Blog 16.09.19

Interview with Mark Probee, General Manager at Global Production Squad about events and the use of ex-military staff.

This month we’re speaking to Mark Probee about the advantages of working with ex-military personnel and how they’ve benefitted his events business. 

Tell us about Global Production Squad and your role as General Manager? 

Global Production Squad (GPS) was set up earlier this year. The founders, Rory, Bruce and Kirt already had experience running events but were tired of being let down by crewing companies. For example, they’d ask for six guys but only four would turn up. They realised they could set up their own crewing company and use ex-forces personnel, who they knew would be disciplined, hardworking and motivated. They also wanted to help these guys out. The events industry is very hard to get into, and GPS gives ex-military guys a foot in the door. 

We currently have a database of about 30-40 people, and we also have a monthly induction day. Anyone that’s interested can come, find out what GPS is about, and get an idea of what opportunities are available. 

In terms of my role, I started in March as General Manager, and I run the business on a day to day basis. I’m also ex-military, I was a physical training instructor in the Navy for 22 years as. 

What events does GPS work on, and what services does it offer?

It’s a very wide range. To give you an example, we did the Blenheim Palace Triathlon in May. For that event, we were rigging tents, setting up the barriers, making sure all the stations were rigged and ready. Using our manpower to get thing where they needed to be on the day. When the events have finished, we’re there to help collapse the site again and get it all pulled away. 

Can you explain the main challenges with providing your services to events? 

In these early stages of growing the business, the biggest challenge is having the manpower available. Obviously, we can’t have a pool of people waiting on standby full time, it’s down to their availability. On top of that we have to make sure we have the right staff for the job, with the specialised skills they might need. The challenge is just getting the work to make sure we’ve got enough in the calendar to keep the crew busy, because we don’t have full time roles for people. So, it’s trickier finding people who are happy working more flexibly.

Why did you decide to exclusively use ex-military staff?

As you’ll know if you’ve worked with Vigilance personnel, we’ve found that ex-forces personnel are disciplined and proactive, they just get anything done. People who’ve been in the military are just on the same page very quickly and understand each other’s way of working easily. It’s good that they get to work with likeminded people, because it can be daunting moving out to civilian life. It’s great to be able to offer a real career path to these talented people. 

Is your ex-military workforce something that resonates with your customers?

Absolutely. One of our clients said he didn’t understand why nobody’s done something like this before, as it’s such a logical thing to do. So, he’s keen to use us as much as he can, and most of our other customers have said the same sort of thing. I think once people have worked with us, they just get it. 

Vigilance would like to thank Mark for sharing his valuable insights and time. To find out more about Global Production Squad or to join the next intro meeting, please visit https://globalproductionsquad.... or email info@globalproductionsquad.com

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