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UK - Stephen Hall has been appointed as managing director of UK rental and installations company RG Jones as part of a major management restructure of its operations in Wimbledon. Hire department manager John Carroll and financial adviser Max Cohen have also joined the board of directors.

Owner and chairman Robin Jones says: "In this industry it's important that companies continually evolve. This restructure passes the running of the company over to the hands of a young, dynamic and very experienced team. Stephen is the ideal person to lead the team and take the company forward. I wish him and the team every success."

Stephen Hall commented: "It's very exciting to be given the opportunity to further develop one of the longest established sound companies in the industry. Having been in the industry for over 25 years and having an association with RG Jones for nea

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Denmark - David Jackson has joined MTi Audio of Denmark as sales manager. The new position is in line with key changes at MTi, who, over the coming year, will introduce new pro audio products to the world market. Jackson has spent the last three years successfully reorganizing worldwide distribution channels for Celestion. MTi Audio will exhibit at ProLight+Sound - Hall 9.1 G39.

(Ruth Rossington)

PLASA Show 2025 - Banner - June-Aug 2025

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USA - Mackie Designs has announced the promotion of Frank Loyko to senior vice-president sales, worldwide. At the same time, Paul Rice has stepped down as Mackie's senior vice-president of international sales and business development. Loyko will assume global responsibility for sales initiative across all Mackie Designs Inc brands, while Mackie's marketing group takes over business development initiatives.

"This is the next step in the restructuring plans that Mackie put into motion last November," commented Rice. "We have set the stage for success and I'm confident in the new senior management team's ability to build upon the strong foundation that I have helped to establish over the last year."

Mackie CEO Jamie Engen said of Rice: "Paul has made considerable contributions to Mackie over the last year and we wish him well as he moves on to new challen

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Australia - Richie Mickan, well known Australian Lighting Control systems specialist, has joined LSC Lighting Systems to help bolster the Technical support for LSC's worldwide Distributor and customer network.

Richie's experience spans live events, theatre, television and architectural applications utilizing the latest DMX, WAN and ethernet technologies. He has designed and conducted intensive training courses on Compulite consoles and Coemar intelligent fixtures and project managed large-scale installations of lighting networks in casinos, television studios and nightclubs.

Alan Graham, LSC's marketing director told us: "As LSC expands its product base and global distribution network, the need for someone of Richie's calibre became crucial towards the end of 2002. The very successful launch of the maXim range of control desks with its extensive moving light capabilities,

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USA - Lighting design consortium Lightswitch has announced that Greg Cunningham and Brad Malkus, based respectively in Los Angeles and Orlando, have been named Associate Partners in the organization. Both are long-term members of the Lightswitch team, and the move recognizes their individual contributions to the success of the company.

The move is just one in a series of developments for Lightswitch, which specializes in lighting and projection design for the corporate, exhibition, theatre, music, live entertainment, special events and architectural sectors. It recently opened an office in New York, giving it firm anchors in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Orlando from which it can more effectively serve its global client base.

(Ruth Rossington)

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UK - Ron Knell, most recently a senior account manager in the export sales department at AC Lighting, has been appointed Rosco’s sales manager for the UK & Eire. In this role he will be responsible for developing new business, whilst serving the needs of the already established dealer network and managing all sales effort within these regions.

Knell is a well-known figure in the industry with established contacts and knowledge of both the UK and export markets. Having previously worked for Rosco dealers, most notably Lighting Technology (a Rosco dealer of nearly 25 years), he has both a technical understanding of the product and a working knowledge of the level of support it requires. In appointing Ron, Kees Frijters, Rosco’s vice-president for European Operations told us: "Ron, with his previous industry experience, contacts and knowledge, will be a great asse

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Denmark - Mach Speaker Systems is restructuring for growth under a new management team and renewed focus on the club and installation audio markets. As part of the restructuring, Mach Speaker Systems will become a separate division within Martin Professional with all activities, including R&D and sales management, to be united at the Mach manufacturing facility in Frederikshavn, Denmark. The change will take effect as of April 1st.

