"This was a bit different to the client base we are most familiar with," Andrew Riley confessed. "The clients had an idea of what technology could offer, but little idea of how to implement it so we had to make sure that the system we specified could cope, and hold solid under all circumstances, and was capable of being used by just about anybody who cared to have a go."
As the funding situation proved to be somewhat dynamic, Oxford Sound were forced into making some compromises to match the funds available; with judicious choice of equipment and key supplier discounts, it was possible to keep the project afloat and provide the majority of the originally intended functionality. The key to the success of the technical facilities was to provide good quality equipment, with relatively simple features for the wide range of individuals intended to use them within the money available. Oxford Sound also took care of the entire technical infrastructure, including building the soundproof studios, radio and recording studios, IT networks and telephony.
The ACMC chairman, Martin Blissett, said of the company: "They knew what we wanted and worked hard to find a way for us to get it, even with the money problems, and we now have a facility that is as good as any studio in Birmingham."
(Lee Baldock)
