How A North West Festival Finally Stopped Worrying About WiFi

In live events, every second matters, and when thousands of people are buying tickets, connecting to WiFi and using digital payment systems, reliable IT can make or break the day.

A major festival in the North West was facing exactly that challenge. Their website was slow, ticket sales were stalling, and onsite WiFi was unreliable, frustrating both visitors and vendors. Behind the scenes, organisers were also worried about cyberattacks targeting online payments and customer data.

To keep the festival running smoothly and securely, the organisers turned to J700 Group, a Lancashire-based Microsoft Partner specialising in proactive IT support and cybersecurity for events and businesses across Lancashire.

The Challenge

Running a large-scale event meant balancing crowd experience with technical reliability, but several pain points threatened to derail their success:

Slow Website and Ticket Sales: Heavy traffic during launch days caused slowdowns and downtime, leaving fans frustrated and reducing sales.
Cybersecurity Concerns: Payment data and personal information were exposed to potential breaches, putting the festival’s reputation at risk.
Unstable WiFi Coverage: Vendors couldn’t process card payments, and staff struggled to stay connected across the site.
Lack of Proactive Support: IT help arrived only after things went wrong, creating panic during critical moments.

The festival needed fast, secure, and scalable IT support, before, during and after the event.

Our Approach

J700 Group designed a comprehensive IT strategy to keep everything connected, secure and stress free from start to finish.

A Website That Could Handle the Rush

Secure Hosting: Built a high-performance, mobile-friendly ticketing website with encrypted payment gateways to protect customer data.
Scalable Infrastructure: Ensured the site could handle thousands of simultaneous users during peak demand, no more slowdowns or crashes.
Speed Optimisation: Implemented caching and CDN services for lightning-fast load times, improving the overall ticket-buying experience.

Reliable Onsite Connectivity

Enterprise-Grade WiFi: Deployed temporary WiFi towers and access points for complete site coverage.
4G Backup Networks: Installed failover SIM connections to guarantee uninterrupted connectivity during high-traffic periods.
Network Design: Segmented WiFi for staff, vendors and guests to ensure smooth performance across all areas.

Proactive IT Support and Coordination

Onsite IT Team: J700 engineers were present throughout the event, resolving issues instantly and preventing downtime.
24/7 Monitoring: Remote tools continuously tracked network and system health.
Microsoft 365 Integration: Enabled real-time staff communication and file sharing via Teams, improving coordination across the festival grounds.

Cybersecurity and Data Protection

Threat Detection and Firewalls: Implemented multi-layer security to block unauthorised access and payment threats.
Automated Backups: Protected ticketing and vendor data against potential loss or corruption.
Staff Awareness Training: Educated event teams on phishing and data protection best practices.

Results

Key Outcome	Impact on the Festival
50% Increase in Ticket Sales	Faster, more reliable website led to record-breaking online sales.
100% WiFi Coverage	Vendors and guests enjoyed seamless connectivity across the entire site.
Zero Security Breaches	Customer data remained completely secure throughout.
99.9% System Uptime	Proactive monitoring and on-site support kept everything running flawlessly.

The Impact

The festival ended on a high note, with happy crowds, seamless payments and a reliable IT foundation that supported every moment of the event.
Behind the scenes, J700 Group’s proactive support meant the organisers could focus on what truly matters: creating memorable experiences, not managing technical crises.

With J700 Group as their IT partner, the festival’s future is now set for continued growth built on reliability, security, and connection.

Why J700 Group?