A Chamber Family Affair: How Local Creatives (and a Familiar Host!) Teamed Up for Barnfield Construction’s 50th Anniversary
Celebrating 50 years in business is a massive milestone where there are absolutely no do-overs. So, when fellow East Lancashire Chamber members Barnfield Construction marked their half-century at The Coniston Hotel Country Estate and Spa recently, they knew capturing the night required more than just someone showing up with a camera.
They turned to the local creative network, bringing together two more Chamber members Liz Henson Photography and Bigtank Video Productions to build a visual story that did justice to their 50-year legacy.
The Chamber connections certainly didn’t stop there. With 300 guests in attendance, the start of the evening was expertly steered by none other than the Chamber’s own Membership Director, Simon Brierley. Acting as the host, Simon gathered the guests, set the perfect celebratory tone to open the night, and introduced Chairman Tim Webber’s inspiring speech before kicking off the live entertainment.
With so much happening on stage and across the room, Liz knew a solo shooter wouldn’t cut it. Instead, she deployed a “Golden Jubilee” strategy: bringing in a second professional photographer to work alongside her. At the start of the night, they ran a dedicated executive portrait booth to get those all-important, timeless shots of the Board and founding family, before working together to capture the candid, high-energy vibe of the room.
The real magic, however, was the collaboration behind the scenes. Photography and videography can sometimes trip over each other at large-scale events, but Liz and the Bigtank crew worked shoulder-to-shoulder in total sync. The result? A completely seamless media team that captured every angle without interrupting the party.
Because Monday morning PR momentum is everything in the corporate world, Liz also fired up her ‘PR Express’ delivery. By 9:00 AM on Monday morning, a curated highlight gallery was waiting in Barnfield’s marketing inbox giving the team the hero shots they needed to lead the local news cycle and LinkedIn buzz while the excitement was still at its peak.
“When a company celebrates 50 years, you aren’t just taking pictures of a party; you’re building a historical archive,” says Liz Henson. “It was an absolute privilege to work alongside Rob Hallam and the Bigtank team for this. To me, this project is exactly what the Chamber network is all about – local businesses collaborating as a true team to create something brilliant and hard-working for the client.”
