Multi sector concierge service, The Needs Group has a great deal to celebrate, despite significant challenges within the industry. Starting his career driving artists round in golf buggies, MD Matt Cheshire has certainly come a long way in his career, to transporting them in private jets.
The Needs Group which consists of multi-sector aviation, event and VIP needs, across music, royalty and beyond, has faced festival cancellations, a pandemic, and more recent challenges within the music industry itself.
Matt explains, “Whilst event organisers and the music industry as a whole is still recovering from the impact of the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis is still taking its toll on it too. People are not buying tickets until the last minute, and the cost of seeing bigger bands is resulting in people limiting the amount they have to have to spend on other events.”
As one of the most comprehensive providers for artist needs in the world, Matt adds, “However I am pleased to add that despite all these challenges, we have seen our best summer ever, the timing of which in our 25th year is reassuring and certainly something to celebrate. Our core team of five employees grew to encompass over 60 people during the summer months, and the private aviation side of the business has continued to grow as well. We also do a lot of work with sport personalities, and enjoyed transporting family members of the England team this summer whilst they were in Germany for the Euros. Corporate use of private aviation is also continuing to rise, and our ability to offset the emissions of private travel relating to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), is something not all aviation companies even offer. Sustainability is important to us and has helped our growth.”
Highlights for the company have included the Coronation concert for the King last year and working with everyone from royalty to celebrities and music stars.
The music industry itself has seen over 50 music festivals either postponed or closed for good this year, according to the Association of Independent Festivals, with bands also limiting the number of locations they play to save costs. Matt concluded, “Whilst many festivals have found it hard to break even on costs, we tend to work more on family festivals, with older audiences, most capped around the 6,000 mark. It is the larger festivals focussing on younger audiences that have been impacted the most. People simply don’t have the surplus income to spend anymore. Whilst I am very proud of my own teams’ achievements, the industry overall needs support, or we face there being less festivals and concerts in the future.”
