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Britain’s first free database of business grants has gone on-line - with the aim of putting the country’s businesses in touch with more than £100 million going begging because of lack of awareness and red tape.

The cash is part of a potential annual multi-million pound grants’ pot, designed to help Britain’s 3.7 million companies flourish. But many businesses which could benefit from the money simply don’t know they can claim it, or are put off by the confusion, complexity and time involved in finding out what is available.

The new website offers a free grant search service that gives results in seconds. Sophisticated technology means a search takes just seconds to complete and searchers can link immediately through to grants providers with applications.

The site contains information on around 5,000 capital (‘hard cash’) grants. These ran

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Avanti Television, one of the largest-growing independent production companies in Wales, has recently launched an all-digital facility - The Pop Factory.

The new operation, located in Porth near Cardiff, is sited in the former Corona Pop Works and will become home to a weekly live music programme that will be seen on the digital platform BBC Choice Wales. It also houses A3 Records and a brand new 48 track recording studio and rehearsal complex, complete with on-line and off-line editing facilities, called The Welsh Hills Works.

The multi-purpose broadcast centre is, according to Avanti’s founder and MD Emyr Afan, the most important development in Welsh broadcasting this decade. "There is a new confidence in Wales. More and more high-tech companies are locating here. With The Pop Factory, we are proud to be bringing London-quality facilities to South Wales and creating a fo

Doughty - Banner - ABTT (27 May - 5 June)

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On 1st February 2001, PLASA went online with its brand new website at www.plasa.org. The new site is the latest development in the six-year history of PLASA’s online presence, and continues the organisation’s aim to provide the premier online resource for the entertainment, presentation and event technology industry worldwide.

The new site further develops the extensive and freely-available information resources offered to the industry by PLASA. Now available are fully-searchable databases allowing fast, easy and flexible access to the full listing of 450+ PLASA members; 1,500 industry news items in the online news archive; a comprehensive calendar of industry events, and over 100 titles in PLASA’s Technical Book Service.

PLASA’s Managing Director Matthew Griffiths comments: "Aside from the great new look of the site, I’m especially pleased with the

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Hollywood recently celebrated its biggest party - the Golden Globes - held in the International Ballroom at the Beverly Hilton. Production Resource Group companies Fourth Phase, ProMix and LSD/Fourth Phase were on hand to help. ProMix Burbank provided all of the audio equipment for the event, which included the press audio and video feeds to the worldwide press audience. All presenters and award recipients were heard through the propriety ProMix ‘pop-up mic’, a robotic system. Front-of-house console was a Yamaha PM4000, driving Apogee speakers and Crest amplifiers. Sound designer for the event was Gary Hardesty with his team consisting of audio supervisor Bruce Burns, system engineer Andrew Fletcher, press liaison engineer Steve Cohen, with Mark King on broadcast audio mix and Randy Faustino on house audio mix.

The interior lighting was designed by Lee Rose of Design Partne

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Martin MAC fixtures are being used in Ireland’s RTE studios for the Irish edition of Who Wants to be a Millionaire - the 77th version of the show to go on air worldwide. Hosting the Irish show is Irish Late Late Show presenter, Gay Byrne. In the Millionaire studio, 22 MAC 600, 10 MAC 250 and 4 MAC 500 moving heads create a stunning lightshow on the set. The ingenuity of lighting designers, Joseph Canavan and Luis Poveda, given the strict guidelines for lighting the show, is highly praiseworthy, says Lisa Mitchell of Tyrone Productions, adding: "Millionaire in Ireland has turned out to be a phenomenon! The Irish public expected a scaled-down version of the British Millionaire Show, but everyone is really pleased. There are over 1.2 million viewers, which tops Gay Byrne’s Late, Late Show figures - That’s phenomenal!"

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Lamba, the Hertfrodshire-based distributor for KAM, Nady, Stanton and Cerwin Vega! products in the UK, paid for 12 of their UK dealers to preview their suppliers’ new products on a three-day trip to the recent NAMM show in Los Angeles. Gerry Frost, director of Lamba, said: "We extended the invitation not necessarily to our highest-spending dealers, but as a loyalty reward to those prepared to stock the widest range of products."

