Harlequin shines bright in prime position at PLASA 2016

PLASA exhibitors, Harlequin Floors, reported a successful show at this week’s London event,staged for the first time at Olympia. Harlequin’s brand new stand, in a prime site, attracted record numbers of enquiries, particularly for the new flooring products launched at PLASA for theatre, event and display applications.

Harlequin’s on-stand support reflected the global nature of the company, with flooring consultants drawn from various offices in Europe and Hong Kong, ready to share their expertise in the correct use and selection of flooring products.

The newly launched metallic Hi-Shine range, in Gold and Silver, was the hot topic, causing double-takes from visitors as they entered the exhibition. Samples of the new product flew off the shelves, with only two remaining at the end of the three days, as enquiries flooded in from set designers, photographers and event producers, to name a few industries.

Other areas of interest for the stand’s guests were printed floors and Harlequin Reversible Pro, which, also recently launched, is based on the original reversible product by Harlequin but benefits from an additional layer, for even greater stability and ease of laying.

Another new product attracting attention this year was Harlequin Rocksure, Harelquin’s hardest wearing product yet, which was, for demonstration purposes, attached to liberty panels with bolts, allowing stand guests to deconstruct the layers with an allen key to see how it all fits together.

Commenting on this year’s exhibition, Sales Manager, Teresa Rogers said: “This year’s PLASA show was a great success and our new Hi-Shine Gold and Silver had a huge amount of interest. There was a real mix of customers, from a range of industries and such a positive vibe. We’ve tripled our enquiries from last year which shows how well our new products have been received”.   

Notes for editors

Harlequin Floors is recognised as the world leader in the development, production and installation of high quality dance floors. Harlequin dance floors are the choice for most of the world’s leading dance companies and performance venues and are also widely used by schools teaching dance classes in the public and private education sectors.  Harlequin Floors supports and nurtures emerging talent in conjunction with major events in several countries.  The company also helps sponsor various research progammes which seek to establish a better understanding of the mechanisms that cause various injuries to dancers and to use this knowledge in advancing the design of dance floors.

Harlequin Floors expands marketing team

Melissa & Susy join Harlequin's marketing team.

Harlequin Floors has announced two important new appointments to further strengthen the company’s marketing team.  Melissa Chapman and Susy Chandler join the Tunbridge Wells based company that has gained world-wide recognition and established market leadership for its innovative developments in setting new standards in quality for floors for dance and the performing arts.

Group Marketing Manager, Mark Rasmussen said, “ We are delighted to welcome Melissa and Susy to Harlequin Floors at a very exciting stage in the company’s development.”  Senior Marketing Executive, Melissa Chapman brings a range of marketing experience to the post. A graduate in European Marketing and Spanish from the University of Hertfordshire, Melissa has recently specialised in digital marketing and social media, building on previous roles in events organizing, corporate communications and PR. Fluent in Spanish, part of Melissa’s career was based in Spain. With two young girls aged 10 and 8 Melissa says she ‘has her hands full’ and lists cooking and eating among her favourite activities outside work.

Susy Chandler, appointed as Senior Communications Executive will focus on Harlequin Floors’ press and public relations activities. As a marketing and communications specialist, previously Susy forged strong relationships with journalists in Europe, Asia Pacific, North America and Latin America when working in the insurance industry. Until the move to Harlequin Susy had been developing content and communications initiatives for the Global Leadership Foundation, in Melbourne, Australia. With a first class degree in French and English from Reading University, Susy’s interests include travel, music, drama and sport.

Mark Rasmussen commenting on the new appointments explained, “Our products are the dance floors of choice for major dance companies globally, thanks to the research investment that has enabled us to create floors that dancers love to use.  Harlequin has worked closely with dancers to create floors that give them the confidence necessary to perform to the limits of their ability without holding back for fear of slipping or injury.” Mark continued, “Our range of display floors are increasingly popular with set designers to create stunning sets for TV shows, to add gloss and shine to fashion runways and to build dramatic exhibition stands.  Harlequin also has considerable experience in the construction of stages, where recent projects include theatre stage building and refurbishment, stages on board cruise ships and in schools. As a niche business operating globally we look forward to Melissa and Susy playing an important role in moving the business forward. ”

Harlequin donates to Theatres Trust Resource Centre

Mark Rasmussen (Harlequin Floors) hands 

cheque to Rebecca Morland (Theatres Trust)

On 24 August, Harlequin Floor’s Group Marketing Manager, Mark Rasmussen met with Rebecca Morland, Interim Director of Theatres Trust to make a donation toward the upkeep of its Resource Centre, which houses a library, special collections and an archive as well as dedicated spaces for theatre professionals and scholars to access these.

