The TRUTH About Car Shows & The INSANE Cost’s Of YouTubers To Attend Them!
Road To Success with Benedict Fowler
The TRUTH About Car Shows & The INSANE Cost’s Of YouTubers To Attend Them!
Road To Success with Benedict Fowler · Jul 20, 2026
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Topic
car show
A car show is an event where people bring cars to display them and meet other car fans. This part is talking about how hard and expensive it can be to put one together.
Concept
gravity
“Gravity” sounds like a name for a car event or tour, but the clip doesn’t explain it. It seems to be part of a plan to do events in different regions.
Topic
walk of fame
“Walk of fame” refers to a celebrity recognition walkway, typically associated with Los Angeles. In this context it’s used as a cultural reference while discussing creator travel and event experiences.
Car
Lucid Gravity
The Lucid Gravity is an electric SUV, meaning it runs on electricity instead of gasoline. It’s built to be a bigger, family-style vehicle while still using an electric motor. The podcast mentions it as something that was still in an early stage at the time.
Topic
SEMA
SEMA is a huge car show focused on aftermarket parts and custom cars. It’s so big that even people who think they’ve seen everything usually find more sections they missed.
Topic
Goodwood
Goodwood is a famous UK car event. It’s known for drawing huge crowds, and the hosts use it to show that people really want to attend car shows.
Topic
Festival of Speed
The Festival of Speed is a big car show at Goodwood. It’s known for lots of cars and racing energy, and the hosts mention how many people attend to prove car events are popular.
Topic
old autosport day
The hosts are talking about an earlier version of an autosport event that used to attract huge crowds. They bring it up to show that big attendance has happened before.
Place
NEC
The NEC is a big UK venue where large events and exhibitions are held. The hosts are saying the event moved from a small start to being hosted at a major venue.
Place
Tumble Drolls
Tumble Drolls is where the event started out before it got bigger. The hosts mention it to explain how the show grew over time.
Term
torrential storms and thunderstorms
They’re talking about really bad weather—heavy rain and lightning—that can make outdoor events unsafe. That’s why organizers sometimes have to pause or close the event.
Term
stock
“Stock” means the car is basically as the factory made it—no big upgrades or changes. Some car shows prefer modified cars because they want to see what owners have changed and built.
Brand
BYD
BYD is a car company that makes a lot of electric vehicles. Here it’s being mentioned as an EV brand trying to get more attention at car events that usually focus on modified gas cars.
Car
D9 Denzer
The D9 is a car the speaker drove on a race track. Driving on a track usually means they were testing how it handles and how it performs. The podcast brings it up in that performance context.
Term
main straight
A main straight is the long straight part of a race track where cars build up speed. The host is describing what happened right after that high-speed run—especially how the brakes felt.
Term
stepping on the brakes
This just means pressing the brake pedal hard and quickly. The host is saying that when they did it, the car reacted so strongly that it felt intimidating at first.
Car
Porsche 918S
The Porsche 918 Spyder is a very fast, high-end sports car that uses a mix of electricity and gasoline. It’s designed for extreme performance rather than everyday commuting. The podcast mentions it because the speaker is talking about how quick it feels.
Term
hit them late
“Hit them late” means brake later than usual, right before the corner. It’s a driving technique that can make the car feel more intense because you’re asking for strong grip at the last moment.
Term
squirreled a bit at the back
That phrase means the back of the car started to slide or wiggle a little. The host was worried because it can make the car harder to control right when you’re braking into a corner.
Car
5 Renault 5
The 5 E-Tech Electric is an electric car based on the Renault 5 name. It runs on electricity instead of gasoline, and the speaker says they liked it. In the podcast, it’s mentioned as a positive electric-car experience.
Term
EV
An electric car runs on electricity stored in a battery. Instead of burning gasoline to make power, it uses electric motors.
Brand
Yangwang
Yang Wang is a car brand from China that makes electric performance cars. The hosts are talking about it as an example of a very fast EV.
Term
V8
A V8 is a type of engine with eight cylinders. It’s known for a distinctive sound and feel compared with smaller or different engine designs.
Term
V10
A V10 is an engine with ten cylinders in a V shape. People often associate it with a higher-revving, more exotic sound.
Term
V12
A V12 is an engine with twelve cylinders arranged in a V. It’s famous for a smooth feel and a very characteristic sound.
Term
RB26
RB26 is a nickname for a specific Nissan turbo engine used in the Skyline GT-R. Car fans love it because it’s built for high performance and tuning.
Car
Mini Classic Mini
A Mini Classic is a Mini that’s been restored or made to look like the older, original Mini. The podcast mentions it to show that the cars being discussed can be either restored classics or other variations. It’s basically a classic-style small car.
Term
bagged
“Bagged” usually means the car has air suspension. That lets the owner lower it a lot for looks at car shows.
Concept
variety
Here, “variety” just means they try to show different kinds of cars instead of the same ones every year.
Car
Honda Civic
The Honda Civic is a common everyday car made by Honda. It’s usually chosen because it’s practical for daily driving and easy to own. In the podcast, it’s used to set the scene for the speaker’s early days.
Topic
Gumball 3000
Gumball 3000 is a big celebrity car road trip/rally. People pay to join and drive together while it gets lots of attention online and in the media.
Term
Mantai bits
“Mantai bits” sounds like custom parts or add-ons on the car. The exact type depends on what “Mantai” refers to, but it’s not a standard factory term.
Term
G-Wagon
“G-Wagon” is a nickname for a Mercedes-Benz G-Class SUV. People like it because it looks tough and has lots of customization options.
Car
G-Class Gwagon
The G-Class is a luxury SUV that’s also built to handle rough roads. It’s known for its very recognizable, boxy shape. The podcast mentions it because it’s a standout car people immediately recognize.
Term
Liberty Walk
A Liberty Walk kit is an aftermarket body kit that makes a car look wider and more aggressive. It’s a common choice for modified “show” Lamborghinis.
Term
air ride
Air ride is a suspension setup that lets you change how high or low the car sits using air. People use it to lower the car for looks, and sometimes raise it again to drive.
Term
Widebody Lambo
A “widebody” conversion adds fender flares and wider bodywork to fit larger wheels and tires. When the host says “Widebody Lambo,” they’re describing a Lamborghini build with that widened stance, usually for show-car aesthetics and sometimes for more grip.
Car
R8
The Audi R8 is a high-performance supercar from Audi. It’s the kind of car people bring to events to show off serious speed and engineering.
Term
super touring cars
A Super Touring Car is a kind of race car category based on regular cars, but built and regulated for competition. Mentioning it suggests the event isn’t only about parked cars—it has a racing angle too.
Brand
Bugatti
Bugatti is a famous car brand that makes some of the most expensive, high-performance supercars in the world. If a car show has a Bugatti, it’s a big deal because those cars are rare and hard to get for events.
Car
Lamborghini Huracan
The Lamborghini Huracán is a high-end supercar made by Lamborghini. It’s the kind of car people buy when they want something fast and special, and here the guest is talking about owning and using one themselves.
Car
Lamborghini Gallardo
The Lamborghini Gallardo is a supercar made by Lamborghini, known for its strong engine and sporty design. In the podcast, it’s mentioned because it left a lasting impression through a model the speaker remembers. It’s being used to show how iconic the car is to fans.
Term
118 model
The “118” is the size scale of the model car. A 1:18 model is fairly large and usually has more detail than smaller toy scales.
Car
Lambo
“Lambo” is just a nickname people use for Lamborghini. Here, it means the speaker wanted to own a Lamborghini someday.
Place
Spa
Spa refers to Spa-Francorchamps, a famous motorsport circuit in Belgium. It’s a common destination for car enthusiasts and track-focused events, so driving there is a notable “car culture” milestone.
Place
Coventry
Coventry is a city in the UK. Here, it’s just the place where the car show hall is located that the host went to see how it would do.
Term
car meets
A “car meet” is when car fans get together to show their cars and hang out. It’s the kind of event the host is talking about when discussing car culture in the UK.
Brand
Ferrari
Ferrari is a well-known Italian supercar brand. The host is using it as an example of a car brand that many people recognize even if they don’t know much else about cars.
Term
boy racer
“Boy racer” is slang for the stereotype of a young driver who’s into fast, flashy cars and driving in a more aggressive way. The host is saying people might use that label for cars they see at meets.
