24 BusIness AUGUST 2019
FEATURE
FROM PAGE 22
Salford’s five star Lowry Hotel to see if
they needed anyone to work on
upcoming events.
Holly recalls: “A week later I get a call
saying a woman wanted to do her dad’s
70th birthday. Unbeknown to me it was
Fred Done, I went to his house, he said:
‘you’ve got no track record you’re on
your own,’ but I said just let me put
together a proposal and I pitched a
Putting on the Ritz-themed event.
Incrediby, I won it, and did it all at The
Lowry and it was a brilliant night. That
gave me a massive springboard, and
that was six months in to the business.
People could see that Fred Done could
have any event planner he wanted but
he went with me.”
Holly went on to do a host of events
for Fred and his BetFred business
empire, and now counts him as a good
friend. And business soon began to
swiftly grow.
In her first year as Make Events she
registered a turnover of £150,000; in
just five years that had grown to £3.5m
- with this year’s projected turnover at
£4.5m.
Reflecting on her business now, Holly
says: “In the early days I never thought
I was good enough or cool enough, I
was never the cool person at school...
But you have to fight through that fear. I
knew I could do my job properly. I used
to look at all those big parties in
Manchester, all the Corrie stars, and
think, wow, they would never speak to
me, but then things happen. Like last
summer, we were doing Corrie and
Emmerdale’s summer parties!
“I do think you can be nice, work
hard and be nice, what if we could work
hard be nice and have an amazing
business? I used to look at a lot of
events and I could tell who had done
them. But I wanted them to be all about
the client. That every event we do is
totally different.”
So what does Holly put the secret of
her success down to? She says: “The
journey has been I’ve been stubborn
and independent, I wanted to do it all
myself without borrowing, no
investment, no overdraft no credit
cards – everything that I’ve put in I’ve
kept a good amount of reserves in the
bank because I would never want my
staff not to be paid.”
In May 2019 Holly unveiled her new
business HQ in Wilmslow, House of
Make, moving her team of 16 from their
previous offices at Stanley Green.
The design is a visual representation
of Holly and her team – including an
auditorium lined with illustrations of
each team member and spaces for
remaining members that Holly aims to
recruit to bring the headcount to 30 in
the next five years.
Holly says: “We are trying to show
customers how you can bring a brand
to life. We understand brands and we
know how to bring them to life.”
There are inspiring life quotes
covering the walls, a pop-up Starbucks
and a Kylie dressing room – a nod to
one of Holly’s idols Kylie Minogue who
she worked with on one of her most
memorable events for Fred and Mo
Done.
Holly says: “Before I even started
Make Events, I wrote down that I
wanted to meet Kylie. And now I’ve met
Kylie. I’m a big believer in setting goals.
She was the nicest most generous
celebrity I’ve ever met.”
In terms of the biggest events she has
worked on, they include corporate
events for more than 1500-2000 people
for BetFred and The Hut Group.
And one of her favourites was the
company’s first international job on aprivate island in Dubai for Kelloggs,
“That was quite a moment,” she
smiles.
Make Events now works
entirely on corporate
events, while private
events are managed
under her separate
business, Holly
Moore Events.
Holly is
passionate about
inspiring others
with her business
success story.
She says: “I’m so
proud of the brand and
I’d just like people to see,
look what you can do, look what
you can achieve.“If I can show people I’ve had a
mental health issue that I’ve
overcome, I started with
nothing, I’ve not borrowed
anything, it’s all
through hard work
and focus. I’m so
passionate about
goal-setting and
mindset and
understanding
yourself to make
yourself better at
what you do.
“You don’t have to
have a uni education,
I’ve never borrowed a
penny off my mum and
dad, but you can make a
success through hard work.”Holly with KylieHolly Moore of Make EventsBefore I even started Make
Events, I wrote down that I
wanted to meet Kylie. And
now I’ve met Kylie. I’m a big
believer in setting goalsHolly Moore