Your Complete Production Solution
White Light - An Introduction
We are entertainment production specialists. White Light is a market leader in lighting hire, sales, installation, and technical service for the entertainment and presentation industries. For more than 40 years, we have been supplying lighting solutions for projects of all sizes across the UK, Europe, and Worldwide. We pride ourselves on our industry knowledge, personal service, and high technical standards that have earned us the trust of professionals across the entertainment spectrum. Whether it be lighting for a small private event, a large-scale arena tour, or anything in-between – we strive to understand your needs and deliver the right solutions and support to suit your project and give you peace of mind.
From London’s West End to projects around the world... We got our start in London’s West End supplying lighting for small venues and theatre companies, counting many well known successes among early hire contracts. Business grew from there and now you’ll find White Light equipment behind some of the biggest shows in Theatreland - including Billy Elliot, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, Les Miserables, and Miss Saigon. Building on our roots in theatre, White Light has continued to grow over the years expanding our offering across a variety of markets while maintaining the same customer focus and commitment to quality that has led to our success. Our expertise extends to encompass theatre, concert touring, events, film & TV, education, and lighting installations. A brief glimpse at our recent portfolio shows the vast diversity among projects. They include permanent lighting for the new Sky Sports TV Studios and the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio Tour, as well as lighting design and production for events like the Oxford Street Christmas Light switch-on, the Imperial War Museum London’s re-opening, and the massive Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red exhibit at Tower of London. In the area of concert touring, White Light has supplied lighting for artists such as Barry Manilow, Gareth Malone, George Benson, and Elton John.
Our focus is on you, and your production. We founded White Light in 1971 to deliver an industry first equipment and services that lighting professionals could trust, from a company that understood their needs. More than 40 years later, that inspiration is still behind every project and at the heart of what we do every day. We understand the constraints, pressures, and challenges that you face when putting on a show or event, completing an installation, or managing a venue. We work with you to ensure your creative vision becomes a reality by providing not only the right lighting solutions for you, but also the right advice and support along the way.
Delivering products & services that you can
TRUST.
How Can We Help You? At White Light, every project is unique and we work to provide the best solution to fit your needs. We’ve got everything you need to make your next project a success including advice, equipment, technical expertise, product training, and on-site support.
Hire With one of the largest hire stocks in the UK, we can provide complete equipment packages for any size production to include: fixtures, cables, power distribution, rigging, control, effects, accessories, and more. When you choose White Light, you’re not only getting the highest quality equipment, you will also benefit from unparalleled service and support. We offer full service pre-rigging space, convenient daily deliveries and collections in the West End, and on-call help available 24/7.
Sales Whether it’s a piece of colour or an entirely new lighting rig, we can help, with equipment from the widest range of manufacturers to give you the best possible choice. Our reputation for high quality service and support is so strong that many of the world’s leading lighting manufacturers have chosen us to be their exclusive UK, European or even world-wide distributors.
Events Producing a party, presentation, or conference? Our team can take care of all of the production details for you, taking the stress out of event planning. From weddings and networking receptions to high profile product launches and large scale international summits, our project managers work closely with you to deliver a memorable event, uniquely suited to your occasion. We can provide complete event production support including lighting, sound, AV, props, and staging.
Installation Our team of highly qualified installation technicians delivers permanent lighting solutions that you can depend on for years to come. We provide complete lighting systems in new performance spaces, updates in theatres and schools, display lighting in shops and museums and energy-efficient LED house lighting systems in venues of all types. If you’re not ready for a complete new system, we can work with you to refurbish or update the system you already have.
Service More than 80 UK venues large and small trust White Light for their technical service needs. With a conveniently located service centre in South-West London we offer a fast and efficient response for urgent repairs and flexible scheduling for on-site work. Get more from a personalised service agreement with priority service from dedicated on-call technicians, back–up loan equipment, and regularly-scheduled maintenance appointments to keep your venue up to the highest standards.
Training Keeping your knowledge and skills up to date can be challenging in the fast-paced world of entertainment technology. With instant online booking and a variety of courses to choose from, we make it easy to learn new products, branch out into different skill sets, and keep up with the current market trends. We host regular short courses at our facilities, or can arrange bespoke training for you or your group at your office, school, or venue. We also offer discounts for BECTU members.
Complete solutions to fit your project, your schedule, and your budget.
40 Years of Entertainment Lighting...
1971
Founded by John Simpson, Andy Phillips, Rory Dempster, David Henderson and Angela Fox
1973
Rocky Horror Show transfers from the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs to the Kings Road Theatre
1975
Supplies the lighting for Supertramp
1976
Produces the York Mystery Plays Cycle
1977
Moves to Filmer Road, Fulham, home for the next quarter century
1978
Exhibits at the first ABTT Trade Show
1979
Purchases first Green Ginger 20-way Microset desks.
1980
Increases rental price of Patt 23 lantern to £1.10 per week!
