For more than three decades, we’ve built stages for every type of event imaginable in more locations than we can remember. Historic buildings, rock festivals, rooftops, and the list goes on. If you can put a stage on it, there’s a good chance we’ve done it at some point. Our Steeldeck stage hire services are designed with quality and flexibility in mind, helping you to achieve your vision and put on an unforgettable event.
For the televised Katy Perry performance, the project required versatile and bespoke staging solutions to meet cross-departmental demands. The platforms and decks we supplied served a range of purposes, demonstrating Steeldeck Rentals capability to handle complex and diverse requirements.
We designed and installed key staging elements for the show, including the main stage, camera, lighting and balcony platforms. We facilitated a safe and efficient rigging access platform and created a replica of the main stage for dancers to rehearse.
Collaboration
We partnered with freelance Production Designer Joshua Grace, a long-standing client who has relied on Steeldeck Rentals since 2016. Our collaboration extended to the Line Producer from Thames TV, who oversaw the job, the rigging specialists at DLM, and the set builders at Manta Ray, ensuring their unique needs were met.
Bespoke design
Our tailored platform design, combined with our expertise in high-weight load equipment and structural support, ensured compliance with the venue’s floor load limits, prioritising safety and meeting the demands of the project.
Production Designer Stephen Graham approached Steeldeck Rentals when tasked with designing the staging and scenery for two Songs of Praise projects —Young Chorister of the Year 2024 at Hallé St Peters in Manchester and A Christmas Celebration at Huddersfield Town Hall. Having collaborated with us previously on tiered seating for a BBC News Election Debate at Nottingham Trent University, Stephen knew he could rely on our expertise.
Young Chorister of the Year 2024
For Young Chorister of the Year, we designed a tiered stage featuring three distinct levels and a semi-circular forestage. The structure was clad with hard fascias and topped with recyclable carpet, to meet the aesthetic and practical requirements of the production. By refining the design, we delivered a solution that maintained the creative vision while staying within budget.
A Christmas Celebration
At Huddersfield Town Hall, we created a striking semi-circular stage in front of the venue’s main stage, complete with steps leading up to it. Clad in vibrant red fabric and topped with red carpet, the stage blended seamlessly with the festive decorations. Additionally, we built a raised camera platform to support the production’s technical requirements.
Flexible and Custom Staging
Stage hire doesn’t always mean a rectangular stage build at a single level. For the Young Chorister of the Year, we built a multi-level stage using our versatile 8ft x 4ft Steeldeck platforms, complemented by circular and triangular platforms from our extensive stock. The semicircular forestage was constructed using a 16ft diameter semicircle, showcasing the flexibility of our system to accommodate even the most specific design requirements.
Custom staging hire and seating hire
Whether it’s staging or seating for film, television, or live events, Steeldeck Rentals specialises in finding practical, creative, and budget-friendly solutions in Manchester and beyond. We’re committed to helping Production Designers transform ideas into reality, ensuring every project is executed seamlessly.
The iconic 1990s game show You Bet! returned to our TV screens with two 75-minute specials produced by Rollercoaster Television (part of ITV Studios). Hosted by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern, the show features a panel of celebrity guests and a live studio audience betting on challengers completing extraordinary tasks.
Production Designer, Joshua Grace needed tiered seating for the set filmed at the newly opened Shinfield Studios, that would make the large audience a visible part of the production. Having partnered with Steeldeck Rentals on shows such as Get Britain Singing, Comic Relief, Moneybags, and Buy It Now, Joshua knew we could deliver a bespoke solution tailored to his ambitious design.
The Challenge
The brief was to create steep, tiered seating with mirroring the style of a stadium to enhance the scale of the production. We proposed two options:
Opting for the 21-inch rise solution – we designed the structure accordingly.
The Solution
The seating design evolved during the project, reducing from three banks to two to meet budget constraints while minimising bespoke fabrication. Each seating bank included rear-access staircases for safe egress, and one incorporated a raised control platform for the sound team. To further maximise audience capacity, we provided matching flat floor seating and dry hire decks for additional studio platforms.
In the lead-up to the General Election, Steeldeck Rentals collaborated with the BBC Technology Group to create a versatile, low-level stage for BBC Cymru Wales. The stage was designed to support dynamic digital content and project augmented 3D video onto the surface of the decks, which seamlessly extended onto neighbouring LED floors and walls. Due to the unpredictable timing of the election announcement, Steeldeck Rentals remained on standby, preparing to execute the installation promptly. To ensure minimal disruption to BBC staff and production schedules, both the build and de-rig were conducted overnight.
Meeting Unique Specifications in a High-Traffic Space
The BBC required the staging to match the height exactly and ensure a high fire-resistance rating for the stage finish. The installation took place within the atrium, BBC Cymru Wales’ main entrance and reception area – with the space consuming high-traffic, we needed to ensure that during the build we allowed production, AV, lighting, and camera rehearsals to occur seamlessly around it, making flexibility and precision essential.
Collaborative Excellence
To achieve the required finish, we coordinated with multiple suppliers, including Cardiff Theatrical Services (CTS), who provided specialised carpentry and Dibond cladding expertise. This partnership with CTS ensured a polished, high-standard result that met both functional and aesthetic demands. Take a look at our Bristol and Cardiff Stage Hire projects today.
The Bowlers Exhibition Centre (B.E.C.) in Manchester, a venue known for diverse exhibitions, conferences, sporting events and live music, was chosen for the Rainbow Six BLAST R6 Major Manchester 2024. This tournament brings together 20 elite teams from across the globe to compete for a $750,000 prize pool. Given Steeldeck Rentals’ extensive experience in event staging and seating structures in Manchester and London, we were the ideal delivery partner for this project.
To transform the exhibition centre into an arena-like environment suitable for a high-energy eSports event, we included tiered and flat floor seating, along with a cost-effective solution for the main stage structure and front-of-house platforms.
As one of the few suppliers capable of customising event structures, we were able to deliver bespoke solutions to meet requirements for both seating and staging.
The initial brief required seating for 1,790 attendees, so we designed a layout and tiered structure to meet this capacity. After the event sold out, there was a demand to increase seating capacity. We revisited the design and changed the layout to accommodate 2,360 attendees without compromising on comfort or safety.