Speakers

Eric Stuart QPM, BA, is the director of Gentian Events, and also the retired chair of both the UK Crowd Management Association and the Global Crowd Management Alliance.

He has been involved in Crowd Safety for nearly 20 years and was the police planning lead for Notting Hill Carnival 1.1 million, London New Year’s Eve of 450k and the 70-day London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, viewed by an estimated 14 million people. At the end of his service, he was awarded the Queen's Policing medal for dedication to duty, leadership and professionalism in his 33 years of police service.

He was a witness at the Manchester Arena Inquiry, specifically in relation to the role of private security in counter terrorism roles. He is currently acting as a tactical advisor to the Metropolitan Police in London investigating a double fatality in a crowd crush at the O2 Academy Brixton in December 2022

He was the author of three aspects of the Baroness Casey Review into the Wembley Euro 2020 Finals disorder, particularly Wembley’s fitness to continue to operate, the impact of security shortages and skills and lastly, the crowd safety issues that led to the declaration of the nearest of near misses since Hillsborough.

He was a Crowd Safety Manager for events ranging from summer festivals and concerts through to Edinburgh Hogmanay and is also engaged with crowd management at many complex ‘crowded space’ environments including large shopping centres and religious gatherings across the US, Canada and the UK. The largest of these include the 800,000 Vaisakhi Parade in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He was the crowd safety advisor to the Calgary Stampede and Global crowd advisor to F1 Grand Prix races.

He holds a FdA and BA in Crowd Safety Management and was the co-author of the 2015 and 2019 UK Good Practice Guide to working in Safety Advisory Groups. He authored and reviewed chapters of the ‘Safer Crowds, Safer Venues’ published in 2023. He has recently completed a review of crowd safety aspects of the Liverpool FC Victory Parade in May 2025.