EICC Case Study Record-breaking Richard Parkinson, Chief Executive of IncrediBull, the creative communications agency organising the event, tells us how the EICC helped Royal London break some world records

Can you tell me a little about the Royal London Roadshow?

The roadshow was organised to launch the Royal London brand to more than 3000 employees across the UK. There were three roadshows altogether in Manchester, London and Edinburgh and each event communicated the new brand proposition of Royal London and how it fits in with their target audiences. The roadshow also set out to improve cross-functional working across the business.

What criteria must a venue meet in order for you to choose it for a roadshow?

When we’re choosing a venue for a roadshow, our main requirement is that it needs to be flexible as there are always a lot of elements to fit in. At each of the roadshows this year, we attempted a Guinness World Record. The brand proposition is based around the idea of strength in everyone, and what better way to demonstrate this than for everyone to achieve a Guinness World Record together. We required the venues to be extremely flexible and to be able to deal with the health and safety requirements that the records presented.

What made the EICC stand out as a venue for your event?

Royal London has major offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh so the EICC is in an ideal location, plus it is large enough to cope with the number of employees attending the roadshow. Employees worked around individual tables in the main plenary and the space was big enough to easily facilitate this. The EICC also offered us the flexibility to attempt the Guinness World Records and we completed the largest game of What’s the Time Mr Wolf?, which was fantastic.

How did you find the facilities at the EICC?

I thought they were excellent. It was the first time we’d used the EICC for an event although I had heard very good things about it. From a production point of view, everything was very well organised. We had a day to set-up and time to do rehearsals, which ensured everything went smoothly. The roadshow ran across two days and there was around 600 people at each event. We couldn’t have asked for it to go any better.

What were the highlights of the roadshow?

Achieving a new Guinness World Record was a big highlight for me- 500 people playing What's the Time Mr Wolf? was quite a sight to see.

How did you find Edinburgh as a host city?

I've visited Edinburgh a few times now and I'm always given a warm welcome. It's such a lovely city and everyone is so hospitable, for example, a crew member recommended a great restaurant in the Old Town for us and the food was fantastic. We also had a lot of employees travelling to the EICC from Glasgow and I thought the transport links were excellent. There is a great range of options, particularly by train. We put on coaches for some of the team, which also worked well and many took advantage of.

Were there any challenges that the EICC helped you overcome?

We needed a venue at quite short notice but this didn't faze the EICC at all. Organising the Guinness World Records was also quite a challenge but the EICC ensured we had enough space. They helped us with many things and it was a definite partnership.

Overall, how did you find your experience at the EICC?

Great, I would definitely use the EICC again for an event.