Term
OEM
OEMs are the companies that make the cars in the first place. When OEMs show up at car events, it often means more factory-built cars and less purely DIY modification culture.
Brand
Tesla
Tesla is a car brand best known for electric vehicles. The host is using it as an example of a big manufacturer showing up more at car shows.
Concept
modified cars
Modified cars are cars that have been changed from how they came from the factory. People do it for looks, sound, or driving feel, and the host is saying the event has to balance that culture with bigger mainstream involvement.
Term
Formula E
Formula E is a racing series where the cars are fully electric. They don’t use gasoline engines—everything is powered by electric motors.
Term
Formula One
Formula One is the most famous kind of professional race car series in the world. The cars are very advanced and built specifically for racing.
Term
combustion
“Combustion” means the car makes power by burning fuel. Electric cars don’t burn fuel, so they can change how an event is set up.
Topic
health and safety
They’re talking about safety rules that decide what kinds of cars and racing setups are allowed in public venues. Those rules can be stricter for fuel-burning cars.
Concept
hill climb
A hill climb is a motorsport format where cars race up an incline over a short course, emphasizing traction, acceleration, and control. The speaker is using it as an analogy for how to route a course through an event space.
LIVE
What is the most a creator has ever quoted to attend the show?
20 grand, 30 grand?
And that's way higher.
More like north of ****.
For me, the aim and the goal of life was always to buy a Lambo.
And it was never the intention to start a car show,
which I think is probably why it happened.
The journey was way better than the day up in Takara.
After 10 seconds of driving it, I thought, what's next?
Well, I just need six people to run a car show.
It's only on for two days.
We have 40,000 tickets to sell.
We have 1,000 cars hand-selected.
Surely you've got to go to America and Asia and Europe
and do gravity.
Japan.
Yes, so we obviously knew there'd be a queue to meet Matt.
He's one of the biggest and best creators in the world.
That was no surprise.
But the busyness and the quantity, it was just insane.
The walk of fame.
What do you think the biggest risk to your business says?
There could be a terrorist threat, so all events have to stop.
The only thing, do you get a lot of no's from your ideas?
Indoor fireworks, they weren't very happy about that.
We don't want to be a boring show when you walk in
and it's just flat, dead.
Do you ever feel like the NEC is your boss?
Jordan, three years ago, we sat down in this very van
when gravity hadn't even gone into the NEC.
It's in a completely different stratosphere now
where the business is, but you are still George.
So in your own words, who are you and what do you do?
So I am George and I am the founder and CEO of Gravity Show
and we organise and run one of the largest car events
in the UK, in Europe, and I'd like to think the world,
but we're getting there.
And it's going to be Gravity's 10-year anniversary this year,
an event that we covered in our previous podcast
three years ago again.
Long time.
That started in a car park selling stickers
and you've attracted some of the biggest names in the world
in the automotive scene to the brand, to the event
and it's grown and from the presence of them,
from the presence of the cars at the show,
from the vibe, from everything.
But I've got to ask to get into something juicy.
What is the most a creator has ever quoted
to attend and promote the show?
20 grand, 30 grand?
No, way higher.
Way higher.
Really?
Yeah, yeah.
More like North of 200 grand is the highest we've been quoted
and to be clear, we have not paid that,
but we have been quoted that.
And that's to essentially attend a two-day car show.
Is that far more than that?
It's more than that.
It's to promote the show.
It's to let us use their face in ads.
It's to post a couple stories with ticket links
and then attend one of the days of the two-day show.
So the whole thing's a package
and this is sort of how I see the business
because your general person might not think of it like that.
You might think, Christ, that sounds like a lot of money
for someone to attend a two-day event,
but there's so much more to it than meets the eye,
just like the business itself.
Because we're sat here outside your new HQ
and I can't help but think,
the average person would think,
why do you need a HQ for a two-day-a-year car event?
Yeah, very good question.
So obviously we have a fleet of vehicles, as you can see.
We build cars every single year.
Obviously we've just built the Saxo with Movember,
last November, which was really, really good.
So yeah, we have five or six cars in the fleet,
so we need somewhere to keep them.
We need somewhere to work on them.
We have a full-time mechanic.
We work with all our sponsors and partners building the cars
and mainly for us, there's five or six of us in the team
full-time to plan, organise and work on,
creating the best event possible.
Is, in a nutshell, the reason for the HQ.
But on top of that, we wanted somewhere
where we could host our own coffee mornings,
have our own little shop set up.
So the whole reason we bought a pool table
so people can come here, grab a coffee, chill out,
see the cars and talk to us about what we do.
You were very, very money and financial motivated
when I first spoke to you.
You would talk about the fact that when you're in employment,
you would almost drift off, sneak off to work on the business,
to work on figuring out how to make more money.
Was that desire, was that dream worth it in what you do now?
So I think, aside from the money,
the main thing we're trying to do is create
the best event possible and the best business possible.
But obviously, what comes with that is
your business needs to make money.
As much as we might enjoy it,
and we might enjoy putting on the events,
putting on the coffee mornings, building the cars,
everything needs to make sense, right?
And I think sometimes that can get overlooked
and I think some people just think,
oh, we're just doing this because we wanna make more money
or we're just doing this or we're just doing that.
But ultimately, as a business,
and we're employing six people who have families
to provide for, we need to make money
so that we can continue doing what we love,
which is building the cars, putting on the events,
and making sure that everything is as good as it can be.
Do you love the events during the events?
Yes, I think I thrive off the business
because as I'm sure you've been to events before
when you get there and all of a sudden it's 6 p.m.
and you're like, I've got no idea what just happened.
I met loads of people, I filmed some stuff.
So for me, the build-up is the most stressful.
The post-event is the most fun
because we're planning the next year
where we're sorting out the floor plan.
For me, that's the most fun.
But during the event, I really enjoy
because you get to meet everyone,
you get to stand back and go,
this is what we've just spent a year,
365 days of the year planning and creating,
and you see the 35, 40,000 people in there having a good time,
the kids looking at the cars,
the old gentleman looking at the restored classics.
That brings real joy and happiness to me personally.
I think it's a world that very few understand
how the business and the show actually operates.
And it's one of those things that Supercar Nigel
was one of the first people in the business
that I saw that was extremely seasonal.
Like his window of selling fireworks
when that was his main business was so sure,
a period of literally a couple of months of the year.
And it would be easy to think from the layman
that the rest of those months,
the rest of those days, hours,
we're just spending, swallowing around,
and you spent, you made all your money
when you're actually doing the thing.
But for you, does the business feel like
it's alive every single day, 365 days of the year?
100%, yeah.
And why is that?
So a lot of the time when we explain what we do,
and we say, oh, we run a car show,
and there's a team of six, and it's once a year,
the instant reaction to people is, well,
why don't I understand?
Why don't you need six people to run a car show
that's only on for two days?
But those 365 days leading up to the show,
it's only 45 days to the show now,
but is spent planning and curating
and selling for Dom who's ahead of sales.
We need to sell the exhibition space.
We have over 150 brands exhibit at the show.
We have 40,000 tickets to sell.
We have 1,000 cars to select, hand select.
We have the live action to plan.
We have all of the sponsors to work at the building
of the cars, the working with all the brands
that wanna work with us.
It's a full-time thing, evidently,
for six people to be doing, and it's a full-on.
It's a lot of fun, there's a lot of hard work.
So explain to me the three different ways
that a car show, three or four different ways
that a car show like yours earns money.
I think the three main ways are ticket sales, obviously.
That's what everyone's gonna know.
Is that the biggest?
Currently, yes, but it's probably gonna turn soon
into exhibition and sponsor sales,
spec sales, what we call.
So I think for a lot of events in our industry,
the ticket sales is the most important thing.
But for a lot of events outside of that,
the ticket sales is a very, very, very small percentage
of what they operate.
They actually operate more on the exhibition sales
of the brands, the businesses, the sponsors, the partners,
everything else around the tickets.
But for us and where we came from,
the selling of tickets to come to an event is how we started.
So that's always been our biggest ticket item.
That makes sense.
But it's difficult to manage.
And then it's brands following up afterwards,
stands, exhibition spaces.
Just give us a rough idea.
Give the audience, they may have no idea.
Some people attend shows with the businesses they're part of,
whether it's in paving slabs or water filters or whatever.
They do, they'll maybe have an idea
of what an exhibition stand costs.
