Impact Egypte Solutions’ Jean William (left) with Robe’s Middle East regional sales manager Elie Battah (photo: Louise Stickland)
Egypt - Robe has appointed a new Egyptian distributor - Impact Egypte Solutions - which is headed by Jean William, a prolific lighting and show designer in his own right. The company is based in Cairo and is one of the longer established entertainment technology enterprises in the country.
Jean founded Impact Egypte 33 years ago initially as a rental and a sales business. Sales were then halted for a while as they focussed on installation projects and rentals, but recently sales have restarted to capitalise on a strong and developing market with a demand for quality equipment.
Impact Egypte Solutions also engages in a wide selection of lighting, visual and multimedia projects taking on multiple aspects including show design, installation, and operation, keeping its 40 or so full-time staff busy.
Jean has always had an eye for Robe products and has wanted to work with the brand for a while, a scenario that is now possible due to a restructuring of the distribution set up. “The products are excellent, they are well designed and robustly built, affordable and offer a great ROI across numerous sectors,” he commented.
Jean also has had a lot of hands-on experience working with moving lights over the years as a lighting designer for various shows, events, and venues. He notes that installations are particularly solid right now.
He and Robe’s Middle East regional sales manager, Elie Battah, met at ISE in Barcelona earlier this year and discussed Robe’s repositioning in the region.
“I was looking for someone with a great reputation and who was enthusiastic and invested in the brand,” noted Elie. “I’ve known Jean for some time, and the time is now right for us to collaborate. I believe the company will really maximise our potential and brand presence in Egypt.”
The rental side of Impact Egypte Solutions is involved in numerous large and creatively staged conferences and business events, and he is often hired as a consultant for these, to advise on using the most appropriate and effective technology.
The company will keep working in the rental market and Jean will continue to design and manage projects.
Jean sees potential for Robe’s new iSeries of IP rated fixtures and the iForte in particular for large ballrooms and conference centres. “Forte is definitely a machine for those power applications,” he confirms.
On the rental side, everyone at Impact Egypte Solutions is impressed enough with Robe to purchase over 200 fixtures for stock.
Jean also has an branch in the UAE - Impact Dubai - which will keep a Robe system in its rental stock.
Elie concludes: “Egypt is a one-off market, so it is great to have a distributor familiar with using the products in real situations every day, which assists communications and keeps in touch with our markets on multiple levels.”

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