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PLASA Media has today learned that the veteran lighting designer, Michael Northen MBE, died peacefully in the early hours of yesterday morning. Northen, who was Life President of the Association of Lighting Designers (ALD) and one of the best-known figures in lighting design, had been suffering from degenerative heart disease for some time. Credited with being the first professional Lighting Designer, he designed for over 300 productions during his long career, at venues including the Royal Opera House, the Royal Ballet, Glyndebourne Opera House and RSC Stratford. He was awarded the MBE in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List this year in recognition of his services to theatre.

In an announcement today to members of the ALD, chairman Rick Fisher said: "Michael’s thoughts were always with the lighting world. It is entirely characteristic that he wished to celebrate

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Shuttlesound has welcomed two new recruits to its team in a move that will strengthen the sales department in the areas of marketing and permanent installations. David Howe, an experienced industry professional, takes on the mantle of Permanent Installation consultant, while Yann Carbonnet, formerly of Shuttlesound’s parent company Telex EVI in Germany, has recently joined as marketing manager where his responsibilities include both brand and company profile.

Howe’s has varied experience in the permanent installation market, ranging from low impedance to 100 volt line to voice alarm systems which, according to Shuttlesound’s senior sales manager, Sean Maxwell, makes him an ideal candidate for the company. "We identified a niche in the market where we really wanted to make more impact with the many new products coming into the market from ElectroVoice and Dynacord

Doughty - Banner - from 6 June 2025

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More recruitment news from AC Lighting: firstly, Ian Ferguson joins the company’s UK sales division. Ferguson is well known to many people in the industry having spent the past eight years as business manager with Playlight in their London office. With 24 years of industry experience, Ferguson has an encyclopaedic knowledge of equipment and its applications. Phill Capstick, UK Sales Director, stated: "We are delighted to have the opportunity for Ian to join AC Lighting. His experience and skills will make a major contribution to our business development plans."

Strengthening the corporate office staff, meanwhile, is Marie Kent who has been appointed as personal assistant to MD David Leggett. Previously with banker UBS Warburg in London, Marie has an extensive background in senior roles including a period of nine years in Sydney, Australia, working for IBM.

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Autograph Sales, the London-based distributor of professional audio and control system technology, has appointed Rob Piddington to its board of directors. Moving to Autograph Sales from Sennheiser UK, where he was sales manager, he will take up his new position as a director from the beginning of April, with new business development his prime area of responsibility. Piddington will be working closely with Autograph’s existing team of sales engineers, alongside directors Graham Paddon and Richard Barman.

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Well known industry figure, Linton Smeeton, one of the founders of RCF UK, has been appointed commercial sales manager of Paso UK Ltd, the corporate office of Paso Spa (Italy). Linton joins up with fellow industry stalwart, Bill Mackie, to strengthen Paso's rapidly developing presence in the public address, voice evacuation and conference markets in the UK and Ireland.

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Matthew Tonks has joined Stage Technologies as project manager. Tonks, formerly a project manager with Glantre Engineering and more recently with Impact AudioVisual, will concentrate on the company’s growing cruise installation work.

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Following lengthy negotiations, which actually began in the bar at the Live! Awards, The Event Safety Shop has appointed Tim Roberts as senior consultant. The Event Safety Shop is a partnership between well-known event managers Dick Tee and Mike Richmond, and has a rapidly growing client base of people looking for specialist safety advice. Roberts will oversee the day-to-day running of the company, including the presentation of safety policies and other paperwork for production companies and risk assessment for large-scale events.

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Christie Digital Systems USA has announced three sales executive appointments: Dale Miller as vice-president of sales Europe; Joe Delgado as vice-president of sales Latin America; and Lin Yu as vice-president of sales Asia. Scott Friedberg, national sales manager, will handle Joe Delgado’s previous North American responsibilities. Reporting to Lin Yu, Rick Norris will continue his tenure in the Asia Pacific region as the new director of business development, and is relocating to Singapore.

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Continuing its programme of expansion, Crestron UK Ltd has announced the appointment of Andrew Butler as technical sales manager. The move follows an outstanding year for the company, which has seen them win a number of awards, including AV magazine’s Company of the Year. Butler joins from Midnight Security, where he gained experience in the specification, programming and installing of Crestron control systems.