But what does a big, enormous pitch at gravity
in the middle of a hall for two days,
what sort of money does that cost to brand?
So at the NEC, the standard rate for an exhibition space
at the NEC for other events is about 250 pounds
a square meter.
So if you were to have a 10 by 10 meter pitch,
which is our most popular center hall pitch,
it'd cost you the best part of 25 grand.
Right now we're at 75 pounds a square meter for 2026.
So a seven and a half grand.
And that'll get you a 10 by 10 meter pitch
in the middle of the hall for two days.
To give you an example,
but it also depends on the size of pitch you want.
You can have a small pitch, a big pitch,
you can do what you want.
How do you make predominantly a two day a year car event
into a brand?
Very difficult is the answer.
A lot of people I've seen have tried to do it
the other way around where they start the car event,
they hire a field and they sell some tickets
and then they try and do the brand.
They try and then sell some t-shirts,
put their logo on a t-shirt, absolutely fine, fair play.
But I think the way we did it
is we were a brand first and foremost.
Before anything, as you said earlier,
we were selling tickets, tickets.
We were selling stickers in a car park.
So we started the brand and that was the Slam UK brand
that a few people might know.
So first of all we started
by hosting little car park events and selling stickers.
People then ran the stickers on their cars
and were buying into the brand.
We then sold the t-shirts, we then sold the jumpers.
People bought more and more into the brand.
We then started the Instagram, that went really well.
We were very much a brand before we were a massive car show.
And then the car show came
and the brand kind of followed, that makes sense.
So can we recap who you were
the first time you ever hosted one of your major events?
And you're calling this your 10-year anniversary.
So what was the one year?
What are you calling your first event?
What did that look like?
So the first ever event was still called Gravity.
All of our events since 2016 have been called Gravity.
So that was a decision I made at the very beginning
to not continue the Slam UK brand
into the event side of things
because that was more known for the t-shirts,
the jumpers, the stickers, that kind of stuff.
That was more the lifestyle brand.
So when we started the car show,
I wanted that to be very, very different
in the way we branded it.
So Gravity was the name that was born out of that.
And so since 2016 to now we have been called Gravity Show.
Are people in the UK unaware of the scale and size
of events that happen outside the UK?
Do you think we've been to SEMA?
We have.
You've gone to some of the insane events
that happen across Europe.
Are you at the limit of what we can do with the UK
or how much more is there to be able to do
in terms of building a really big event?
I think with regards to something like SEMA,
very difficult for people to gauge the size
and the scale of that without going.
Insane.
It is insane.
And I went for the first time two years ago
and I had that same reaction.
I could not believe how big that place was.
For context, I spent three days
in what I now know as the east side of SEMA.
Thought I'd pretty much covered it all
and then discovered a 30 minute walk
via a glass bridge to the entire other section
three days after the event had started.
It's unfathomable how big that is.
Is that possible in the UK?
Yeah, I think so.
Definitely.
I think the appetite is there.
As you see, there's a lot of events like Goodwood.
We've both just come back from Goodwood.
Festival of Speed, 250,000 people there over four days.
And to me, that shows the appetite
of the car market in the UK.
Granted, it's a lot of tourism
from all over the world, which is fair enough.
But there's no reason why we can't grow,
not maybe to that scale quite,
but we can definitely start going in that direction
from an attendance point of view.
Bearing in mind, they've been going for 40, 50 years, Goodwood.
And the old autosport day is 90 to 100,000 people
in its heyday when it was peak autosport.
And that's in the NEC.
So do you want to give people a rundown of,
we mentioned earlier, you've been in the NEC for three years.
What is the kind of trajectory of gravity?
It started in a car park.
We're now in the NEC.
What came in between?
So we started in a car park in Tumble Drolls.
Few people might remember.
And we probably had 400 or 500 people turn up
and that's when I thought,
maybe we could make this into something.
So that then went to actually let's sell some t-shirts.
That went then to let's organize an event
at Ace Cafe London.
It was a Halloween event in 2013.
There are still photos of it on the Fast Car website.
I was looking at them the other day.
So then we went from that to actually let's try
and put on a proper event at our own venue.
So then Hyde Stony Park in 2016 hosted our first event
where 1500 people came.
Then held that for three years.
Then it was COVID.
Then we came out post COVID, September 21.
Then we did 2022.
Then we moved to the NEC in 2023.
Did you, we haven't obviously,
no, it was after COVID and started road success,
but what was COVID?
What was that your worst year?
Like just having the rug dragged underneath you
because that really is for a car event.
That's that time of the year.
The worst nightmare in the world, right?
Yeah, and bearing in mind, it was my full-time job
and my full-time job was to host events.
All of a sudden you couldn't host events.
I'd paid the deposit on the venue,
signed the contract for the venue.
The venue still made me pay for the venue
because I was contracted, didn't let me off
because of forced major clauses
and all that fun contract stuff.
So I still had to pay for the venue.
Very, very difficult, very difficult.
Nearly, nearly didn't make it out of that.
And then managed to scrape through
and made sure that we were the first event
out of COVID, so that's why we moved to September
because that's when all the restrictions got lifted
and that's when we added the live action display as well.
And then we four times our attendance
on that post-COVID event from our pre-COVID event.
So how many people could a site
which you obviously went into three years ago
like the NEC actually hold?
If you were to take on the whole of the NEC.
How big is it?
Like, it's big.
So we have one half, side of the NEC,
the opposite side to Autosporthead.
And if you go to Crofts, Crofts is the other side as well.
So we have six of 12 halls this side.
So we could probably fit 100,000 people our side.
You could probably fit another 100,000 the other side,
I think, quite comfortably.
Who's more difficult to manage?
Customers coming with tickets, punters, or brands?
Customers, yeah.
Brands on the whole, very easy to work with.
It's quite clear what we're offering
and then they pay a fee, they come to the event,
nine times out of 10, they're happy with the event
because it's so busy and they do really well.
So brands can be difficult, don't get me wrong.
There's a lot of nuances between some brands and other brands
but I think generally because there are,
we have 150, 200 brands but we have 40,000 people.
Is that per day?
No, that's over the weekend.
Okay.
So we're expecting 40,000 people this week, this week,
this gravity show.
And over the weekend, obviously a lot of those people
are going to have some issues,
they're going to have lost their tickets,
they're going to not understand where things are,
they're going to get lost, they're going to fall over.
There's a whole plethora of things
that you have to think about when you're effectively managing
40,000 people in some space.
I remember the first year you were at the NEC,
watching you stress and figure out
how the NEC were going to close their doors
but there'd been a crash on the M40 till or something.
And there was like 200 cars that hadn't made it into the hall yet.
They were going to be there after the NEC has closed its doors.
What is your most stressful memory of a caravan?
And where does that rank?
You've had lost children quite a lot, that's very stressful.
Always been found by their parents
but obviously when you have a lost child brought to you
at an event that's so busy with 40,000 people,
you think we really need to get this child back to its parents
and how is the fastest, most efficient and safest way to do that?
Very difficult, very stressful.
Other than that, I think weather can be a big factor.
Weather is probably the most stressful thing
because everybody knows you have no control over it.
So if you're at an event and it's outside like Goodwood
and there's really windy days
and they have to close the event for a day
like they did the year before last
or there's torrential storms and thunderstorms
and there's nothing you can do about it.
So thinking about the weather is very, very stressful.
Goodwood hosts their own event, if I'm right,
within the parks, within the grounds of their own physical site.
You're obviously going out and hiring a facility
and you choose to have one that's covered.
How much more is that to hire a facility that's covered like the NEC,
the biggest, most well-known exhibition pools in the UK?
Compared to hiring a castle or the big field?
Very good question because it depends on the field
but I would say thousand times more expensive.
Easily, easily, easily.
Yeah, you can hire a field for 100 quid.
But do you still choose to always do covered over outdoor?
Do you ever still think about going back to outdoor?
Never, because we have the outdoor space with the live action,
the ground stands, the new motorsport paddock this year,
some simulators, catering.
You could sit down and have a beer outside
but we also have the inside space.
That means that weather worry that sometimes we have
is mitigated a little bit because we can still do the event.
Whereas when you're purely outside,
if there's torrential rain, thunderstorms, really high winds,
that doesn't really matter because we are inside.
Whereas if you have a purely outdoor event and a field
and people are trying to put their gazebos up,
that is just not going to happen and no one's going to come.
