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
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
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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CASE STUDY 01
MARY PETERS Trust
40 Golden Years – A live show to celebrate Lady Mary & the Trust’s incredible achievements, celebrating 40 years since her Olympic gold medal win.
CASE STUDY 02
BUSHMILLS DISTILLERY
As part of their £37 million new distillery launch, we were engaged to deliver a bespoke musical and visual spectacle, celebrating the past whilst looking forward to the future.
CASE STUDY 03
LUNN’S
We have had the pleasure of working with Lunn’s Jewellers on a number of occasions in creating and delivering unique performances that incorporated each event’s theme whilst bringing their unique brand stories to life.
