a live performance element we feel well positioned to deliver success.

Concert tickets are expensive so why should the audience experience be anything other than memorable?

We believe that all queuing should be managed, suitable facilities should always be available, and opening should be prompt. Stewarding and security provision must be based on event-specific assessment and not founded on We used 'x' number last week, and everything was fine, and heavy-handedness is not a badge of honour!

The undoubted fact is that appropriate safety provisioning costs money, but in an industry haunted by disaster, safety should be viewed as a positive investment not a negative.

We principally apply these tenets to our work but we welcome the opportunity to consult on artist security rider provision and tour-advancing. And should your needs be more hands-on, we would be happy to recommend suitably experienced professionals.

With almost fifteen years experience managing the day-to-day careers of a variety of people, we are well prepared for the highs and lows of artist management. However, before this simple statement encourages a deluge of youthful musical enterprise, we feel we must caution that as management invariably represents a full-time commitment, only projects with an established live performance base will be considered.