Henderson Group

CELEBRATING SPAR’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY

01 / INTRODUCTION

Elevating Iconic BRANDS with Luxury Corporate Entertainment

Working with event providers Callow Events, we were given the enjoyable task of creating a bespoke performance for the locally and globally respected brand, Henderson Group for their private event, celebrating 60 Years of SPAR in Northern Ireland.

The opening entertainment was to tell the story of John Henderson who began the retail grocery business back in 1897 in a captivating and engaging way that was suitable for their franchisees and reflected back the pride in community values that has been a cornerstone of the company since it began. Followed by colourful and dynamic performance to place everyone firmly in the 60’s to enjoy a party for the end of the night.

From a modest stall at St. George’s Market to a Northern Irish institution, our brief was to bring this journey to life through performance

Peter Corry Productions performer at a corporate event for Hendersons group in Northern Ireland

02 / OUR BRIEF

TELLING THEIR BRAND STORY

SPAR NI sought to commemorate their six decades of presence in Northern Ireland, and Peter Corry Productions stepped in to help guests relive the past 60 years.

This included a nostalgic journey from Henderson’s humble beginnings at St. George’s Market in the late 1800s, a reflection on SPAR NI’s collaborations and charitable contributions, all while appreciating their significant impact on communities across Northern Ireland.

Our ability to bring brands to life in an emotionally driven way meant we were perfectly positioned to tell SPAR’s story

03 / CHALLENGES

A SHOW TO CELEBRATE THE PEOPLE WHO MATTER

Bespoke requests often present unique challenges, and we thrive at solving them ina creative, engaging way. This show required us to:

Craft a bespoke celebration song that paid tribute to all 60 suppliers and partners present at the event.
Seamlessly transition between multiple sets spanning different decades, all in the presence of esteemed VIPs.

04 / SHOWTIME

THROUGH THE DECADES

Peter Corry Productions performers at a corporate event for Hendersons group in Northern Ireland

Part 1

The Journey Begins

To tell the first part of the story, we drew on the familiar landscape of St George’s Market where John Henderson opened his very first stall selling bread, milk and eggs and fusing this with the market scene from smash hit Oliver!

Our performers danced, sang and even built a doorway throwing bricks across the audiences heads. With a finale involving our professional cast and the Belfast School of Performing Arts as street urchins, cheering as a gigantic pair of scissors cut the red ribbon to symbolise the opening of the first SPAR made of bricks and mortar, the roar of the audience brought the house down as the host for the evening was welcomed through that door to start of the evening proper.

Part 2

A Groovy Transformation

Later on in the evening we had a full costume change with some of the cast committing to a total change of look by shaving off the facial hair they had been faithfully growing for weeks for the opening scene, to come back with a bang and our Groovy Baby performance.

We had audiences twisting and shouting with a rock’n’roll inspired set list and of course, no 60th birthday celebration would be complete without a cake, not only that but the first branch of SPAR opened officially in the 1960’s.

A giant 3 foot high cake was presented by Hollywood Bombshell, Marilyn Monroe, who of course just had to sing ‘Happy Birthday to SPAR!’.

Part 3

A Heartfelt Thank You

We couldn’t resist rounding off the night without the ultimate thank you, a personalised rendition of ‘I get by with a Little Help from My Friends’ transformed into ‘SPAR get’s by with a little help from their Friends”.

This was a labour of love for the performers to learn who then sang their hearts out with this ultimate special thank you name checking all 60 of the suppliers and partners present on the night who had been such an important part of the SPAR story.

FULL GALLERY

If you’d like to explore bringing your brand story to life, get in touch here and let’s get inspired together.

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