Christopher BarrettInternational concert and festival promoter FKP Scorpio has announced a major expansion and restructuring of its exhibition, family entertainment, comedy, spoken word and special projects business.
The changes include a re-branding of its previously incorporated German FKP Scorpio Show Creations company, which will now become part of the expanded FKP Scorpio Entertainment (FKPE) business.
Headquartered in London, the international operation will be led by James Cassidy and Barry Campbell, who launched FKP Scorpio UK in 2018 with the BBC Studios Blue Planet II Live in Concert arena tour.
Cassidy has been appointed FKPE president, and Campbell senior promoter. Also joining the FKPE London team are Nathan Birch as head of ticketing, Daisy Parry as special events co-ordinator, Suzy Bryant as marketing consultant, and former Robomagic and One Inch Badge promoter Ollie Catchpole.
Catchpole, whose background includes venue programming and promoting in comedy and spoken word, will focus on bringing international comedy talent to tour the 11 European markets in which FKP Scorpio operates in.
FKPE was formed in 2022 to focus primarily on exhibitions, family events and special projects. Its first project, in partnership with the Luna Entertainment Group, was the 2023 award-winning Jurassic World: The Exhibition, which sold 314,000 tickets in just over four months. The exhibition took place at the London ExCeL centre, where FKPE has secured an exclusive tenancy deal until 2027.
FKPE is currently promoting the Semmel Exhibitions’ Disney 100: The Exhibition (pictured), which has sold more than 240,000 tickets. It is also working on London and multi-territory presentations of Formula 1: The Exhibition, as well as investing in and promoting a new experiential exhibition with an unnamed ‘major global gaming IP’ that will be announced later this year.
Said Cassidy, “Barry and I love what we do, if it’s a quality exhibition, family event or special project which is both unique and exclusive to market, then we are prepared to put our necks on the line to deliver results. We hope that FKPE will become the first call for any global IP or event producers. Our FKP European teams have a wonderful network of offices and talented staff, so we hold no fear in presenting FKPE as the ultimate one stop UK and European solution for quality projects.”
FKP Scorpio owner and CEO Folkert Koopman said, “Under James and Barry’s fantastic leadership, our FKP Entertainment company has had an amazing start in this exciting new growth sector. We are not only acquiring great partners and content but are delivering results which we aim to emulate in all our key European markets. We will be investing heavily into this space and have also just acquired experienced events promoter Nordic Exhibitions & Events AB to add to our growing portfolio.”
Nordic Exhibitions, will become part of the FKP Scorpio Group and renamed FKP Scorpio Entertainment Nordic. It was founded by promoter and CEO Stefan Papangelis in 2016 and has sold around 700,000 exhibition tickets in the Scandinavian markets.
FKP Scorpio said Papangelis and his team will report directly into FKPE London and will be responsible for developing the growth of exhibitions and special events in all Nordic markets.
FKPE said work to complete the renovation and build of its 8,000 square metre exhibition venue in Oberhausen, Germany, is on schedule.
Said Cassidy, “What sets us apart is our commitment to deliver the very best venues, locations, marketing, promotion and campaign management for our partners. We aim to build and maintain strategic vision and campaign management systems which deliver the best results across multiple territories.”