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The lighting for the new season of Classical Spectacular shows was recently pre-programmed at Stage Electrics’ new Virtual Lighting Studio in London’s Waterloo. The show, which performed at arenas around Britain and at the Royal Albert Hall, involved over 200 performers playing 20 popular classical pieces, complete with cannons, muskets and an indoor firework finale.

The show set up on the morning of each performance and had to be technically ready by 2.30pm for an orchestral rehearsal. Promoter Raymond Gubbay has long championed the use of large intelligent lighting systems to accompany the Classical Spectacular experience and expected this system to be used to its full potential with some 500 lighting cues throughout the show.

LD Durham Marenghi, who has been lighting the show for the last decade, utilised over 100 intelligent Martin Professional luminaires with 2,000 c

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According to new research just published, half of all the companies in the sound equipment industry increased their level of debt last year, suggesting that companies are more confident than before. The findings come from the latest Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis.

The research on 230 companies, who range from loudspeaker manufacturers through audio consultants to distributors and contractors, also revealed that most companies are using their debt in their day-to-day business. 86% of those surveyed had some form of debt last year. Only 17 showed no debt at all. Adding debt takes confidence, not only in the future ability of the company to pay the debt back, but also to generate extra profits to justify the risk.Why would almost 50% of the industry add debt last year? Two key reasons seem to be increasing their formal lending. 1) Companies are financing losses in a bold attempt to keep aflo

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Hayden Laboratories Ltd, UK distributor for Rane products manufactured in the US, has appointed Raper & Wayman as a reseller/distributor for the Rane Inc range of ECS (Engineered Conference Systems) audio products. The move is part of a campaign spearheaded by Hayden to highlight the potential of this range of conferencing equipment. Ian Downs from Hayden’s Pro Audio Division, comments: "We chose Raper & Wayman because of their well-established presence, knowledge and considerable expertise in this market." Raper & Wayman will handle Rane ECS products supplied via Hayden in a consultative capacity to other dealers as well as in their role of installation subcontractors. In conjunction with Hayden, Raper & Wayman will also supply a comprehensive UK-based service and support facility for this product. At the heart of the Rane ECS is an 8-input automatic microphone mixer, th

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Beyerdynamic Germany has made an exclusive distribution agreement with ISO 9001-certified manufacturer, MIPRO Electronics, for its product line including wireless microphone systems, portable wireless PA systems and wired vocal condenser microphones in Germany. MIPRO designs, manufactures and markets VHF and UHF wireless systems and has worldwide distribution to over 50 countries. Its product ranges include entry level to sophisticated PC-interface monitor and control wireless systems. Beyerdynamic's international marketing and sales director, Hartmut Reichert stated: "In combining the technical experience of beyerdynamic in audio developments and MIPRO in wireless technologies, we clearly see an international alliance that will allow us to offer the best products in features, quality and technology to our customers."

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HK Audio has announced the expansion of its worldwide distributor network during 2000. The company has welcomed GB Music in Bratislava as its exclusive distributor in Slovakia on 1 December 2000, while In Israel, the firm OR-KOL in Hacarmel is assuming the exclusive distribution of HK Audio, effective immediately. Demand for HK Audio products is likewise on the rise in Asia, and Excel Music & Sports in Singapore has exclusive distribution in the countries of Malaysia and Singapore. The first container is on its way, and dates for the initial demonstrations have already been set.

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Edwin Shirley Staging is helping AC/DC to rock in Australia as part of its massive world tour. The company has won the A$250,000 contract to provide all the structures and staging for the Australian stretch of the tour that has so far seen concerts in Perth, Hobart and Canberra. The AC/DC stage is a massive 45m wide by 21.6m deep. In total 29,620kg of equipment (the weight of over 300 people) is being hung from the steel work supporting the inflatable roof. The visual extravaganza features a 30ft moving statue, six cannons that fire during the show, as well as a giant bell that moves up and down the stage, carrying a member of the band at one point of the show.

