When production designer, Alex Craig, was asked to create a large scale Saturday night entertainment set for The National Lottery Awards 2011 show on the BBC, one of the challenges he faced was keeping the draw area hidden from view throughout the awards. Movetech UK’s rental depot in North London provided the solution with a revolving stage that was set to reveal the draw console with a dynamic flourish, creating an air of excitement and anticipation in the studio, and also for the viewers at home.

“I’d designed the The National Lottery Awards Show in previous years,” explains Alex Craig, “but the difference this time around was to reveal the live Lotto draw at the end of the programme.

“I realised that using a turntable would offer a solution and, accompanied by music, lights and pyrotechnics, would create an exciting visual moment.

“The smoothness of the revolve was paramount, given that the National Lottery draw masters were pre-positioned on it, revealing themselves and the Lotto machine as it turned. Reliability was also imperative: the live draw was too important to be interrupted through technical issues!

“I’d used revolving stages from Movetech UK before, so they were my first port of call. They were efficient at providing the information asked for, from pricing to technical specifications and logistics, and delivered. The BBC, The National Lottery and myself were all very pleased with the result.”

Movetech UK’s rental manager, Matt Forrest, was charged with ensuring all went well on the night.

“As this was a live show we were under a great pressure to make sure that all went to plan.

“Installation was straightforward for us: we installed the turntable at the LWT London on the Friday ready for the live show on the Saturday evening , setting pre-set markers ready for the ‘reveal’ of the Lotto draw machine, which was placed behind a screen for the greater part of the show.

“It all worked perfectly.”

The National Lottery Awards are an annual search to find the UK’s favourite Lottery-funded projects. All the projects entered in the competition had already received National Lottery funding and the Awards recognise the difference that these projects make to local communities, and celebrate the achievements of the people behind them.

More information on The National Lottery Awards 2011 and the winners across all seven categories are at www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk.