White Light Out and About Around The World

The White Light Group demonstrate their products and services to customers in the UK, Australia, America and Nigeria

Since its inception in 1971, the principal business of the White Light Group has been the hire of lighting equipment to theatrical productions. But, although this still forms the core of its business - recent productions have included shows such as Saturday Night Fever, Doctor Dolittle and Closer in the West End - the Group’s activities now extend far beyond the British Isles. This diversity was shown by three recent trips: to Sydney, Las Vegas and Lagos.

"White Light’s General Manager Bryan Raven undertook the long flight to Australia, to exhibit at the 1998 Entech Show. There he showed White Light products including the VSFX and WaveFX animated effect units that have become the system of choice for many lighting designers, and the award-winning Source Four HQI Conversion Kit which, with its long lamp life and low running costs, has proved popular with architectural and installation lighting designers. Raven also took the opportunity to meet up with existing White Light clients in Australia - the company supplied the control systems to the Australian 10th Anniversary Tour of Les Miserables, for example - and meet new ones..

The Las Vegas trip was undertaken by Paul Simson on behalf of Enliten, the White Light Group’s new specialist architectural lighting product division: the company were exhibiting at Lightfair, an architectural lighting exhibition. Great interest was again shown in the HQI Conversion Kit, which allows the ETC Source Four profile spot to accept long-life 150W HQI lamps. The kit has been highly commended on previous visits to America, winning both a TCI Product of the Year Award and a Commendation at the LDI Show during 1997, while in the UK it has been put to use in projects including the new foyer lighting scheme at the Royal National Theatre.

Bryan Raven is quick to point out that the British customers of White Light also benefit from the company’s overseas trips: "they allow us to catch up with what companies from around the world are doing," he notes, "so that we can ensure that if something spectacular or useful appears we can make it available to British lighting people". Enliten discovered a number of new products at Lightfair, which will be introduced to the UK market in the near future.

Meanwhile, Richard Wilson, White Light’s front-bench manager, found himself in Lagos, Nigeria, at the request of the owners of the city’s new Grand Hotel. Wanting both the hotel and its theatre to have the best lighting equipment, they called White Light. Wilson spent a week at the hotel discussing their requirements; these have now been consolidated into a sales-and-installation packagewhich will be overseen by White Light.

In the meantime, business continues as usual in the UK, where visitors to the ABTT Show in April were able to see the latest hire stock from White Light and The Moving Light Company for themselves. Those who missed this event can still obtain hands-on experience with the latest products through White Light’s ongoing Wednesday morning workshops, each covering a different area of equipment.


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