Maestra Group Launches Scenic Services in London Maestra Group launches a new scenic division which will be headed up by Mark Davies as director of production and will be based at the company's London headquarters. The new department will be housed in a dedicated 55,00-sq.-ft. facility with a team of around 20 full-time staff. The establishment of London's scenic department enables Maestra Group to offer a dynamic and fully comprehensive range of in-house high-end scenic services; such as CNC, carpentry and joinery, fabrication and engineering, lighting and automation, painting and finishing, as well as the current technical and design offering. It can also facilitate the smooth and efficient integration of other technical detailing like lighting, video, or audio into scenic fabrication projects, and will provide a series of streamlined, flexible, and cost-effective options for spectacularly creative end results. Maestra Group is investing heavily in state-of-the-art technology and CNC machinery, but "most importantly is bringing onboard some of the most experienced and talented people in the industry," commented Davies. His working background has included being sales director with Stage One Creative Services and before this as director of technical operations at the National Theatre. Among those joining Davies and the team is Paul Evans, who will be heading up the construction department. He was previously head of construction for the National Theatre and workshop / project manager for another well-known company in the set and scenic world. He has worked on numerous ambitious events and productions worldwide. Head of production is Jon Chute, previously an account director for a leading scenic engineering and automation company, and before that, a senior production manager for Imagination, where he delivered some of their largest and most impressive international events. The facility is made up of a 9,000-sq.-ft. fabrication area which will include the best CNC equipment for carpentry and metalwork, and a 2,500-sq.-ft. mezzanine area that will be utilized for CNC poly carving and other 3D modeling. An 8m by 6m external spray booth will deal with all finishing, and another 6,000-sq.-ft. of warehouse is allocated for assembly, quality control, packing, and dispatch. In addition to the workshop, there is 32,000-sq.-ft. of external space which will be used for test builds and loading. All of this is geared to producing the highest quality set and scenic elements -- large or small -- efficiently and to meet often tight schedules. Says Davies: "The goals for good scenic companies are about meeting and then exceeding client expectations in all aspects -- quality and build, finishing, being on-budget, and ease of installation. It is essential to have the right people and processes all working harmoniously and with a full understanding of each project's individual requirements. At Maestra we strive to achieve this every time." Davies was attracted to working at Maestra because of their "fantastic" reputation in the industry combined with the "spirit of innovation, progression, and their future aspirations -- there is everything to play for." Group director Justin Hammond commented, "We are very excited to be working with Mark, Paul, Jon, and the rest of the Maestra Scenic team, and we have amassed an amazing array of skills and experts with a huge aggregate knowledge base which is already very busy with interesting and challenging projects. Maestra Scenic brings an additional synergy to our brand and more creative and technical capacity that is good for all our clients." Maestra Scenic is the latest in several large investments and expansions being made by Maestra Group which recently announced the opening of a Barcelona base in early autumn, with more news coming soon! 
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