Spectators sitting in the grandstands at The Open Championship this year are set to enjoy wider seats and more legroom after organisers signed a deal with new seating suppliers.
GL events, which manufacturers, supplies and installs temporary and permanent tiered seating, has been awarded a four year contract after winning a tendering process run by championship organisers The R&A.
The contract will see the company provide more than 17,000 temporary seats to this year’s Open, which is being held at Muirfield in July, as well as future Open Championships at Royal Liverpool, St Andrews and Royal Troon.
All the stands will be raised at least 2m at the front to afford spectators excellent views of the action, while the stands step by 375mm between each row of seats to enhance the grandstand view.
GL events is one of the world’s foremost suppliers of temporary tiered seating to major sporting events and Scott Hayward, the firm’s managing director, believes it won The Open contract because of its innovative high quality product. He revealed that a significant amount of the seating framework was last used in temporary grandstands at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Mr Hayward said: “We are thrilled to have won the contract to supply seating to The Open Championship, in golfing terms they don’t come any bigger and we are really looking forward to working closely with the client to deliver world class stands for spectators to enjoy the drama on the course.”
“It follows an incredible 2012 for GL events, in which we supplied tiered seating to the wonderfully successful Olympic and Paralympic Games, but also the new F1 race in Austin and strengthened our position as suppliers to a number of key sports and events around the world.”
GL events has partnered with sporting venues and events all over the world. It manufactures and installs everything from temporary stands to complete permanent stadia.
It supplied thousands of seats for venues at the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games, including the iconic BMX track and the Basketball Arena, and has previously worked at Eden Park, the venue for the New Zealand Rugby World Cup in 2011.