What is your best memory from a gravity event?
Just to box off that this is always stressful,
this is hell, seeing you at your worst.
Do you get those little moments,
even at the event when you're at peak stress,
where you can actually enjoy what you're doing?
I think my best memory is probably last year
when I got to take my dad out in a drift car
during the night drifting VIP party on the Sustain Eye.
That was a special moment.
He'd never been in a drift car.
He'd never been in a drift car with me.
He'd never been in a drift car.
Gravity, we got to go out, drift.
And yeah, it was just, phenomenal.
Your brand, your cars, memories like that are created
from cars that look like the ones behind us in the unit.
Yep.
Slammed.
Yeah.
On air, modified.
If it's stock, you don't really want it,
has always been the saying.
Yep.
How hard is it to keep that philosophy
and those key principles when someone like a BYD
comes knocking with an infallent budget
to put electric cars in the front and center of the whole?
Interesting you should mention,
because we have been approached by an electric car brand.
I won't say who to give us an electric car
to make it look like our cars.
So I think that will allow us to bridge the gap
between a humongous amount of money electric car brand
and the core modified car values that we have as an event.
Hopefully that will, we'll find out.
It's interesting that because I drove the new Denzer Z on track
on Goodwood Motor Circuit.
My expectations were there, because I just not interested
in anything without a V8 or a V10.
Agreed.
Until I had an experience that I've never had before
in another car, where you know when you get up a bit quick
and you go all dizzy and your head goes funny
and all the rest of it, I had that in that car
going down the main straight.
Wow.
And I genuinely felt fearful when stepping on the brakes
because it's really that fast.
Really?
It was that fast.
I've been in 918s, Charons,
and in a lot of fast things, never have I experienced anything
like that.
Really?
And when I hit the brakes, it was amazing.
Jensen Button was there and he said the brakes
are unbelievable in that thing, hit them late.
We hit them late and it squirreled a bit at the back
and I thought, please don't come round on me
and hit the grass.
But it genuinely was impressive.
And it was the first, first little moment I've had
with an electric car, other than the Renault 5,
which I thought was quite cool and good.
I understand that.
Where I thought, okay, I forgot that there was no noise
because it was going so fast.
So maybe there is a future in it.
Does it give you hope for the next 10 year anniversary?
It does.
I don't think I'll ever be converted to an electric car,
but I'm all for trying new things.
If an electric car brand wants to give us a car,
we will do what we do with our cars,
see how it looks, performs.
But I'm not sure I could ever be an electric car full time.
I appreciate, as you're saying, they're super fast
and they're really good.
And these new cars they're bringing out,
like the denser, phenomenal cars,
fastest production car in the world, right?
Yeah.
One of them is, I think that's the Yang Wang.
Ah, yeah.
Same thing.
But I get my show demonetised for saying that.
But phenomenal cars.
I just don't think you can ever replace the sound of a V8,
a V10, a V12, whatever it might be, an RB26.
It's just, yeah.
But we have to accept there might have to be
a car parking space inside the halls for them in the future.
Yeah.
I mean, if they look cool, why not?
Which is a great way to segue into the next question
because there's going to be so many people
listening to this episode that are one step ahead
of, say, your average ticket punter.
They actually bring cars to your show.
Show cars, they're exhibiting what they've built,
the hours they've put into putting a car together,
their pride and joy, and they're putting it in front of people.
How many of those cars go in the hall?
This year, we're selecting around 600.
And how many applications will you get
for people's cars to go on display in those halls?
11000
Shit.
So I'm picturing, like, Britain's got talent for cars, right?
Yeah.
They drive on stage.
With a book.
And that's what I'm picturing.
Yeah.
But how is the process of you actually selecting
someone's car to go in and on?
Do you get people that, if you haven't selected them,
like, proper kickoff?
It's very, very difficult because we're looking
for a whole range of things from variety to quality
to will it bring anything to the show?
Is it a customer who's paid to come to the show
going to enjoy seeing this vehicle?
And it could be anything.
It could be a classic mini that's been fully restored
or it could be a bagged Lambo.
It could be anything.
So picking those cars when only 10% can be accepted.
Very, very difficult.
And yes, we do get people kicking off quite often.
Is it getting more elitist in a way to choose
at every single year?
Like, do you have mates that you've known since the first
meet that are like, John, what's happened?
Yes.
Yeah.
So it's becoming difficult because, like I say,
we have some people that have been in the show every year.
That doesn't mean that you're going to be in the show
every year forever because we have to think about variety.
And the people that are coming to the show
don't want to see the same cars year in year out.
So it's very, very difficult,
especially when them cars are of high quality.
They look amazing.
I love them, but it's not just about me.
And it's not just me that chooses.
We have the whole team get involved, all six of us.
And we all go, actually, I love that.
Actually, I hate that.
Those wheels aren't quite right.
The paint could be better, whatever it might be.
So there's a real strict application process.
Most people think of committees as like a big group of 60-year-old
blokes sat there like doing it.
And you've ended up creating one yourself
from sitting in a car park selling stickers.
Yeah, literally.
You never expect the unexpected sometimes
and what happens with things like this.
But when you are having to tell people, no,
and we'll get onto that word, no, in a minute,
do those people still come to the show?
Or do you find that a lot of people are pretty butter
if their car doesn't get chosen?
I think a mixture of both.
A lot of people are very fair.
And they go, do you know what? Fair enough.
I love the event.
I'm still going to come.
I appreciate my cars in this year.
I'll try again next year.
Fair enough.
Some people don't get it.
They're like, I cannot believe I'm not in the show.
I'm not coming, whatever it might be.
Very difficult.
That's very difficult.
That word, no, you've probably learned
how to say it more and more.
As like a person, like how you feel about yourself.
When people start businesses at the start,
you're usually quite a nice person.
I'm not saying that you're not now,
but how much have you had to change
in saying no more and
over the years and sticking to that?
I think it's something I personally struggle with.
I'm not very good at saying no.
Like the team will say, I'm very, very,
I'm very much wanting to say yes to everybody
and try and please everybody,
which I'm sure as you know is very, very difficult
when you're trying to run a business,
especially in the car world
and especially in the events industry.
So I'm not actually very good at that.
But I do think I've got better.
I do think I've definitely changed as a person
in the last 10 years, 100%.
But I always try and maintain remembering
why I started everything.
And the fact it's got this far to me is absolutely mental
because I was just selling some stickers
with my Civic in a car park.
And now we've got this big HQ and we've got
one of the biggest events in the country.
Got all these cars, higher six people full time.
It's crazy how far it's gone,
but I think that I'm so busy
and I'm so set on looking ahead, driving forward
and thinking, how do we make everything better
on what's next and what's next?
That I don't often reflect on the last 10 years
and like you say, how I might have changed
or how business might have changed
or anything like that.
Is the two days of the show
the most stressful two days of the year?
Yeah, 100% without shadow of a doubt.
Without a shadow of a doubt.
Because that whole year has led up to these two days.
If something goes majorly wrong, you're done.
So there's a lot of pressure on the team,
the NEC, security, the car owners,
the brands, the businesses, the live action,
the health and safety, the pits, the cars,
the fire brigade, everything you could think of
which obviously if you don't know the event industry
you might not think about those 7,000 things
that could go wrong.
But when you're running it, you have to
and it's your job to make sure everything's in place.
Whether that's staff or processes
or health and safety or risk assessments
or whatever barriers is very, very stressful
to manage that amount of people
in that space over two days.
I know you've also done activations,
coffee mornings, events at podium,
events here that the council have apparently
shut down to get into that.
So there is more than just those two days,
I understand.
But to the wide audience, that's what they say.
They see gravity, they see it as a two-day weekend
every year in their calendar.
They see going to resorts world in the evening
if you haven't been before,
R.B. in the casino.
You know that?
Yeah, losing money.
Losing money.
That's probably the view they have of it.
Is it hard as a businessman and a creative
and someone that loves doing floor pans
to just stick to doing mainly those two days
as your event every year?
Or do you ever have a scatterbrain like,
I can do one in Europe?
I can do one up in Manchester.
I could do one in London.
Do you have those moments?
Or have you learned that it's just best
to put it all into one thing?
So we get asked quite often this.
One of the main things I get asked
whenever I'm in meetings or I'm meeting new people is,
surely you've got to go to America and Asia and Europe
and wherever and do gravity, Japan.