Søren Kjær has been named managing director of Mach Speaker Systems and Anders Kryger as sales director. Søren moves to Mach from a position as managing director of Martin Security Smoke (his position has been filled by Henrik Sørensen - more on that tomorrow), a producer and distributor of computer-controlled equipment for smoke protection and fully owned subsidiary of Martin Professional. Anders moves to Mach from a position as Martin’s Ex

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Denmark - Martin Professional has appointed Henrik Sørensen as managing director of Martin Security Smoke, a fully-owned subsidiary of the company that produces and distributes computer-controlled equipment for smoke protection.

Currently managing director of Martin Manufacturing (UK) PLC, located in Louth, in the UK, Henrik will be returning to his native Denmark, but will retain overall responsibility for the manufacturing facility. He will also continue to oversee Jem Smoke Machines’ R&D activities, as well as Jem’s product management.

The change means that Martin Manufacturing will now be positioned under the Martin Security Smoke umbrella, yet will continue to supply smoke machines to the entertainment market through Martin Professional.

(Ruth Rossington)

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UK - On 16 May this year, Mike Crossman, White Light's long-serving hire director, will leave the company. He has been with White Light for 15 years, during which time he has overseen an ever-more diverse range of hire projects from the smallest school shows to the largest West End and touring productions including, currently, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Contact, My Fair Lady, Miss Saigon and the Olivier-award winning Our House, as well as the company's move from Fulham to Wimbledon. "I have had a fantastic time through the years at White Light, working with great people, both in the company and in theatres and on shows," says Crossman. "I feel it is time for me to get out of the office and explore the world a bit!" To that end, he is leaving White Light to embark on an 18-month round-the-world trip - promising to forward any req

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USA - Bandit Lites has promoted John Rolison to be the new director of the sales division. Rolison was formerly a national sales consultant for the company and had recently had his name added to Stage Directions ‘Who’s Who’ list for 2003. "I am confident that John has the initiative and drive to lead our sales force and take us to the next level," commented Michael Strickland, Bandit Lites CEO.

(Ruth Rossington)

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UK - Colin Pattenden, managing director of CP Sound, the Staines-based audio and lighting design and installation company, makes a guest appearance on the popular BBC2 quiz show ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’ next Monday 17 March.

Colin appears in The Identity Parade round of the show, hosted by Mark Lamarr, during which the audience is shown clips of famous performers anything between 10 and 30 years ago. The teams - who've not seen the clips - have to pick the correct band member from a line up of 5 people - one genuine, and four actors.

Colin was bass player and founder member of the legendary rock band Manfred Mann's Earth Band, back in 1969. During this time, he toured the world several times, playing to audiences of 35,000 plus. Manfred's Mann's Earth Band's classic ‘Blinded by The Light’, reached the top of the UK and US charts. The band enjoyed glo

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UK - White Light's long-serving hire director Mike Crossman will leave the company on 16 May 2003, after 15 years with the company. During that time he has overseen an increasingly diverse range of hire projects from the smallest school shows to the largest West End and touring productions, currently including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Contact, My Fair Lady, Miss Saigon and the Olivier-award winning Our House, as well as the company’s move from Fulham to Wimbledon. "I have had a fantastic time through the years at White Light, working with great people in the company and with all of the fantastic people we work with in theatres and on shows," says Crossman. "I will miss all of them and the hustle and bustle of getting shows on, but I feel that it is time for me to get out of the office and explore the world a bit!" To that end, he is leaving

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UK - Leisuretec Distribution Ltd has announced the appointment of Peter Owen as UK sales manager. Owen joins Leisuretec after six years at Arbiter Pro Audio, where he was responsible for developing sales of JBL Professional loudspeakers and dbx signal processing product ranges in the UK.

