Alexandra Palace, one of London’s most iconic entertainment venues, is the latest organisation to sign up to Halo (v5), the award-winning crowd safety, security and threat management platform.
Halo Solutions, one of the global leaders in crowd security and safety technology, who designed Halo (v5) will equip the Grade II-listed Alexandra Palace with a wide range of crowd safety and security capabilities to protect its buildings, services, infrastructure and the public. Halo (v5) will be used 24/7 to monitor the iconic building premises, ice rink, theatre and large car park areas, handle all incident management, digitising security checks and procedures, standing orders and security tasking.
The technology will streamline all security, crowd safety checks and reporting procedures. Alexandra Palace – the ‘Palace of The People’ or ‘Ally Pally’ as it is more affectionately known - opened in 1873 has since played host to some of the biggest events and occasions in London’s history. It is credited as being the birthplace of television when in 1935, the BBC took over the East Wing of the palace, turning them into television studios, trialling technologies by the Baird Company and Marconi-EMI, and launching the world’s first high-definition television service in 1936.
Iconic artists including the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Jay Z as well as Florence and the Machine, Stormzy, Ed Sheeran and Little Simz have all performed at the venue. In 2021, the first ever Earthshot Prize Awards Ceremony took place in the Palace’s Theatre attended by The Prince and Princess of Wales. Halo (v5) will also be used to assist in Alexandra Palace’s overall enhanced security preparedness to tackle counter terrorism under Martyn’s Law (amended Protect Duty and play a pivotal role in ensuring crowds enjoy their experience at the venue in a safe and secure environment.
The announcement comes as Halo recently finished its end of summer events, having protected 50 million people at more than 759 major sporting, music and entertainment events and business premises around the globe over the course of the summer. Commenting on the announcement, CEO and Halo founder, Lloyd Major, said: “We are delighted and thrilled to be working with such a proactive and world-class team at Alexandra Palace and for Halo (v5) to be playing an important role, not only in protecting the iconic Alexandra Palace and its estate, but also in helping to keep the public and visitors to the attraction safe and secure.
“Protecting the public and venues, making public spaces safe places is our number one priority. As a former police officer and one who also worked in counter terrorism, it has become my life mission with Halo to ensure that all sporting, music and entertainment venues adopt and embrace better communications and the latest safety and security technology, along with enhanced training and best practices. When it comes to the safety and security of the public, they are our number one priority.”
Emma Dagnes, CEO at Alexandra Park and Palace Charitable Trust, said: “We welcome five million visitors to the Park and Palace each year for a variety of events and experiences, that truly enrich people’s lives.
“At the heart of this is people’s safety and ensuring our security standards, at all touch points, are of the highest standards. We are pleased to be working with Halo as we continue to enhance our security set up, so that Alexandra Palace can be enjoyed and bring benefit to all.”
Halo Solutions, a British security technology company that was founded by former National Counter Terrorism police officer Lloyd Major, has established itself as one of the leading crowd security and safety technology companies in the world with its Halo (v5) incident and threat management software platform. The company has played a hugely important role in protecting people and keeping them safe at some of the biggest events on the planet, with major events around the world, including the coronation of King Charles III, the Eurovision song contest, FIFA World Cup fan zones in Qatar, the Miami F1 Grand Prix, Silverstone’s British Grand Prix and Moto GP – to mention just a handful.
It has also protected fans at some of the biggest entertainment events, from Notting Hill Carnival and Glastonbury to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo. Halo (v5) has helped to protect more than 30 music festivals and more than 100 concerts this year, from the likes of Elton John, Harry Styles and Peter Kay to Cardiff LGBT Pride, Fort Lauderdale Pride, Lincoln Pride and Dublin Pride.
It has kept fans safe at Wales vs England rugby, the Ashes cricket test at Edgbaston and multiple football matches – including Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion, Watford and Mansfield Town. The crowd and event safety platform has also been deployed at the NEC Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, ExCeL London, Motorpoint Arena Nottingham and ACC Liverpool to keep millions of visitors safe each year.
The Halo (v5) crowd safety platform has also played a major role in protecting the public across major rail transport infrastructure and stations across the UK. The Halo (v5) software system acts as a central command-and-control function that operates from a standard laptop and can bring together more than 10 different systems integrated into one, with more than 75 client-led features.
It integrates monitoring and recording of multiple feeds of information across a venue, from security, CCTV and live drone feeds, health and safety, cleaning, public reporting, video streaming, ticket scanning, accreditation and soon will include crowd management, crowd density, flow, sentiment, mood and capacity. It means that when an incident occurs, all the actions, protocols and decisions taken by staff are recorded in one location for greater decision-making capability, transparency, and auditing purposes.
It also provides an invaluable reporting mechanism on crowd safety, health and safety and incident logging. This allows operations directors, event managers and venue owners to make informed decisions and react much quicker on events that impact public safety.
Critically, in the event of a major incident or a terrorist attack, it can provide vital evidential data to support the decisions taken. Halo (v5) is already being deployed and protecting the public at some of the world’s largest, most prestigious, and high-profile events, including the FIFA World Cup fan zones in Qatar (2022), Cricket World Cup (2019), British Grand Prix, Notting Hill Carnival, Glastonbury Festival and the Miami F1 Grand Prix.
It is also being used at a number of arena and conference venues across the UK, including The NEC Group, Motorpoint Arena, ACC Liverpool and ExCeL London. In addition, the Halo System is being used extensively at football, rugby and cricket stadiums, including Chelsea FC, West Bromwich Albion FC, Mansfield Town FC, Watford FC and Premiership Rugby clubs Harlequins and Leicester Tigers, as well as the Edgbaston and Ageas Bowl cricket venues as well as many other sporting and business locations around the world.