Yes, we could do that.
But my opinion is it's not as good as it could be in the UK.
It's not got 200,000 people.
It's not the biggest event in Europe.
So why overstretch and risk doing two events,
mediocrely, if that's the word,
than one event that is as best as it could physically be
because everybody's attention is just on that one event.
And I prefer doing that one event,
having all the focus there
and then doing the little activations, as you say,
the coffee mornings, whatever it might be,
and then having the main focus on the one show.
Not to say we never will,
but until it's as good as it can be
and as big as it can be in the UK,
I don't think it's the right move
to start branching out to France or wherever it might be.
We touched on at the start of the episode, creators.
Creators fees, people coming along,
how all that works,
and the same way that you spoke about stands
and ticket sales and everything.
Everybody will know and have seen pictures
of the gargantuan queues to my friend Mr Armstrong.
And I've seen kind of the results of that as well in him,
that that is hard to comprehend if you're any human,
Matt as well, like that is like what the hell,
all these people actually here for me.
Did that shock you at the events,
just how mental that become?
As events as a whole?
At the event every year for like the last couple of years,
the size and scale of the queues
that went through those halls to see Matt.
Was that a surprise?
Yes, so we obviously knew there'd be a queue to meet Matt.
He's one of the biggest and best creators in the world.
That was no surprise.
But I think the busyness and the quantity of people
at any one time was a slight surprise.
Obviously, we put a queuing system in place.
We hired security to manage the queues.
We put signs up with timings.
We tried to do everything we could
to make sure those queues were managed
in the best way possible.
But ultimately, there was always going to be a queue.
Like when you go on, you try and go on
the better old coaster in the world,
there's going to be a queue.
But I don't think we were quite prepared for the scale,
if that makes sense.
But the actual amount of people,
we hired a whole hall and that whole hall
was basically taken to queue for Matt.
And yeah, it was just insane.
It was just insane.
Would you ever go back to wanting to do that with a creator?
No, not to that scale.
Obviously, we have creators coming to the show this year.
We have meet and greets.
We have you coming.
Chris Slicks, Mark McCann.
Chris Slicks, Mark McCann, Jamie officially gassed.
Love Jamie.
Love Jamie.
But I don't think there will be the same
because Matt is Matt.
He's a bit of an anomaly, right?
But I think we always want creators to come to the event.
We want their fans and followers and viewers
to be able to come and see them,
come and see the cars physically in person
because they've been building them all year.
They've been watching them on YouTube all year.
There's not many opportunities people get when sitting at home
to actually physically go and see that car in person,
have a photo, do whatever you want to do.
So we never want to get rid of that.
But I think we just need to manage it
so that the whole 9,000 person queue doesn't happen again.
Who would be the person that would give you
like that moment with your dad where you're at night
sliding a car at night, that if they attended the show one day
for you with what you love and your passions,
you'd be totally blown away?
Do you want me to be honest?
And what my brain went straight to, 50 cent?
Absolutely nothing to do with cars.
He's got a great car collection.
But yeah, if you ask any of my friends, family,
if it was the one person in the world,
George could meet and actually have some sort of interaction with Big 50.
But nothing to do with the car world.
How do you make something like that happen from where you are now?
Very good question.
I saw he went on a Gumball 3000 recently,
well about three years ago, that I wish I booked on.
Dizzy Rascals the man now, mate.
He's on everything.
Dizzy, yes, exactly.
He's got a GT3 RS, hasn't he?
He's got a GT3 RS, actually raced mine
when I had one, Brown Silverstone with Dizzy.
And he got out and he saw some of the Mantai bits
on mine and the fact he was a bit loud.
He's like, yo, what's your car got on it, mate?
He was like, he's such a sound guy, Dylan, is that today?
He's such a sound guy.
But there's so many people like that, musicians,
getting into cars, Ed Sheeran's ice cream trucks
and pink G-Wagon and all the rest of it.
100%.
They're always endless opportunities every year
and how hard is it to manage your budget?
Endless, like you say.
There's always people we've got, Dizzy would be great, would love.
So yeah, if he listens, definitely come to the show.
There's so many people and like you say,
I think the car world with the help of the F1
is getting more and mainstream and household.
And it's very normal now for everyone to want to go to a car show.
Whereas 10 years ago, you would have to be a bit of a car nerd
and a bit of a, have some sort of involvement in the car world.
Whereas I think now it's becoming more and more of a thing
to be involved in cars from a creator point of view.
It's way more of a lifestyle thing now
that people have G-Wagons and nice Porsches
and they're all posting it on Instagram
and it's way more of a thing.
So I think definitely in the creator world
and musicians especially, it's becoming way more of a thing.
But I think the opportunity is endless.
But to answer your question about budget,
how we find managing that very difficult
because obviously as a business you have a set budget
and you want these people, these creators to come to your event.
But sometimes you can't have everyone
so you have to be very selective
and then you have to think about who's going to bring the most
to the show for everybody,
for the brands, the partners, the show itself,
the consumer, the people that are buying the tickets.
What's going to give the most back to the event
which is very, very difficult to judge.
Because a lot of the time you don't know
and you're kind of just going with a gut feeling.
What point of the year does the business
have the lowest amount of money in its bank account
and what point of the year does it have the most
but then it completely goes again?
Like how difficult is that to manage
with a business that operates?
Over one weekend it's biggest ticket item?
Very seasonally.
So as you can imagine we scale up all the way to August
and then we don't sell tickets again till November
but we still have a huge amount of overheads.
So then it goes off and then we launch again in November
and then it goes up a little bit
and then the trajectory starts again all the way to August.
So running a business that's this seasonal
is very, very difficult
because you have three months almost
with next and no cash flow
so you're thinking well I've still got to pay all my staff
and for my HQ
we've still got to pay deposits for the next event
we've still got a plan
we've still got to build a website
we've still got there's a million things to do
so it's very difficult.
How different are the NECs prices for a weekend
like yours with those dates
versus doing it in the second week of January?
I don't know is my honest answer
but I was pitched by the NEC when I first called them
to say actually August Bank holiday
is one of our quieter weekends
so we can start you off on this rate
and then we can go up from there
but I don't know what the other times of year rates are
I don't know how much better that is
if better at all.
Quick segue, Jordan
because people might start be thinking
that haven't been before
or have been and have been wondering
whether they should book or not
if they should come to this year's gravity
so why should they come?
You should come to gravity
because it's the best day out
for whether you're two or 92
whether you want to see live action
the best cars in the world and in Europe
you want to shop your favourite brands
whatever you might want to do
gravity show is the biggest and the best
modified and performance car show in the UK
and if you want to come and have a good time
now's time to do it.
And every year it pretty much sells out right?
It will.
So you may as well use this time right now
whilst you're listening to my merch
to head down into the description of this video
on YouTube or on Spotify too
click the link which takes you to the place
where you can just buy those tickets.
Yes sir.
Turn up and enjoy yourself.
Is it always expected that the show will come back?
From the NEC's point of view?
I don't know if it's always expected
but I definitely think they hope it comes back.
How is that the first year you went and did that?
From an event that was at Stonely
and you'd proved yourself getting to that point
but like ringing up the NEC offices
I'd like to hire some halls please
like quite a lot of them
and I'm sure we could make it work.
How does that actually work?
Do you remember the morning day you reached out to them
for the first time?
Yeah so the last gravity at Stonely Park
was on one weekend
and I was in Barcelona the following weekend
for another car event that I was helping with.
So during that following weekend
so it was five days after gravity had finished
I remember being on a Zoom call
with the NEC salesperson in my hotel room
telling them I wanted the halls
and that I was going to book them
and reserve me the dates
because I'm 100% coming.
So I remember that like it was yesterday
quite a big thing in our history.
So yeah but they knew of the event anyway
they'd already seen it
they'd seen it on social media
they'd seen it all over Instagram
and obviously socials
so I wasn't like I was calling them completely cold
having no backstory to events.
So they already knew
and they already on the call said 100%
let's book you in
you can have these halls
and we'll send you a contract
and how's that?
There's a team of six core people as you mentioned
that make this thing tick
that make these two days tick
from partnerships to all the rest of it
but one unique thing
that a lot of people that were in your position
selling stickers at the back of a car
and a car park would probably get themselves into
just like you have
is those people are all friends and family.
How has that been for you over the years?