Commenting on the donation, Mark said “The Theatres Trust library is a fantastic resource for people who work in technical theatre. This donation is a token of our support, not only for this unique collection, but as part of the longstanding relationship between Harlequin and Theatres Trust”. 

Harlequin Floors Tapping into Brighton

The Brighton Tap Festival was back again this summer after a spectacular first year when over a hundred students passed through its doors across the three days. On Tuesday, Harlequin Floors’ Senior Marketing Executive, Melissa Chapman went coastal to catch all the action, taking with her Harlequin’s Tap ‘n’ Turn board and Harlequin’s Practice Mat for the students to tap away on.

With Brighton being such a bustling hub for the Performing Arts industry, it was an obvious location choice for the visionaries, Jamie Spall and Kate Ivory, when they decided to set up a tap festival for 2015 to match the standard of those across Europe and the USA. The event was such a success that it was back again this year with Harlequin invited to attend. 

Taking place in the urban-themed Brighton Youth Centre, complete with graffiti-covered walls, there was a fantastic line up of classes across the three days, for all ages and abilities, in a range of styles.

Setting up camp in one of the four studios, Melissa was on hand to welcome students to try out the Harlequin Tap ‘n’ Turn board and Harlequin Practice Mat, which can both be purchased online from The Harlequin Shop and are perfect for home practice. 

Each of the teachers, who are among the world’s most renowned tap dancers, brought their own flavour to the event from Afro Funk with Maud Arnold, known as one of tap’s Leading Ladies, to Improvisation with Daniel Leveill�, seven times world tap champion at the International Dance Organization. 

In the evening different events took place with a Tap Jam at the Komedia on the Tuesday night, a Cutting Competition on the Wednesday night and ‘the crowning glory’, the Tap Gala which was held at the beautiful Brighton Dome Corn Exchange on Thursday. 

Reporting back, Harlequin’s Melissa said “It was a fantastic event and the atmosphere was really buzzing. Harlequin’s range of home practice products went down really well with the students and as for the dancing, I enjoyed it so much that I went back to Brighton on Thursday night for the Gala. It was well worth it!”

Harlequin set to roll out new floors at PLASA 2016

New silver Hi-Shine used at fashion show. 

Photo supplied by Chadwicks, Australia.

Entertainment and events flooring specialists Harlequin Floors will be exhibiting at PLASA 2016, Olympia, London from 18^th to 20^th September on stand F10. In a move back to west London and with PLASA also returning to its traditional September date, the show organisers promise it “will deliver a renewed proposition, providing an exhibition solution more suited to current industry needs.”

Harlequin Floors offer a wide range of floors for live entertainment, the performing arts, dance, special events, set building, television studios, exhibition stands, as well as theatre stage construction and stage refurbishment projects. At PLASA this year Harlequin will additionally be launching a number of exciting new floor options, including the addition of Gold and Silver, the first two in Harlequin’s new Metallic range, joining the already immensely popular Hi-Shine event and display floors.

Also of interest to set designers looking for new creative opportunities, Harlequin is rolling out Reversible Pro a floor that is well suited to printing designs and images using advanced wide format computer controlled techniques. Based on the original concept the new Harlequin Reversible Pro is a unique double-sided option that still allows the colours to be changed around. Reversible was Harlequin’s first product and has remained a best seller ever since. The new Reversible Pro version benefits from an additional layer to the standard floor for even greater stability, which ensures it's even quicker to lay flat.

Harlequin’s flooring expertise is not limited to providing stunning display surfaces, or safe surfaces for the performing arts and for dance, but the company also enjoys an excellent reputation for stage floor construction and stage refurbishments. Look out for Harlequin’s new, free guide to stage construction which will be available at the show.