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Alan Law has recently been appointed general manager for the SPS group, with responsibility for service delivery, quality assurance and Health & Safety. Alan joins SPS from Earls Court & Olympia where he has spent the last three years as technical services manager and health and safety manager responsible for non-exhibition related events and conferences including The Brit Awards, the Vodafone Gala dinner and numerous pop shows. Law was then asked to take on the role of Halls H&S manager, with the brief to audit and re-evaluate Earls Court’s approach to the ever-increasing H&S legislation. Prior to this Alan worked with Blackout, the drapes and rigging company and was a key player in the rapid expansion they experienced in their early years. SPS managing director Robin Coles comments: "To have a manager of Alan's experience and ability in this new key role adds another dimensi

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Entertainment lighting systems and support specialist, The Service Company has announced a change in staffing. Antony Bridges, who has been with the company since its inception in 1997, is moving on to a new career with the BBC; he will be replaced by another familiar industry figure, Roger Hennigan.

Bridges joined The Service Company from Strand Lighting, where as a service engineer he was responsible for testing and commissioning some of the most complex theatrical lighting control systems around the world. He will be joining the BBC as a studio engineer, responsible not just for lighting equipment but all of the electronic equipment used in television production. Taking over as The Service Company’s sales and project manager is Roger Hennigan. Hennigan is familiar to many in the industry from his days at M&M Lighting, where he provided technical support and servicing for Rainb

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Rosco has appointed Adam Smith as sales manager for the UK and Scandinavia, continuing its growth and expansion within Europe. Smith’s career in technical theatre and electronics spans 25 years. His experience in sales, and in-depth knowledge of production, lighting design and the theatre industry will add considerably to the Rosco sales force and strengthen the team. He was most recently employed as Olympic program director for the Sydney Opera House. During this time, he was also responsible for major project work including the opening of the newest theatre in the complex, The Studio, and as event manager for the major function on New Year’s Eve 2000. Prior to accepting his position at the Opera House, Adam was employed as sales manager for Bytecraft and the John Barry Group, both major suppliers to the entertainment industry in Australia.

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Zero 88 Lighting has appointed Chris Clayton as R&D manager. Chris joins the company from Penny & Giles, the manufacturer of industrial joystick controllers and faders, where he designed and managed projects in aerospace and industrial applications. He is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institute of Engineering Designers and at Zero 88 will be responsible for a large team of people working on new fast-track developments for the iLight Group.

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Bob Dean has joined LGH Rigging Services as commercial manager. He returns to LGH Group plc, having held the post of branch manager of the Slough Lifting Gear Hire location for three years. He has worked as a project manager in Malaysia and as a contracts manager, working on such key contracts as Canary Wharf DS5. His appointment is a further step in the continuing development of the LGH Rigging Services business - a specialist in the field of rigging equipment hire, offering, in addition, comprehensive operator training capability.

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Stuart Cunningham has joined the Tannoy sales team to provide support for external sales engineers and customers, both overseas and in the UK. Cunningham will ensure that customers have a main point of contact to quickly answer any queries and provide a link to the sales staff when they are travelling. He has recently graduated from Strathclyde University with a degree in Marketing and Psychology and will be based in the Tannoy Pro sales office in Coatbridge.

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At Telex EVI Audio, Jürgen Meier has taken over the role of distribution manager for fixed installations from Claus Peter Sterling, who has retired from the post after nearly 27 years. Meier is responsible for all sales and marketing activities in the European electro-acoustics and movie theatre installations market (including Germany) as well as for Pro Sound in the domestic German market. For the past five years, Meier has worked in the cinema field as sales and project manager for projection and sound reinforcement installations.

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Sennheiser UK has announced a fundamental restructuring of its management team. The new structure sees equal prominence given to five areas of management responsibility with the appointment of key personnel to the newly-created positions of director of engineering, finance, marketing, operations and sales. Dave Hawker is appointed director of engineering with responsibility for all technical aspects of the company’s operations, including service, technical support and special projects. Lesley Alaway becomes director of finance, while Phil Massey is director of operations responsible for operations, systems and IT management.The greatest changes are to the previously integrated sales and marketing functions: John Steven joins Sennheiser from as director of marketing from KGa Press+Communications, the company’s PR agency, where he held the position of account manager for four y

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David Kirk, the former PR manager at Allen and Heath, has recently returned to take up a new role as New Media Manager. Kirk left the company in February 2000 to feed an interest in the opportunities created by the internet and electronic communication. He subsequently worked as content manager for LeisureHub.com, a business-to-business exchange for the leisure industry. Last month, he returned to the A&H fold after a new position arose allowing him to use his enhanced media skills in the pro audio industry.