Interesting I think is the correct way to address that
I think with the best intentions
it's been difficult
but I wouldn't change it
I think I trust my team more than anything
and I think that comes from being
my close friends and family
and obviously there's some nuances
and there's some difficulties
when things aren't going quite right
or somebody needs pulling up on something
it is that little bit more awkward
because your friends outside of work
but ultimately we're all very professional
we all deal with it very well
and it just works.
Interesting what you said there
because it's so true like on one side
you could never get more trusting
than the people you've known like that
and you know all about them their life
the way they tick what they like what they don't
and if they're your friend
you could never get more trusting than on that side
but on the other side there are the negatives to it
as well as it's a bit harder to pull somebody up
it's a bit harder to do all of those things
and probably get a bit more emotional
whether they're telling off and all the rest of it
so if you were to go back to starting it all again
you would do it exactly the same way
yeah yeah I would yeah 100%
so what is everybody's roles and why do you need them
so my brother who joined us recently
Matt he is head of strategy and basically our CFO
he's very very good with numbers
much better than myself hence the jump
so he's literally family
been with us now for about 18 months
then you've got my other half Beth
who is head of operations and customer service
so she does everything at the NEC
with regards to health and safety
she speaks to all the exhibitors
gets all of their risk assessments
and she also does all of the customer service
from everybody who's buying tickets
she's very busy and this is her busiest time of year
you're thinking about emailing her please don't
and then we have Dom who's our head of exhibition sales
so he does all of the sponsors, partners and exhibition stands
and then we have Sean who's our full-time mechanic
so he builds all of the cars
as you can see at the back you might not be able to see it
but we're building a brand new Honda Super Touring Car
for this year's event so he's currently working on that
and why is that important
so we came from being known for the R8 essentially
changing colour every year changing wheels every year
essentially building cars and being known for the cars we had
so I didn't ever want to lose that
and I think it's important to show that we still are modified car people
we still love the cars
we built the Saxo Rally car because we love it
and it's a Saxo Rally car
it's the coolest thing in the world
it is so much fun
not because we had to or anyone was forcing us to
or that we really really needed to
we can do the event without doing that
essentially
but we never want to lose that
and obviously everyone will remember the Slambo
built that Liberty Walk Kit, Air Ride, Wheels
all that kind of stuff
became really well known for it
so what we didn't want to do is lose that touch of building the cars
which is why now we're building a Super Touring Car
so we've done the Race Car
done the Widebody Lambo
done the Rally car
got the R8, we've got the GTR
now we're doing a Super Touring Car
it's important to be diverse I think
it's the whole ethos of our event
is diversity, variety
so we don't just want seven Audi's
that makes sense
Speaking of diversity and variety
have you ever had to kick anybody out of the event?
Stony days, yes
NEC days, no
so stony
fair amount of people
not necessarily show car owners or anything like that
just general public
NEC
no
and why is that?
what happens?
there was a fight one year
someone had just started scrapping
so we had to get security to remove them
the police were called
that was all I couldn't even tell you what over
I think somebody was there with an ex-girlfriend or something
so then they go in the fight so they had to leave
can't remember the hours off the top of my head
but that was one I remember at Stony
that we had to get them removed
and the police were called and that kind of stuff
but since we've been at the NEC
not at all
what do you think that is?
I think it's more of a grown-up venue
does that make sense?
it's not just like any
the Stony is majority grass fields
and then there's a couple of little halls
the NEC is the NEC
there's metal detectors
there's niffer dogs
there's security everywhere
there's
it's a much bigger outfit
there's more infrastructure
more security
more everything
so I think if you were thinking about
doing anything that might give you kicked out of a car show
you probably wouldn't do it at the NEC
what do you think the biggest risk to your business says?
the government
sanctions
if you think there
there could be a terrorist threat
and if there's a terrorist threat
if the government declare a terrorist threat
UK-wide
that over that weekend
events really interesting
events can't happen
they'll stop all football games
all music festivals
all everything
because there's a real threat
that this could happen somewhere
we don't know where
so all events have to stop
really I've never thought of it like that
Joe it's so funny
I had an insurance quote
for my new fishing lake
up in Nottingham
like part of that insurance quote
was do I need insurance
insurance for terrorism related events
and I was like
I don't know if there'll be that interested in my 12 leg
take a kick out fishery
but I suppose when that's for someone like you
aligning your insurance
there's actually probably quite a real thing
you've covered for something like that
we are yes so
and I didn't actually realise
something I learned very recently that
because I thought
well the chances of someone coming to the NEC
and actually trying something at the NEC
when they've got
security everywhere
metal detectors
sniffer dogs the whole lot
very unlikely
but it's not about the NEC
it's about UK-wide
and the government saying
we are at this threat level
no events taking place
over the next five days
two weeks
month
how often does that happen
not very often
to that level
not very often
threat levels obviously change all the time
but to the point where
it will say
no events can go ahead
that has to be very serious
because you can imagine the impacts on the economy
but we are insured for that yes
are you prepared over the next 10 years
to lose a gear for something like that
where something doesn't have
yeah you have to be
you have to be
you have to have the right things in place
to make sure
you have to protect the business right
or we have to protect
what we're trying to grow
and is that because you got close to losing it before
no I think the closest we came was that COVID time
when we couldn't do an event
that was very very
touch and go
where whether we could do the event again
and we nearly couldn't
but
no I think right now
things are just getting so big
so fast
that we can't afford to not have
those things in place
it's very scary when you think of it like that
there's so many things beyond your control
because like an event
they talk about businesses
being living breathing things
but an event is almost like the hyper extension of that
isn't it because there are so many people
and everybody says that people are the hardest thing to deal with
and you literally have a business
where you're bringing tens of thousands of them
through the door
what's something that people really might overlook
a little bit like the terrorism thing
that you think you guys just don't understand
like what we have to deal with
is there something that springs to mind
you mean from operationally
or like on the day with that many people
on the day with that many people for say
I suppose you just mentioned lost children
all the things that can go
lost children's one
and I think I think flow of people
because you have a real
a real chance of
like when you see it at football games
and sometimes people end up getting crushed
because there's a panic
and there's tens of thousands of people
trying to run in a certain direction
so we have to really manage the flow of people
so when we're planning things like the floor plan
how wide the walkways are
the fire exits
what doors are open
what doors are not open
security guards in certain places
and all this kind of stuff
something you just don't think about
if Jordan from nine or 10 years ago
could be sat in here with us
hearing you talk about this stuff
he was sat in a car park
yeah
with probably a lot of skidding and donuts going on
listening to you talking about
health and safety of walkways
and then what would he think
he'd probably think that guy's a nerd
what was he talking about
I'm just trying to modify my civic
and I'm just going to get loads of people
to come to this car park because it's cool
how quickly do you have to grow up
when running an events business
pretty quickly
are you amazed at the stuff you even had to learn
get up to speed with and do
to run a two-day event every year
I'm amazed at the stuff I learn still
to today every day
I learn stuff every single day
like that terrorism thing about the thing
I only learned that about
three months ago
and I've been doing this for nine years
so you learn stuff every single day
of actually I didn't know that
or things like walkways and fire figures
and like I say health and safety
like it's something I never ever took
I never really thought that I would be
having to deal with
and having to learn about really quickly
but I think the speed of learning comes
with how fast things are growing
and in the direction everything's going
the you have no choice but to learn quickly
is there a car that you would love to bring
to Grammar TV that you're yet to do
myself as in modify myself
or you mean just get a car to come
or like the 57 thing
or like the 57 thing both
so interestingly
Mark bringing his Bugatti this year
is the first time there's ever been
a Bugatti at Grammar TV show
ever
we were we were supposed to have one
two years ago but it didn't come
so provided it comes
and it is fixed and ready
which I believe it will be
it will be the first time
so for me that'll be quite a big
quite a big thing
the only other car we've never had at the show
as in brand-wise is a Bugatti
so Bugatti would be cool
but no I think other than that
we've had some really cool stuff
so what happens when you ticked off all
the stuff
how do you keep setting new standards
and keep expanding those halls
to get to the same level as a good word
I think there's like like we said before
there's always opportunity
so there's always cars
that people have never gonna have seen
people that have never been out
collections that people have never seen
or special cars that
people have never been able to see in person
like that is always going to be a thing
because you know
there's so many cars
and so many classics
and so many rare cars
and so many one-of-ones or one-of-tens and
there's so many in the world
that I don't think you'd ever run out
of new things to shout about
