The History of Best Acts - Excellence in Entertainment
Best Acts was established in March 2007 by entertainment professional James Smart, and launched from an office on Dumbarton’s High Street the following year to become one of Scotland's best known live entertainment brands, providing entertainment for weddings, hotels, casinos, functions and events.
James saw a huge gap in the market after launching his own Freddie Mercury and Roy Orbison tribute shows in 2004, and set out to create brand new entertainment concepts, focussing on the tribute market. In 2008, he established Scotland’s first Take That, Westlife and Girls Aloud tributes
(Take This, Westlive and Girls Rloud) as well as launching Scotland’s second Abba tribute, ‘fABBAlous’ in 2009 due to demand and lack of Scottish tribute acts. He continued to produce more quality tribute shows including ‘80’s Heaven’, ‘70’s Timewarp’ and ‘The Queens’ multi tribute shows with Roberta Childs, as well as Scotland’s very own Queen tribute band ‘MacQueen’
Through the years, and with the introduction of Annemarie Dodds as operations manager, the company evolved to offer an additional service as an entertainment agency, securing work for Scotland’s best entertainers who were carefully selected due to their provision of superior shows through reliability, quality, diversity, innovation, professionalism and talent, ensuring clients expectations were met and customer satisfaction was achieved.
Best Acts went on to provide services to Scotland’s biggest hotel groups and casinos, as well as theatres, golf clubs, social clubs, bowling clubs and holiday parks, with clients including Manorview Hotel Group, Ladyglen Hotels, Shergill Hotels, G Casino and many more. The company went on to focus on the wedding and events market.
“We have worked tirelessly over the past 18 years and continue to work hard to ensure that we provide the highest standard of entertainment. I am passionate about my business and want to ensure that the customer experience is unrivalled and exceeds all expectations ”
The Future for Best Acts - Evolving to meet the demands of current entertainment trends
Best Acts is ever evolving to meet the demands of current trends, with a new focus on how the company operates in 2026 and beyond. The company will continue to provide wedding and event entertainment, but with a focus on our own live events including planning, provision and promotion of shows at the Denny Civic Theatre in Dumbarton, as well as providing technical assistance and a bar service for touring shows and local performances at the venue.
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