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The team at Northern Light has been further strengthened with several new appointments. Craig Shaw joins the Special Projects department as sales engineer, with responsibility for developing the company's sound reinforcement products business. Formerly with EFX Audio, he left to freelance on sound system design and installation projects in clubs and bars throughout Scotland and for projects such as the Police Public Safety announcement system for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay street celebrations.

Gerry Corcoran is the latest addition to the sales team. Based in Glasgow, he'll be concentrating on expanding and supporting Northern Light's customer base in the West of Scotland and will augment the company's capacity to demonstrate equipment and provide customer training. Gerry was formerly chief electrician and technical tutor at RSAMD, and before that his career in stage management and elec

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A number of management changes have been announced within the Avesco group following the creation of their new Audio Visual Services Division, which will be headed up by former Creative Technology managing director, Graham Andrews. As a result, Andrews hands over the day-to-day running of CT to Mark Elliott, simultaneously assuming the role of chief executive, in order to oversee the strategic development of the company. CT’s new managing director has worked with the company for the last nine years, latterly as operations director. "I have a long history in the industry, extending back to 1982, and recent years have proved both exciting and rewarding," said Elliott. "My role will now be to further develop the management structure underpinning a high quality and specialist service business, while supporting the growth of Creative Technology within the full framework o

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Lightfactor’s sales team continues to expand with the addition of Scott Callis, who joins as product manager for the Italian-made SGM range of lighting equipment. Callis will initially be undertaking an intensive 14-week UK promotional tour for Lightfactor, highlighting and demonstrating the many advantages of the complete range of SGM products including the new Giotto 250 Spot. This method of product exposure enables direct communication with end-users to heighten product awareness and potential, and allows Lightfactor to continue developing and improving its after-sales and customer service. Callis’ road show will be targeting specially selected rental companies, theatres, AV specialists, installers and venues covering a broad cross-section of the leisure and entertainment industry.

Callis has worked in the moving light business for the past six years, including as a foun

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Bandit Lites has announced new additions to its staff at its world headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee. Jim Guinn has been named director of computer resources globally at Bandit Lites. Guinn joins the company from Techmer PM where he was a team leader within the Information Services Department. Nathaniel Dawson has been named Shipping and Receiving Specialist. Prior to Bandit Lites, he specialized in theater at Las Vegas Academy.

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Ian Gordon, formerly with Westsun International Inc, has joined the team at Christie Lites in Vancouver. Gordon, a touring industry veteran, takes with him 15 years experience servicing the concert industry in North America and Europe. Established in 1985, Christie Lites is an owner-operated organization which focuses on the stage lighting market. With offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Dallas, and Orlando - it provides full service rentals to the concert, corporate, theatrical and educational sectors, as well as extensive sales support for manufacturers including Martin, MA, ETC, Robert Juliat and Spectrum Manufacturing.

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Richard Wear, formerly director and general manager of Celestion International Ltd, has announced his departure from the company, to pursue other professional and personal interests. At the company headquarters in Ipswich, Frank DiGirolamo takes over executive responsibility for the Professional Systems Division. He is currently Deputy CEO of KH Industries (UK) Ltd, and has extensive experience of both the consumer and professional audio business, as a senior executive at Harman International, and also chief operating officer of Intellisys Inc in the USA. DiGirolamo first became involved with Celestion as managing director of its sister company KEF, in the early nineties. His return to the UK just over two years ago signalled a change in the success of both the KEF and Celestion consumer brands. Speaking on behalf of Celestion, DiGirolamo said: "The company would like to thank Richa
  1. Zero Says Goodbye to UK Sales Manager
  2. Merrifield On The Move for Lighting Tech
  3. Ian Gordon Joins Christie
  4. MCL Recruits Nick Whitehead
  5. AVW Controls Director Promotion
  6. Thompson Leaves Shoptick.com
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