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FKPE: Why we’re investing in touring entertainment

We have to admit, when we first opened Jurassic World: The Exhibition at London’s ExCeL Centre in 2022, we weren’t quite expecting the huge response it got. But it was so successful (selling 314,000 tickets in just over four months) that it cemented our confidence in the exhibition, family entertainment, comedy, and special projects business.

In fact, we’re so excited by the potential for this segment that we’re launching a business division dedicated to it: FKP Scorpio Entertainment (FKPE).

Headquartered in London, FKPE will be led by James Cassidy and Barry Campbell, who launched FKP UK in 2018 with BBC Studios’ very successful Blue Planet II Live In Concert arena tour.

We are now investing significantly, including acquiring exhibition companies, adding staff, and developing new venues across Europe to accommodate the content we will be promoting in the coming years.

Currently, we have Semmel Exhibitions’ Disney 100: The Exhibition at ExCeL (it’s sold over 250,000 tickets so far). We are delighted with the venue, so confirmed an exclusive tenancy deal until 2027 and have many major IP exhibitions and events in the pipeline. Up next, will be London and multi-territory European presentations of Formula 1: The Exhibition (opening doors at ExCeL later this year), plus we are collaborating on a new experiential project with a major global gaming IP, details to be announced soon.

We plan to not only promote experiences but invest in producing content, too ,and will be making some major announcements later this year.

“In addition to our long-term agreement with ExCeL in London, we’re on schedule to complete the renovation and build of our own 8,000sqm exhibition venue”

While there are some crossover skills, promoting exhibitions is a completely different ballgame to concerts. That’s why, alongside James, Barry, and the team, we’re expanding our portfolio through the acquisition of Sweden- based Nordic Exhibitions & Events Ltd. The company was founded by promoter Stefan Papengelis in 2016 and has to date sold approximately 700,000 tickets in the Scandinavian market. Papengelis and his team of six will not only work closely with FKP Sweden managing director Bozo Rasic but will report directly into FKPE London and be responsible for developing the growth of exhibitions and special events in all Nordic markets. As part of the acquisition, FKPE now owns promotion rights to Jurassic World by Brickman, Titanic: The Exhibition, and Van Gogh Alive, which opens in Örebro this summer.

As anyone working in this sector knows, a lack of venue availability is a sticking point across Europe. So, in addition to our long-term agreement with ExCeL in London, we’re on schedule to complete the renovation and build of our own 8,000sqm exhibition venue in Oberhausen, Germany. The new venue will host separate but adaptable exhibition spaces in one location, close to transport links and smack bang in the middle of the Rhine/Ruhr catchment area, which is home to over 15m people. It is our intention for this to become the ultimate German destination for exhibitions and immersive events in years to come. IPs are lining up, there are so many great producers and excellent content out there, but we tend to find that there just aren’t enough venues. Our approach in Oberhausen will be to offer that balance between the tier-one IP and mid-portfolio exhibitions in a fully serviced one-stop venue destination.

In addition to Oberhausen, we also have a touring portable structure in Stockholm, which will be put to use for future exhibitions across Europe, something we are very keen to develop further.

Comedy is another key part of our strategy. In Germany alone, we’ve promoted over 365 shows in the last two years, selling more than 250,000 tickets. To support this German success, we’ve recruited top UK comedy promoter Ollie Catchpole (ex Robomagic/ATG) to join the FKPE international team – he will be working closely with all our offices to bring great comedy tours into UK & Europe.

As you can probably tell from our activities, we’re extremely confident about the future. There are now so many more exhibitions and special project events for people to go to these days, and FKPE can’t wait to be at the heart of it!

This article was first published in the Touring Entertainment Report 2024, which is available exclusively to IQ subscribers in print or as a digital magazineSubscribe now and view the full report. A preview version is below.

 


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FKP Scorpio Ent announces major expansion plans

FKP Scorpio is expanding its exhibition, family entertainment, comedy, spoken word and special projects business under the newly upgraded FKP Scorpio Entertainment (FKPE) umbrella.

The company structure includes a rebranding of its German FKP Scorpio Show Creations company, which will become part of the new wider FKPE business model moving forward. It has also announced the acquisition of Sweden’s Nordic Exhibitions.

Headquartered in London, the international operation will be led by president James Cassidy and senior promoter Barry Campbell, who launched FKP Scorpio UK in 2018 with the BBC Studios Blue Planet II Live in Concert arena tour.

“Under James and Barry’s fantastic leadership, our FKP Entertainment company has had an amazing start in this exciting new growth sector,” says FKP owner and CEO Folkert Koopmans. “We are not only acquiring great partners and content but are delivering results which we aim to emulate in all our key European markets. We will be investing heavily into this space and have also just acquired experienced events promoter Nordic Exhibitions & Events AB to add to our growing portfolio”

Formed in 2022, FKPE’s first project, in partnership with the Luna Entertainment Group, was the 2023 Jurassic World: The Exhibition at London ExCeL Centre, which sold 314,000 tickets in just over four months. Working in partnership with the ExCeL team, FKPE have secured an exclusive tenancy deal to 2027.

“We hope that FKPE will become the first call for any global IP or event producers”

FKPE is currently promoting Semmel Exhibition Disney 100: The Exhibition, which has shifted more than 240,000 tickets to dates and will run until 23 June. It will follow D100 with both London and multi-territory European presentations of Formula 1: The Exhibition, as well as investing in and promoting a new experiential exhibition with a major global gaming IP, with details to be announced later this year.

“Barry and I love what we do, if it’s a quality exhibition, family event or special project, then we are prepared to put our necks on the line to deliver results,” says Cassidy. “We hope that FKPE will become the first call for any global IP or event producers. Our FKP European teams have a wonderful network of offices and talented staff, so we hold no fear in presenting FKPE as the ultimate one stop UK and European solution for quality projects”

Also joining the FKPE London team are Nathan Birch as head of ticketing, Daisy Parry as special events co-ordinator, Suzy Bryant as marketing consultant and promoter Ollie Catchpole. Other hires will be announced soon.

Norrköping-based Nordic Exhibitions, founded by promoter and CEO Stefan Papangelis in 2016, will now be part of the FKP Scorpio Group and renamed FKP Scorpio Entertainment Nordic. The company has sold approximately 700,000 exhibition tickets in the Scandinavian markets.

Under the new operation, Papangelis and his team will work closely with Bozo Rasic, MD of FKP Scorpio Sweden, as well as reporting directly into FKPE London and responsible for developing the growth of exhibitions and special events in all Nordic markets.

“We really look forward to combining forces to make great successes in the Nordic markets and beyond”

“It’s truly fantastic to be part of the FKPE family, a perfect fit for us and we really look forward to combining forces to make great successes in the Nordic markets and beyond,” says Papangelis.

The development of the non-music economy has also been fuelled in Germany by FKP’s recent successes in the German comedy market. Headed by promoter Thilo Elsner, FKP has staged over 365 comedy shows in the last two years with more than 250,000 tickets sold.

In addition, FKPE is on schedule to complete the renovation and build of its own 8,000 square metre exhibition venue in Oberhausen, Germany.

Earlier this year, live music promoters FKP Scorpio UK and Communion Presents merged to form Communion ONE.

Koopmans, Cassidy and Campbell share more details on FKPE’s expansion plans in the 2024 Touring Entertainment Report (TER), which comes out next week.

“As you can probably tell from our activities, we’re extremely confident about the future,” they tell TER. “There are now so many more exhibitions and special project events for people to go to these days, and FKPE can’t wait to be at the heart of it.”

 


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