Each week, we spotlight a StandOut individual who has made an extraordinary impact within the events industry. This week, we’re featuring Lulu Beasley, designer at LOCK5.

When did you realise that events were “your thing” and the career for you?

I’m a chef by trade, but my first dip into events came with Create Food and Party Design, where I had the gloriously OTT job title of food design and event creative. It was the perfect balance: one foot firmly in the kitchen, the other designing experiences across some of London’s most incredible venues and events. If the old saying is true, I’ve never worked a day since. It hasn’t always felt like that though. It’s been hard, exhausting, and littered with uncertainty and self-doubt. But, as with anything worth doing, the mistakes are where the learning happens and the self-doubt is where you build yourself up from.

I think I always knew events were my thing, but I clearly remember the moment I realised I was actually good at it, and that’s the important bit.

After three truly dreadful interviews for a six-month role at Ascot Racecourse, Joanna Wales, then head of operations, invited me back on a race day to “see the lay of the land”. We sat on Level 4 of the grandstand, freezing, overlooking the winning post. She turned to me and said: “You could be really good at this. You just have to believe in yourself”. That moment was the catalyst for my career on a very prominent world stage with some of the very best in the industry.

Seven years later, I left Ascot without a fixed plan. I was introduced to Rob Mackay at Lock5. Rob wanted to explore design within major sporting and social events; I was looking for someone brave enough to take me on. Rob said on our first meeting: “You can’t ride on the coat tails of Ascot forever” and he was right. Whilst it has certainly helped, I needed to forge my own way and having the freedom to pour everything I’d learned about people, experience, and events into work at that scale was a turning point and it’s shaped everything I’ve done since.

Looking back over your career, what’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned?

Experience is everything, not just for the audience, but for the client and the entire ecosystem we operate within. Deliver an exceptional experience at every level, and the future tends to take care of itself, especially in such a cyclical events industry as mine.

People don’t remember what you made, they remember how you made them feel.

The work isn’t about us. It’s about the people who experience us, the clients who trust us, and the memories we can create to ensure a great return of investment and customer retention.

What are you working on at the moment?

So much – and that’s exactly how I like it.

This year, we’re repositioning Lock5 as a temporary event specialist, building on our strong relationships with temporary structures companies, our fit-out expertise, and the launch of a new design and experience division. By bringing these elements together, we’re able to collaborate with industry experts to create stronger propositions, win more business collectively, and deliver genuinely exceptional experiences.

The industry has shifted dramatically, and both our work and our position within it need to reflect that. It’s the perfect moment to reassess, refine and shake things up,  and I’m incredibly excited about where this next chapter is taking me.

What trends in the events world are you most excited by right now?

I actively try not to follow trends. Trends have a habit of making everything look the same or worse – like a Pinterest board had a meltdown.

Good design doesn’t shout. It whispers, through detail, intention, and moments only a small percentage of people will consciously notice. That’s who I design for: the one per cent.

I don’t want someone to walk into a space and immediately know we did it. I’d much rather they say: “Wow… who did this? Give me their number immediately”.

When you’re going on-site, what three things do you not leave home without?

Cable ties – obvious, indispensable, life-saving, even better if they are reusable.

Sunglasses – years of staring at white tents has made me marquee blind!

Lip balm – the only thing guaranteed to send me into a mild panic if I can’t find it.

When you’re on-site and someone wants a favour, what will win you over?

If I had a pound for every time someone asked me to “Just put a tree” in front of something ugly, I would be retired by now.

I’m a flirt and being posh occasionally helps. But truly, a please, a thank you, and a good sense of humour usually gets that tree exactly where it needs to be.

And if all else fails… Reese’s Pieces.

Do you have any on-site bugbears?

Oh, plenty. Having been both client and contractor, these remain universally irritating:

• Bad parking on-site with no contact number
• Terrible forklift drivers
• Land grabbing
• The “I’m just going to borrow this” mentality
• Damaging something and not owning up
• Poor staff welfare – there is absolutely no excuse
• And not to single anyone out, but men in hi-vis with no top on and corners tied up

Do you have any on-site rules that you live by?

Golden rule: don’t be a dick. Seriously. Most on-site problems would vanish overnight if everyone just followed that.

Also:

• Leave the site better than you found it
• Don’t let the job become bigger than you
• Never hold a clipboard, it just screams “I don’t know what I’m doing”

What do you do on-site to keep morale high and your team motivated?

Always be two steps ahead. Keeping a team motivated is about confidence: redirect when schedules change, handle curveballs calmly, and lead decisively. When you move with certainty, people stay calm, focused and motivated. Confidence is contagious.

What’s the next chapter in your events journey?

The next chapter is about repositioning the status quo and reshaping perception.

I’m focused on redefining how design and experience is understood in events, not as window dressing, but as strategy. Design that challenges default thinking, solves real problems, elevates emotion, and deliberately shapes how people move, feel and remember an event.

There’s also a clear commitment to legacy: setting higher standards, understanding the limitations on sustainability, mentoring talent, building strong relationships, and actively helping move the industry forward.

If I can continue to create exceptional work while challenging industry thinking, raising the bar and leading change rather than following it, then that feels exactly right  and infinitely more fun than playing it safe.

Nominate your #EventProf of the week or sponsor an #EventProf and align your brand with the best in the industry by emailing marketing@standoutmagazine.co.uk