Meet the Team

We are friendly, positive, enthusiastic and always bring calm, focus and momentum to any project team.

Brightspace Is:

Who we are

We are passionate about the magic that happens when you bring people together and, after 20 years working in the ‘Top 10’ event agencies in the UK and heading rapidly away from events and into management, Sarah founded Brightspace Events to create our own spark of magic.

We are determined to create a positive impact on the world and that Brightspace Events will be a Force for Good in leading the way for sustainable event management.

Our history means that we have an incredible network of suppliers and have spent a long time nurturing those relationships and building our knowledge of destinations, hotels and event technology. We can negotiate market leading rates and deliver creative ways to add value to your event.

Not only that, but we have worked with the best of the best event teams across the industry and now have a very loyal team of freelance specialists, ensuring that we can have exactly the right skills in the business when we need them.

What we believe in

Our clients choose us as we have always put our people first and we are empathetic, supportive and good fun to work with – which is a bonus!

We also invest a lot of time with our clients, really getting to know their business, drawing on our experience from previous events and getting under the skin of their issues and goals. We help them to set objectives for every event and ensure that we are talking to all the right stakeholders and people to fully explore the possibilities of the event.

We are friendly, positive, enthusiastic and always bring calm, focus and momentum to any project team.

The shocking waste and emissions generated by the event industry in previous decades has always horrified Sarah and finally seeing the drive to reduce, reuse and recycle has reignited this passion as she strives to create as ‘low impact’ events as possible. Flights are restricted to ‘business critical’ only with train travel used wherever possible.

We are also very proud to be a female owned and led business.

Sarah Threlfall

Managing Director

Sarah's worked in hotels, event agencies and now at Brightspace for over 20 years and has delivered exceptional events around the world. She now leads the agency and is heavily involved with all the projects and loves getting under the skin of a new client. A slow but determined mid distance runner, she also loves belting out cheesy musical theatre numbers whilst cooking up a storm for her family!

Emily Higham

Sales Director

Over the past 15 years, Emily has progressed through the ranks in various 4 and 5 star hotel sales teams, working with and learning valuable skills from some fantastic Sales & Marketing professionals. She loves being a part of Sarah’s Brightspace team and spreading the word about this fabulous events agency! Reminiscing about the days of long distance running and exotic travels, but more likely to be found cheering on the under 9’s football team, throwing together a dance costume of some sort or chilling with a cuppa in front of cbeebies in her spare time these days!

Arvi Virdee

Event Technologist

Arvi is the original ‘event technologist’, having specialised in the technology of attendee management, event apps, event production and more for the past 15 years. His role is to work with event organisers to help them deliver world-class events – while they manage the event, Arvi and his team ensures that all the technical elements are configured correctly and working optimally. A keen sportsman, he can be found on the football or cricket pitches during the appropriate seasons, or cycling along towpaths to keep fit.

Jon Theobald

Producer & Event Technologist

Jon is our production consultant and technologist. He has directed and delivered PR, events and corporate communications for a number of UK and US companies – both as supplier and client-side – across a range of sectors. He is also a live music photographer and videographer, drone pilot and digital imaging tutor. When not immersed in technology or out on the road with bands, he can be found at one with nature, nurturing his hives of bees in deepest Buckinghamshire.

Gaynor Evans

Staffing Director

Gaynor has a strong background in events spanning 30 years, she has worked all over the world for prestigious clients.
Nowadays she runs her own successful event staffing agency, providing exceptional event staff nationwide.
Being a gym bunny she’s most likely to be found working out or relaxing on long walks with her 2 dogs or mini horses as she likes to refer to them!’

Helen McCabe

Health & Safety Advisor

If you think Health & Safety is dull, it’s time to think again! Our H&S advisor Helen has been in the industry for over 10 years and knows the best way to get people interested and enthusiastic about H&S is to make it understandable, practical and relatable. Helen is brilliant at engaging people, ensuring safety becomes integral to company culture and second nature to everyone. When she’s not working, Helen loves to spend her time travelling or whipping up new culinary creations in the kitchen.

Lynne Short

Freelance Event Director, Automotive Specialist

Sarah Stanyer

Freelance Event Director, Automotive Specialist

Jo Randall

Freelance Event Director, Delegate Manager Specialist