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A new PA company has been established in South Wales to offer live sound services to both touring bands and corporate clients. Based in Swansea, the Big Sound Corporation offers a comprehensive stock of high-end PA equipment from manufacturers such as Hill Audio, Allen & Heath, Mackie and Yamaha. Its aim is to offer a truly professional PA service, backed by top-quality equipment and experienced live sound personnel. The new company combines the touring experience of live sound engineer Duncan Wild with a revolutionary modular loudspeaker system designed by Malcolm Hill - the designer whose systems dominated live sound in the 1980s. By utilising Hill’s latest Powercube system, Big Sound offers promoters and venue managers the same live sound quality that drove Knebworth, Monsters of Rock and the US and UK ends of Live Aid. Big Sound’s Powercubes are ideal for up-and-coming ba

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ESTA, the North America-based Entertainment Services & Technology Association has announced that BSR E1.11, Entertainment Technology - USITT DMX512-A, Asynchronous Serial Digital Data Transmission Standard for Controlling Lighting Equipment and Accessories, is now available for public review and comment. This document is an updating and revision of the widely-used DMX512/1990, which was originally developed by the United States Institute for Theatre Technology. USITT's DMX512 is being revised to clarify undefined and loosely-defined provisions in the original document and to accommodate new lighting technology while maintaining backward compatibility with products that comply with the existing standard. The new version addresses issues regarding the use of alternate start codes, the undefined data pair, grounding practices, over-voltage protection, error detection, and alternate connecto

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Norwegian pop group A-Ha, who rose to fame in the mid-80s, is back with the critically-acclaimed album, Minor Earth, Major Sky. The album, described as ‘one of the best comeback albums ever,’ was voted into 29th place in the top 100 albums of the year by a panel of 40 music journalists in the UK ahead of the likes of U2, Fatboy Slim and Bjork. The group is currently on a sell-out tour of Japan and Germany with Hannover-based rental company, Rocksound, supplying the PA equipment including a Midas XL4 at FOH and a Heritage 3000 for monitors. Although Rocksound is providing the gear for the German leg of the tour, the engineers are from Norwegian rental company AVAB-CAC, who will be taking over the equipment requirements when the band returns to Oslo for two dates in March. FOH engineer Sven Persson specifically requested a Midas XL4 for FOH requirements, stating that it is &quo

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UK indie band Reef have just completed a mini UK tour as a follow-up to their recent UK tour at the end of last year. Reading-based Skan PA provided all the audio requirements, and took the opportunity to put Klark Teknik’s new DN9848 loudspeaker processor through its paces. Skan’s Chris Fitch was pleased with the way the units performed. "We had three units on FOH for Reef driving our Turbosound Floodlight rig. What impressed me most was the flexibility of the processor, and the fact that every input talks to every output. I also liked the fact that all the offline editing is done in MS Excel, which I felt was a real bonus. Extremely user-friendly, and both clear and simple to use."

After that the units are destined for Sound Republic in Leicester Square for the launch of the 2001 Comic Relief appeal, where Skan will be using them to provide 24 isolated feeds for

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Set Lighting & Sound has become the first UK rental associate of Vari-Lite, having added the Vari*Lite VL2202 spot luminaire to its extensive hire stock. The Based on the VL2201 spot luminaire, the VL2202 features an upper enclosure that houses the control electronics as well as a power factor corrected arc power supply for the 700W short arc lamp. The small, lightweight, and virtually silent luminaire also features a zoom optics system and rotating gobos. Controlled from any Vari*Lite console, it can also be controlled from a wide variety of DMX512 consoles without the need for additional interface equipment. Set Lighting’s Guy Heselden told us: "We are very excited at the opportunity of becoming the first UK Rental Associate, and looking forward to along term working relationship with Vari-Lite. Initially adding the VL2202 luminaire to our hire fleet allows us to supply an e