Leisuretec managing director Nick Spalding is confident that Peter’s decision to head up the sales team at Leisuretec will prove to be a great move for Owen, the company and in turn the company’s extensive customer base. "Peter always impressed me whilst at Arbiter with his willingness to go the extra mile, making sure our customers received the products they needed, when they needed them. He was also singularly responsible for encouraging Leisuretec to invest in a large stockholding of both the JBL and dbx product ranges, resulting in significant increases of turnover of both l

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UK - Complementing the recent round of additions to the staff working in its hire department (see earlier People News), leading entertainment lighting supplier White Light has announced a new recruit to White Light Sales. Nick Blackman has joined the company as sales office manager, working alongside sales director Peter Threadgold and his team.

Nick Blackman joins White Light Sales from VLPS/Vari-Lite Europe, where he held the position of regional sales manager. Prior to that he worked for the Lighting Technology Group, for FSL International - the leading distributor of lighting, sound and AV production equipment in the Middle East - and prior to that he was with Strand Lighting.

Blackman joins White Light Sales at a busy time - in recent weeks the company has supplied equipment to both long-planned projects and in response to emergency calls, which saw the company supply new

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Australia - Coemar DeSisti Australia has announced some personnel changes. David Lee will take on the role of lighting consoles/control operator training and support. Lee has a wealth of experience in both television and theatre and has been involved in many projects with Coemar De Sisti Australia, including the role of project manager for the Melbourne Broadcast Centre (Channel 7) a turnkey lighting installation which Coemar De Sisti Australia completed in 2002. Lee is still active in the theatre and television industry and regularly operates lighting consoles for major events. Peter Kemp comments: "David’s hands-on console use should prove invaluable for the users of our products."

Lee will be conducting the Compulite and Stardraw training days in Queensland the week beginning March 17 and then in Melbourne the week beginning March 24.

Also announced, Julian

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UK - Stage Technologies has announced that Kevin Taylor and Ewart Richardson will be joining its Board as directors of electrical and mechanical engineering respectively. Kevin Taylor joined Stage Technologies in 1994 as head of electrical engineering, and has been instrumental in developing Stage Technologies state of the art automation control systems. His work includes the design of the control system architectures for the Maxis range of modular axis systems and project management and electrical design for a number of prestigious projects, for amongst others Carnival and Princess Cruise lines and theatres worldwide from Walsh Bay in Sydney Australia to the Lyric Opera Chicago in the USA.

Ewart Richardson, a more recent addition to the Stage Technologies’ team joined the company full-time in September 2001 to lead the Mechanical Engineering Department although he had be

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Denmark - Martin Professional has appointed Stig Holst as its new international sales director, entertainment. Holst, 40, joins Martin Professional from a position as international sales manager at V. Guldmann, a Danish company specializing in automated lifting equipment for the nursing and hospital sectors, which operates a worldwide network of subsidiaries and distributors.

Holst’s area of responsibility at Martin will be international sales and sales support for the company’s extensive entertainment division. He takes over the international sales responsibility from Kristian Kolding who retains his position as Martin’s President and CEO. The position will take effect as of 1 April. Holst will be located at the Martin head office in Aarhus, Denmark.

At the same time, Martin has announced two further appointments in Aarhus: Thomas Fibaek Jensen has been name

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France - Digigram, an innovator in digital audio network solutions, has hired Miranda Hageman as sales and communications director. "With a number of new products and new technologies to come, Miranda will help us to accelerate our move into new market segments and broaden our international scope," said Digigram managing director Philippe Delacroix. "Her sales and communications experience will be very valuable assets as we continue to look for new OEMs and partners."

Dutch native Hageman spent more than a decade in various roles with Maycom Systems Europe, Maycom Automation Systems and Electronic Data Systems, all headquartered in the Netherlands. Among others, she was involved in the product and sales strategy for Maycom's award winning Easycorder in 1999. Hageman graduated from Utrecht Business School with a degree in marketing, which she complemented wit

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UK - Stage Electrics has announced that Anna Western has been promoted to customer service manager. Western, who has been with the company for three years, will work closely with branch managers in developing and training the front line customer-facing staff based in the company’s 10 branches.