you sell a lot of clothing
there's actually a lot of wrap over there
how big a part of selling merchandise
in clothing is an event like yours
for us it is a big part
it's not
absolutely humongous
but it is a big part of what we do
and it's a big part of where we came from
so we put a lot of time
a lot of effort
a lot of money
into producing
the brand new gravity collection
for gravity every single year
and we've changed our shop this year
just so we can serve more people
faster
because last year we couldn't serve people
quick enough
to sell them
the things we have for sale
whether that be skate decks or
our painted bears
that were quite well known for
t-shirts, hoodies, jackets
whatever it might be
so for us it's a big deal
it's a big thing
and because it's where we came from
it's where we started
if your business was a top trump's card
and you're opening the 10-year anniversary pack
and there was lines on it
just like they would be on a football player
what would be your best marked line
and what would be your worst mark line
that you'd love to improve
best mark line I think would be Vibe
Vibe and Atmosphere
because I think
when you're in a place that big
it's very hard to maintain
a cool Vibe and Atmosphere
like you walk in and you think
this place is really cool
there's cars everywhere
there's good music
there's really cool stands like that
and that's something we've worked
really hard to maintain
we don't want to be a boring show
when you walk in and it's just flat
and dead
like autosport
like autosport
and a lot of events at the NEC
are like that
which is fine
but
oh you see so many people
asleep at stands
I've seen this happen
in like bathing slabs of water
and stuff like that
because you'll go by
there's like some bloat
like nodded like that
it is sad
that's my worst line though
if I ever saw that
there'd be big problems
and the thing we could improve most on
you happy with your socials
and your presence
because three years ago
when I talked to you
you were like
I don't think it's good enough
I still think we've got growth
you're happy with where you've got to
yeah
so since then
we've hired a full-time media guy
we work really really hard
on our socials
especially our Instagram
and our activations with brands
so I don't know if you saw
our recent launch of Michelin
last week
new tyre partner
so really really proud of the team
and where we've come
from that point of view
I think the main thing
we can improve on is YouTube
we just haven't got the time
or the capacity at the moment
to put in as I'm sure you know
the time and effort it takes
to get to that level of YouTube
where you're really starting
to pump some views
and you're really doing really well
and I know
because we've tried to do it
we've got a YouTube channel
we try and post YouTube videos
as often as we can
it's not that often
they're not that engaging sometimes
we try and post short
as much as we can
so for me I think YouTube
is the one thing that we have
as a real big opportunity
and something we could work better on
you always able to set the next dream
and the next goal
and is that always just in terms of people
because you mentioned like
vibe of the show
in your head like
some things are really really special
right and gravity has become
that's why I love going last year
I screwed up my days
and I was fuming that
I wasn't there last time
because it has literally become
that vibe as you said
and some things
a bit like caffeine and machine
now that place you feel
like it could have been there
for 40 years
when you turn up
and it's actually a lot younger than that
you put a lot of time and energy
into growing that vibe
is there still headroom
like to be made with that stuff
how do you set those new goals
and dreams and stuff
100% I think it's about always looking forward
as I said earlier
I'm actually really bad at stopping
and going actually
let's just have a look at the last 10 years
and we've come a very long way
we're doing really really well
but I don't really care about that
I want to think about the next 10 years
and how as you said
how in 10 years time
where are we going to be
and what's the show going to be like
what's the vibe going to be like
how big are we going to be
how big is the live action going to be
because we have scope to grow that out
as much as we want
why don't we have all these celebrities
and do you know what I mean
there's always scope
there's a million things we could do differently
and better
and we haven't done yet
cars haven't been there
celebrities haven't been there
50 cents still not been
so there's always room to grow I think
in this little box here
yeah
is a Lamborghini Huracan
not just any Lamborghini Huracan
because this was your Lamborghini Huracan
that's the Slambo yeah
that was the Slambo
yep
this is something that you were able to build
own
operate
and look at
more than anything
in between our last podcast and now
what was it like for you being able to buy a Lamborghini
when you came from selling stickers in a car park
that's a good question
so
how big a deal was then
for me
my whole aiming life
from when I was about four years old
and my mum bought me
a yellow Gallardo little 118 model
and I remember it like it was yesterday
unfortunately I don't have it anymore
but
for me the aim and the goal of life was always to buy a Lambo
rightly or wrongly all through my childhood
teenage years 20 early 20s before I quit my job
got a buy a Lambo my main thing how
how do I make this happen
and it was never the intention
to start a car show and then it happened
which I think is probably why it happened
because it was never my intention
I think so that journey of quitting my job at the age of 22
to being able to buy that in 2023
so I would have been 29 30
I think I was 30 when I bought that
that eight year journey I think
the journey was way better
than the day I picked the car up
the day I picked the car up was great
because with all my friends
it was a humongous deal
I'd worked my whole life at this moment
after 10 seconds of driving it
I thought what's next
what's next on the agenda how
where are we going to go from here
what's where do we grow now
how do we get better
it wasn't I've got a Lambo now
I'm just going to put my feet up
don't get me wrong amazing car
and then a year later we decided to cut it up
and put a Liberty Walkit on it even better
it was that was phenomenal
never thought in a million years
I'd be wide-boarding a Lambo and cutting it up
that never crossed my mind
so to be able to do that and achieve that
was amazing
and drive that round Europe
drive it to Spa
drive it all around France
Germany to loads of events
but again
we sold it last year we raffled it a gravity
haven't rethought about it
I just think about what we're doing next
what's next on the agenda
how do we push forward
how do we push to the next chapter
what's we've done 10 years now
what about the next 10 years
what gets you emotional job
because you're a very locked in
straight car individual
that seems very logical about everything
that you talk about
so what is it that cuts
cuts through that
what do you do it all for
I'm a very unemotional person
as I'm sure you as said
I'm not I'm not overly emotional
I think
yeah I don't actually know
I don't know
where does that drive come from
why is that there
I don't know
I've always had very hard work in parents
my dad owned his own company
worked really hard
always instilled hard work in me
hard work dedication
don't give up
don't put your feet up
that's that's probably where that comes from
since a very young age
but yeah I don't know
we didn't really have much emotion as in childhood
who else was around
you as elders
when you were selling stickers
out of the movie car in the car park
and what did your elders think of you at that point
as in elders in in like a
it just elders in life
grandparents parents or those sorts of things
because the only thing I can kind of relate it to
is when people sniff at something
put their nose up someone
oh that'll never be anything
you know those moments
yeah
and I heard the founder of moon pig cards
talk about this
really well
when he went was in his mum's house
and one of her friends said
how's your little car business going
yes
and then like three years later
he sold it for like a hundred and something million
yeah
did you used to get those moments
can you reflect back on that sort of thing happening
because you could stereotypically look at
organising an event in a car park
and selling stickers out of the boot
because and someone could say that at that point
sure
and now look at where the business of the brand is
is there any fuel in moments that have happened in that
yeah there's one so I won't say who obviously
but a couple of family members when I first said
right I'm going to try and do a proper event now
I'm going to hire a hall in Coventry at stony park
and I'm going to sell some tickets
and hopefully loads of people come
there was a couple of members of the family that said
why is anyone going to go to a hall in Coventry
because you tell them to
and I thought all right well I'll give it a go
see what happens
and watch this
and then 1500 people came
and it was great
because the UK is on the whole
especially from a media perspective
quite negative about car culture at the minute
car meets
stuff that happens
I mean Adam C bless him
can't even upload a video anymore of cars leaving a show
that has had to completely 180 the content
because of the restrictions platforms are putting
on every single element of it
and the cars that you guys come to your average person
that doesn't even know what a Lambo or Ferrari is
yeah
would be known as those boy racer
100%
souped up naughty boys
that are going to cause loads of trouble
do you think that limits you
from becoming where you are now
to wear good with Festival of Speeders
possibly to an extent
but we are we're breaking down those barriers
year after
so we're adding a lot more motorsport
a lot more performance
a lot more OEMs like Tesla
there's a lot more mainstream
angles going on
with with what we're trying to achieve
and where we're going
but also not lose
where we came from with the modified cars
and the stickers in the car park
so it's a very difficult game to juggle
but I think we're going in the right direction
but it's it's not easy
and I think like you say
there'll always be people that'll go
oh boy racers I'm not
why would I want to go there
it's full of boy racers
you will always have that to an extent
but I think as the years go on
as the content gets better
as the more and more bigger brands come on board
people will start to realize actually
that looks like a great day out
you mentioned Formula One earlier
we touched on that
in the next five to ten years
as Garotty continues to grow
do you think you'll have a current F1 driver
at one of your events
yeah 100%
100%
we already have a couple of race drivers
and we'd love to get Formula E involved
as well as Formula One
I know they're involved in other events
why is that?