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Announced at the Live! Show at Alexandra Palace in London yesterday, London-based audio rental and installation specialist RG Jones has become the first UK-based member of the fast-expanding Synco Network of European production rental companies. The agreement sees RG Jones purchase 50kW of the Renkus-Heinz Synco Touring System (RH-STS), along with amplifier racks, rigging equipment and 12 of Synco CW121 stage monitor wedges - the first Synco system to be based in the UK. RG Jones joins five existing Synco Network members: Ampco Pro Rent and PAS Audio (Holland), Puro Audio (Portugal) and DEE Sound & Light and Flashlight/APR (Belgium). The addition of RG Jones makes Synco the largest single-brand-based PA network in Europe, with over 1 million watts of RH-STS PA systems.

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Vari-Lite has announced the first phase of the expansion of its European sales dealer network, supporting the distribution of the new Vari*Lite Series 2000 luminaries, with the appointment of Norsk Sceneteknikk A.S. in Norway and HispaLite in Spain. Vari-Lite has a long relationship with both companies, who have considerable experience of the company’s products and the technical resources to support sales customers. The network is designed to provide an enhanced service to the European marketplace, with local expertise, warranty support and training being easily accessible to end-users. Vari-Lite is actively expanding the network across Europe.

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The Service Company, in conjunction with White Light’s Training Initiative, has recently completed a successful series of half-day training courses on Strand Lighting’s 500 Series of lighting consoles. The courses, aimed at West End and freelance technicians, were held in White Light’s West End offices in Shaftesbury Avenue. The sessions looked at the basics of console set-up and operation, software, hardware and communications. The series of sessions concluded with a seminar on programming moving lights with the consoles, led by leading moving light programmer and L&SI writer Rob Halliday. A further series of workshops are scheduled for March 2001. Anyone seeking further information on these courses, or wanting to book places on them, should contact White Light or The Service Company on +44 (0)20 7731 3291.

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Weston Super Mare’s Grand Pier will be reopening in 2001 with a brand new Bose sound system to improve the quality of public address announcements along the pier. Bose field engineers undertook a series of audio tests and measurements to establish the best solution for the pier’s acoustic problems. They came up with a series of Bose 402 full range speakers positioned throughout the amusement arcade on the pier and angled directly towards the listeners so that sound reaches them without distortion or reverberation. On the exterior walkway, Bose 151 environmental speakers have been specified which are designed to be weather resistant for outdoor use.

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Macclesfield-based Federal Signal has won a major contract to provide state-of-the-art VA equipment for the new multi-million pound Belfast City Airport development. The company will be supplying its broadcast VA system Verifire to Oxford-based systems integrators and project contractors Installation Technologies who will integrate it with hard disc-based background music equipment to provide an advanced multi-featured VA and audio communications system. The contract also involves Federal Signal specifying speakers for the column, corridor and ceiling mounting.

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Mondiale Publishing has bought Total Production magazine from Pulse Publications. The title will now be added to Mondiale’s portfolio of magazines serving the entertainment industry which include Night, Mondo, Theme and Sleeper. TP’s editor Mark Cunningham and sales and marketing director Andy Lenthall will remain with the magazine. Pulse Publications, meanwhile, has announced its intention to continue publication of TP’s sister title Corporate Event Design.

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Following ever increasing attendances over its four year history, the dates for John Hornby Skewes’ Event 2001 have been confirmed as June 17-19. One major new feature of Event 2001, which takes place at JHS’s premises in Garforth, Leeds, will be the provision of a dedicated pro audio demo theatre on-site. This will feature the HK Audio range of pro audio, including the HX active systems, LUCAS, ELIAS and ACTOR, and the most recent addition to the range, the powerful 3.6kW PROJECTOR. Other pro audio products on show include The Scanner radio system, the Get Yourself Connected series of cabling, JHS pro audio components and Kustom PA systems and cabinets.
  1. Creating the Perfect Pint . . .
  2. Direct to Lighting Technology
  3. Park Avenue Cyber Seat Contract
  4. TC Electronic Takes on TC Works
  5. Project News
  6. HHB Celebrates 25 Years
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