Stage Electrics currently has 23 staff in these key positions throughout the country, who will now be referred to as customer service representatives. They will continue to report directly to their respective managers but work closely with Western in her new position. She has extensive sales and customer service experience, bringing the necessary skills to this new and important role.

The company has also announced that Andrew Sugg, currently a front-line customer service representative in Bristol, is going out on the road for a three-month secondment. Sugg will be working in and a

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UK - Trantec has appointed Rob Piddington as UK sales manager. He will have overall responsibility for UK sales, concentrating primarily on the pro-audio sector of the market place (hire and broadcast). Rob’s vast experience in the Radio Microphone sales arena, having worked previously with Sennheiser UK for over 10 years, will be invaluable to Trantec, according to general manager Tony Reid. "We are all very excited about Rob joining us, as we see this as the beginning of a new era for Trantec. It also coincides nicely with the launch of our new S6000 system."

(Ruth Rossington)

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USA / Asia - Columbus McKinnon, the leading manufacturer of hoist and chain products in North America, has appointed Don Dimitroff has been appointed to the newly-created position of entertainment sales manager in North America. In his new position, Dimitroff will be responsible for sales and support of the complete line of entertainment hoists, rigging products, and accessories. Additionally, he will conduct CM Motor Schools, hands-on seminars designed to familiarize workers with the proper techniques for inspecting, troubleshooting and repairing CM Hoists.

Dimitroff joined Columbus McKinnon as a customer service representative in 1996 and since then has held numerous titles within the organization. Most recently, he was a customer service supervisor while simultaneously handling a variety of duties on the entertainment side of the business.

CM has also announced that Stuart

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UK - Avesco plc have announced a major sales and marketing restructure following the integration of Creative Technology and Screenco into a single resource. As sales director, Mike Walker will head up the consolidated team which has relocated to Chessington, and which sees the return of Adrian Offord who, prior to his last position with General Location, previously worked at Screenco.

The team also includes Alex Davenport, who joined MCL two years ago, and sales and marketing coordinator, Emma Houlden, from CT’s Wandsworth office. Also joining the team from CT is Charlie Whittock, who has recently returned from the US where he has been working in event and production management, having worked closely with Creative Technology since the company was founded in 1985.

Said Walker: "In centralizing the sales team at Chessington on the Silverglade Business Park, we will be

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UK - Lighting manufacturer Ryger Ltd has reported the sudden death of Tony Edwards - a lighting industry stalwart and long-time associate and personal friend of Ryger managing director Phil Smith. Edwards played a significant role in the relaunch of Ryger in 2002. Smith told us Edwards was "a man with a huge and often controversial personality, admired for his commitment to British design and manufacturing. Whilst owner and head of design at Apollo-Spectrum lighting he developed such well known effects as the Equinox and the Doris. Even in semi-retirement following the sale of Apollo-Spectrum Tony continued to design and innovate and was tireless in his desire to see new products through from concept to production.

"It was a great shock to all who knew Tony to learn of his sudden death on Good Friday and our thoughts are with his wife Janet and family at this difficult

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USA - Mark Nelson has been appointed national sales manager for Martin Professional Inc’s fast-growing architectural division, Martin Architectural. Nelson has extensive experience in the lighting industry and joins Martin from Metalumen Manufacturing, a manufacturer of specification grade fluorescent fixtures where he was central regional sales manager.

Prior to Metalumen, Nelson was employed with Hubbell Lighting as their national account manager, working with major end user accounts. He also has experience from a position as national sales manager at Paramount Industries, a manufacturer of high performance lighting equipment for specialized environments.

(Ruth Rossington)

  1. Chris Hinds joins beyerdynamic
  2. Harte joins Stagecraft
  3. New appointment at TMB Los Angeles
  4. Sundby joins Multi-lite
  5. Raymond Malpocher is new president and CEO of Telex
  6. Phil Pell joins Shuttlesound
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