because they pay well
well no
no just because I
no
no no no man honestly
do they
if they do
if they do then yes
Formula E
no and I'm sure Formula One do as well
I mean any and all
but why did you say A?
because we spoke about it
as a team
because they currently are involved in an event at the XL
and they have a race track
within the event
and around the event
and go through the halls and
they can do that
because they're not combustion
so
oh wow
there's a lot less health and safety
and that kind of stuff
so how you make it live
how you essentially put the good wood hill climb
through your event
yeah
that is possible then
somewhere like the NEC
yep
we can drive a car through the halls
and out the other side
and round the car parks
and it's just ha
it's just the scale
it's it's it's getting there
how difficult is it
do you get a lot of no's
from your ideas
when you're sketching those floor plans
you're extremely happy
and excitement
we've got all these ideas
do you get a lot of no's
and is that one of your most annoying parts
from running the business
we don't get a lot of no's
we get a lot of
that's not quite right
you need another walkway
there
right through the middle of that stand
or
you're not quite
you can't really go there
because there might be a door
blocked here
and
there's a few nuances
but we don't get that many no's
do you ever feel like the NEC is your boss
no
no
no
we do
we work really well with the NEC
to be honest
I know a lot of other events
and there's a lot of uh
a lot of opinions about the NEC
the red tape
the this to that
generally
we work really well with them
and they don't really say no to a lot
when we're pitching
whether that's just us
and they know how good we are
well what have they said though too
that you've come in with your big bonkers
crazy idea
that's like
not quite sure about that yet
you're
what's one thing you'd love to do
that's difficult to do
good question
indoor fireworks
they weren't very happy about that
so we put them outside
pyrotechnics and stuff
they're not that keen on inside
which I can appreciate
there's also a lot of cars there
with a lot of fuel
so
yeah there's not actually a lot
not actually a lot
this this whole driving the cars
through the halls idea
is something we spoke about internally
we haven't pitched that to the NEC yet
I'm pretty sure we'll be allowed to do it
it's just figuring out the logistics
of how
and the scale
and then
how much is that going to cost
and how many more barriers do we need
and the health and safety
it's a whole when you can't have an idea
the idea is great
it's the 7000 other things
you have to think about afterwards
security barriers
health and safety
fences
all this kind of stuff
if any
what other event that you attend
every year
has the biggest impact
on the next steps you make
at gravity
Goodwill Festival of Speed
SEMA
Ultrace
G.R.A
these huge shows around the world
which one has had the most impact
on how you build gravity
what's a very good question
I'm not sure I could put it down to one
it's a mix of all of them
good take little bits
yeah Goodwill Festival of Speed
always great
for
stand ideas
little things here and there
Ultrace boys do a great job
their branding
their social media
their their curation
phenomenal
Essent Motor Show in Germany
phenomenal
great app
stand activations
hall layouts
that kind of stuff
SEMA
scale
to show how big you can do a car event
to test the tunnel through SEMA
absolutely phenomenal
underground all lights
what a phenomenal idea
so there's four or five events
that we go to
that we cherry pick little things from
and think whether we do it or not
and we can just really appreciate
that is really well done
are you fully fulfilled in what you've achieved
no
no as as I say I'm never
I'm never fulfilled I don't think
I'm never never happy
I don't get me wrong
I'm grateful and I appreciate what we're doing
and I love what we do
and I love working
I work every day
I really enjoy it
but I don't think I'll ever sit back and go
job well done
don't stop
don't think that'll ever happen
there's always always
something to do
somewhere to go
things to plan
things to do
where we're going to go next
but
do you love problem solving
or is it just a result of what you do
probably a result of what we do
is it like
take us into
when you're in a high viz
in the middle of a hall
and people see your face buzzing around
and an event they're just attending
and enjoying
like if 10 is like
I can't do this anymore
but where is your like stress level
on running event
where do you have to be capable of
operating at
if tens I can't do this anymore
and one is
I'm on a beach
I'm probably at a
low seven
during the show
so I'm stressed
I'm problem solving
I'm putting out fires left right and centre
but that is
that's the joys of running an event
that is just what it is
it comes with the territory
I'm pretty much a seven every day
so
are all the team like that
or does that always have to be your job
no to be fair
the team we have that work gravity
which is basically all of my family and friends
all take it really seriously
we will have a great time
we work really hard
everybody is very very stressed
I'm very very
everybody just cares so much about it
we want it to be amazing
for everybody else
so
it's difficult not to care
and not to be stressed
if that makes sense
but I wouldn't say I'm anywhere near
I'm never doing this again
don't get me wrong
we've had some very very stressful times
we've had like you say
200 cars not arriving
there's a whole empty hall
what are we going to do
and I remember
I sat on the floor in the middle of the hall
9pm on the Friday night after build
of an empty hall
thinking
what the fuck are we going to do
I can't put a show on
with 200 cars missing
what are we going to do
and I remember just sitting there with my head in my hands
that's probably the closest I've ever come
to thinking you know what
it's going to go on
is that because you also felt
a bit of that red tape there
like why can't we just keep the doors open a bit later
why can't we do this
and you're almost dealing with
is it very difficult for someone that
is running a
essentially family business
where you can do something at one o'clock in the morning
if you want to
there's no constraint
to working within constraints
do you think that's what causes that
no because
the NEC would have let us open the doors
the cars just never turned up
so whether they went home
whether they just were like stuck in traffic for four hours
and went it's not even worth it
I'm not going to make it I'm going to go home
the cars never came
so the NEC would have allowed us to open the doors at midnight
if we had to
and if we possibly could
but ultimately we couldn't do that
we stayed open for as long as we can
it was about 9 30pm
when we were like right
we just need to shut up shop
and figure it out
and we did
because sometimes that's what you have to do
so joys are running out of it
we used to be able to walk out of a weekend like that enjoying it
yes in that occasion yes
because we did a really good job
of figuring it out
and then the show goes on
it has to go on
so by the time the show's finished
you've almost forgotten about the Friday
because you're at the Sunday night
and Bill's finished at 11pm
you're not worried about the Friday night anymore
because you've just you're done
you know what I mean
as you said the show goes on
and going on it shall
yep
so what do people have to do
we touched on it earlier
with an integration in the episode
but what do people have to do
if they made it to now
forgot to do it then
yep
in the description obviously
is the tickets to go and get yourself
for this year's gravity
why should they go and get those tickets job
gravity is just a good day out
if you're a car enthusiast
if you're a family member
if you're two years old
or 92 years old
you will have a good time at gravity
whether it's looking at the cars
shopping your favourite brands
watching the live action
generally just having a good time
come and have a coffee
grab an ice cream
it's just a great day out
well I think that wraps up the podcast
wonderfully
it's been insane to touch base
all these years later
time really does fly
and it's a reminder
for everybody listening
that time moves on as well
because we felt like we were sat here
yeah
just yesterday
so thank you everybody for listening
don't forget to go and check out those tickets for gravity
and we'll see you in an upcoming episode
very soon
thanks for having me
About this episode
Car shows aren’t just two days of shiny cars—they’re a year-round, high-stakes business built on ticket targets, hand-selected entries, and expensive venue logistics. Creators can be quoted “North of 200 grand” for a two-day package that includes ad usage and promotion, while exhibition space at the NEC can run from £250 per square meter. Between crowd control, weather risk, and cash-flow gaps, organizers balance passion with profit—while keeping the culture focused on modified cars.
Original notes
Grab your tickets to Gravity here! - https://gravityshow.co.uk/?utm_source=Youtube&utm_medium=YouTube&utm_campaign=Ben+fowler+
This episode features Jordan Clarke the founder and CEO of the UK's largest indoor car show Gravity! Jordan started out selling stickers out his car at his car events hosted in local car parks over 10 years ago and now is expecting around 40,000 people through the doors to his event now hosted at the NEC!
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