What it takes to get Beyonce on a world tour

What do Beyonce, the Rolling Stones, U2, AC/DC and Lady Gaga have in common? They all use one London-based specialist logistics firm to move their equipment round the globe.

Last year, when Beyonce came to the UK with her Formation world tour it took seven Boeing 747 air freighters and a fleet of more than 70 trucks to get her stage set and other gear to the venues.

And that didn’t include the backstage staff, musicians, performers – or Beyonce herself.

“It was the biggest move we’ve ever done,” says Martin Corr, the managing director of rock and roll transport firm Sound Moves.

More firms are choosing to use air freight to get their goods to market, from diamonds to car parts, even though it is six times more expensive than sending them by sea – and rock superstars depend on it too.

While air freight makes up just 1% of UK imports and exports in terms of tonnage shipped, it accounts for 40% of imports and exports in terms of their value.

In the UK, Heathrow Airport is the dominant player in this trade with £101bn worth of goods passing through in a year. That’s more than the value of goods passing through the country’s biggest container ports, Felixstowe and Southampton, combined.

Despite air cargo’s expense, using planes instead of ships cuts down dramatically on the time it takes to get goods to market.

“We use Heathrow for most of our air freight. It is close to London, has great road connections, frequent flights and capacity,” says Martin Corr.

Sound Moves – based in west London close to Heathrow’s cargo terminal – is one of the biggest logistics firms in the music industry with an annual turnover of £17m.

Over the past 20 years they have worked with everyone from David Bowie and the Rolling Stones to Lady Gaga and now Beyonce.

“I left school with little or no qualifications, and was living with my parents lying on the sofa when my mum told me to go out and get a job,” says Martin.

“Living in west London, Heathrow airport was the obvious place.”

After working with a general freight company learning his trade, he then moved into the specialised business of moving rock groups and their equipment. In 1996 he started Sound Moves with two colleagues.

Martin himself is an AC/DC fan, and an Angus Young Gibson guitar signed by all the members of the band takes pride of place in his office.

“But no I don’t play it, I never wanted to be a musician,” he says. “I am a freight-forwarder through and through – it’s what I do.”

Inside his warehouse, he points out the pallets of sound equipment and music merchandise ready to be shipped anywhere in the world.

“You can be in London on a Monday and doing a show in Los Angeles on a Wednesday or Thursday.

BBC