NEC arenas launch new safety campaign

The new initiative will sit alongside 'Ask for Clive' – an anti-homophobia campaign introduced by the arenas in 2019.

As well as being able to verbally communicate the Angela and Clive codewords to arena staff, customers will have the option to alert staff using their mobile phones. The digital feature not only ensures an additional layer of safeguarding measures to help build public confidence, but also provides greater accessibility for disabled customers.

The nationally recognised safeguarding campaign, ‘Ask for Angela’ aims to help people who find themselves in a difficult or intimidating situation by allowing them to discreetly communicate the codeword to staff during a night out. It is helping combat the ongoing issue of drink spiking across the UK’s live events and entertainment industry.

Guy Dunstan, managing director of ticketing and arenas at the NEC Group, said: “It goes without saying, ensuring the health, safety and security of our customers is our top priority. By implementing this initiative across both our venues, arena staff will be on hand to act quickly and discreetly to support customers who ask for Angela, either verbally or via the Zapaygo app. We hope this new measure – together with our Ask for Clive initiative – creates a safer, more enjoyable experience for everyone.”

Elliot Hall, founder and chief executive of Zapaygo, said: “Technology in our industry has long been used to improve customer experience and operational efficiency – these factors have always been at the forefront of our minds but we now know we can offer much more. Following the recent increase in concern over the wellbeing and welfare of guests when attending and leaving venues, Zapaygo, in partnership with the NEC Group, have been working on ways to use app technology like ours to integrate personal safety features. Our app is extremely versatile and we want to do all we can to provide our customers with a safe solution which is why we have introduced ‘Ask for Angela’ and ‘Ask for Clive’.

"We believe our commitment to offering solutions like these will provide reassurance and instil confidence to our users.”