We Brits love nothing more than a weekend of music, mayhem, and mud. Festivals have become so popular that now over 400 take place every year. Reading is the oldest and attracts some of the world's biggest names. But Reading is more than just a bit of fun - it's a business. And for the 200 or so companies that provide bottles of water and wacky sunglasses, it's an opportunity to make a lot of money. Though they make the festival experience better, it's important to know the companies are not all run the same.
To find out more, I'm heading somewhere pretty special - backstage. I'm meeting a man who provides something you can't see or touch but without which there definitely wouldn't be any music at all. Rob Hutchinson owns Innovation Power, which provides all the electricity needed to run everything from the stage lights to the guitars.
This is the main stage supply, so there's not just one big supply to the stage. There's several supplies. There's the sound, the lights, the video.
Not like plugging your hoover in, is it?
No, not at all.
So what would happen if I switched off one of these? I'm itching to in a way, can I do something?
Those people out there would get very angry.
Really?
Yeah. I'd be running off in that direction.
Supplying power to Reading isn't straightforward. Neither is Rob's company structure. That's because, with an average annual turnover of £1.5 million, Rob decided to make Innovation Power a Private Limited Company. It's quite different to being a franchise or a sole trader. One of the main differences is that an owner like Rob has a separate legal identity from his business. That gives the business what's called limited liability, which means should it go bust, bosses like Rob would only lose the money invested rather than their personal wealth. Also, in of structure, a limited company needs at least one shareholder. The more shares you own, the more control you have of the company.
We started in the '80s as a sole trader stroke partnership. In the '90s we got busier. We were picking up bigger and bigger events. I said to the ant, "If something went wrong, what's going to happen">