Five New Faces Join the Maestra London Team

London- and Dubai-based event design and technical production company Maestra Group has added several new staff to the London team - filling new positions created due to strong business in 2018.

The company has also doubled the size of its premises in east London by acquiring the warehouse space next door, creating a brand-new environment from which to service and administer a diversity of shows and events.

The new staff joining the team include two project managers, two production designers, and another technical manager.

Maestra London's managing director Justin Hammond says: "I'm always very energized to see new talent coming onboard and am really looking forward to working with all our new colleagues, offering them opportunities to flourish as individuals and to excel at their work in a friendly and inclusive atmosphere."

Michaela Welford, new senior project manager, worked in Dubai's vibrant and a high-pressure events bubble for five years, so Maestra London was keen to capitalize on her expertise in dealing with a cosmopolitan mix of international cultures and finding new and different ways of working within the events industry itself.

Known for her tight and detailed organization skills, creativity, and ambition, Welford wanted to work with Maestra London for the team spirit as well as the fun, social vibe. "Their events are diverse and constantly striving for perfection in every area, from designs and set to new technologies," she states.

Welford enjoys working on one-off events with lots of audience interaction and social opportunities, and also using the latest technology to push the boundaries of what's possible to achieve.

Matt Appleby, new senior project manager, saw a company with a "bright and exciting future" he says, adding that the events and projects on which Maestra work are varied and exciting with great latitude for creativity.

He likes the way Maestra London structures its team, with talented and dedicated designers, technical managers and an operations department that offers PMs "full support and a huge amount of comfort" on site as well as in the design and planning stages of the event.

Appleby loves a laugh and brings his friendly and motivated personality, plus his expansive sense of humor to the party, the office and the operation. "Everyone needs a joker!" he says.

Appleby used to work as a sound engineer - where a sense of humor is a prerequisite but also entails serious detail. This has all helped the transition into a client facing role. He's worked in most sectors of the events industry in recent years which gives him a good grounding in what is possible and what isn't whilst still trying to push all factors to create truly brilliant events.

The job of keeping an overall perspective on all things technical is pivotal to Maestra London's smooth and efficient operation, and that attracted Alex Hardie, new technical manager, who is not only methodical and thorough as well as creative but was also looking for new challenges, where every event was bespoke and demanding in different ways.

Hardie brings the lighting element of technical design to the fore with a career that started as a theatre ASM working his way up through being a technician, an operator and then an LD. He then switched his huge enthusiasm for the job and passion for lighting to events and experiential.

Maestra London has an outstanding reputation for providing imaginative and appropriate lighting and has constantly invested in the latest lighting technologies, including the newest premium LED sources and control -- so it was a perfect fit, the company says.

Hardie brings a related and systematic approach to his work. He's a big team player and likes empowering those on his own crew to also feel confident and in control of the scenario.

Adrian Powell, new production designer, wanted to join Maestra London because he was looking for a place in the design world with an enjoyable office culture and ambitious imagineering opportunities.

"I live for work and we do it for the majority of our lives, so I want to be somewhere that's fun, challenging and stimulating and Maestra London seemed like the perfect fit!"

He sees how the designs, people, and culture all collaborate at Maestra, and he also wants to learn from others in a "very accomplished design department" who all readily share their knowledge and expertise for the greater benefit.

His previous employment was in exhibition design, and he engages in a lot of videography and photography skills which are definitely transferable to his work at Maestra London. He will be taking on part of the company's current extensive design workload and assisting in hitting all targets.

Powell speaks a bit of Mandarin Chinese which could prove handy with Maestra's international activities constantly on the rise!

Kat Fung, new assistant production designer, is an Interior Architecture graduate. Finding it difficult to find a job within that given field, she looked at the zany world of events and experiential as a "whole other ball game."

She says: "It's fun, fast-paced and the outcome is extremely rewarding, especially with the opportunity of working with some dedicated and hardworking people who have been in the game for a while."

She loves the opportunity to go on site and watch designs being built and has immediately felt a part of Maestra's young and consistently growing company. In addition to that, "we get to work in a frickin' cool warehouse!" she states, referring to the new space which occupies a charismatic original Victorian industrial development in Woolwich.

Fung's calm creative thinking, positive energy and design skills will be a great asset to Maestra London, and she intends to utilize everything she's learnt from mentors and all the skills and knowledge from university to produce "immaculate designs" in the near future.