1981
Declines the contract for the musical Cats, thinking it would never run...
1985
Turnover exceeds £1million for the first time
1986
Takes over pioneering entertainment CAD bureau Modelbox, acquires Donmar Hire & Sales
1987 Acquires first fax machine
1988
Acquires Theatre Sound & Lighting
1989
Supplies M. Butterfly, the first show to use Rainbow scrollers, and Miss Saigon which runs until 1999 and then tours. Purchases first ETC consoles - the Imagination, then sold by Arri, one for hire stock, one supplied to the Wyndham’s Theatre.
1990
VSFX optical effect system launched. WL USA formed
1991
Launched Modelbox’s Autolight lighting design software
1993
Supplies shows including Crazy For You
1994
2000
2001
2004
2011
Moved to Wimbledon; 42 West End shows during the year chose White Light Wins PLASA Award for Innovation for the Digital Festoon System
Democratised the availability of moving lights, supplying them to Grease and The Rocky Horror Show
2005
1995
2006
Supplies ETC Source Fours to the musical Tommy and the play Burning Blue. Introduces Morpheus ProSpots to the UK
1996
Launches first website. Celebrates 25th Anniversary. Supplies major shows including Martin Guerre and Jesus Christ Superstar
1997
Supplied Chicago in London; It runs for the next fifteen years...
1998
Supplies shows including Saturday Night Fever and Rent. Establishes White Light Bursary for student lighting designers
1999
Lights the Pyramids in Cairo. Supplies new equipment to the refurbished Royal Court theatre. Supplies shows including Fosse.
2010
Innovative HyLight hydrogen fuel cell lighting system launched. White Light iPhone app launched. Supplies Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, in London and Voyage De La Vie in Singapore
Created formal training and education scheme
Supplies shows including Billy Elliot, for which the White Light Snow Machine was created New website and fully updated Reference Guide launched. Supplies shows in the UK, US and Russia, and Northumberland Lights, starting a long association with the event
2007
White Light’s management team take over ownership of the company. Supplies The Lord of the Rings in London plus many more shows
2008
Helps with the creation of the Mayor of London’s Green Theatre Programme. EvenLED low-energy cyc lighting system supplied to Mary Poppins. White Light Snow Machine wins LDI Award
2009
Supplies City of Dreams in Macau, Nürburgring Visitors Centre in Germany, Westfield Shopping Centre in London and War Horse.
White Light Family of products continues to grow. Expands into additional warehouse space. Celebrates 40th birthday! 2012 Supplies shows including the UK tour of The Lion King, and the Japanese production of Miss Saigon, plus countless events and corporate productions. 2013 Dramatically expands presence in the Concert Touring sector, supplying The Jacksons, Journey, Paramore and others alongside theatre shows including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Bodyguard Launches Product Reference website, with on-line purchasing. 2014 Miss Saigon returns to the West End with lighting from White Light just as with the original 1980s production. Supplies shows ranging from London Fashion Week to Barry Manilow UK Tour. 2015 Expands services to include Audio equipment and services for hire, sales and installation.
Leading Supplier for West End & Touring Theatre
Exclusive UK Distributor for Lighting, Effects & A/V
Billy Elliot Charlie and the Chocolate Factory The Commitments The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Dirty Dancing (UK Tour) Les Misérables Matilda Miss Saigon Urinetown the Musical War Horse (UK Tour)
Altman Lighting Arkaos Pro CORE Lighting Galaxia Electronics Interactive Technologies Inc.
Building Partnerships with Educators & Students Bristol Old Vic Central School of Speech and Drama Guildhall School of Music and Drama The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The National Skills Academy Rose Bruford Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Oldham College
Approved Event Supplier at Over 50 Venues in London Banqueting House | British Museum | Eltham Palace Guildhall | Hampton Court Palace | Imperial War Museum Kensington Palace | Kent House | Kew Gardens | London Eye Natural History Museum | The Roundhouse | Science Museum Somerset House | V & A Museum | Wellington Arch
Growing Our Apprentice Programme Taking on new apprentices each year Providing invaluable technical and theatrical training Offering onsite work experience through partnerships with ATG Theatres and Fairfield Halls Taking many on as full time staff on completion
Working with Theatre Companies and Performance Venues National Theatre The Royal Court Theatre The Liverpool Everyman Theatre Royal Shakespeare Company Royal Opera House Roundhouse English National Opera Birmingham Royal Ballet Curve, Leicester Sentosa Island, Singapore
Lighting Installations Worldwide Prince Edward Theatre, London The Leys School, Cambridge The Savoy Theatre, London The Warner Brothers Studio Tour House of Dancing Water, Macau Westfield Shopping Centres, London Nürburgring Visitors Centre, Germany
JB Lighting Look Solutions LSC Lighting Rainbow Colour Changers Wireless Solution
Industry Association Membership
PLASA ABTT ALD STLD
Proud Supporter of: Light Relief Behind the Scenes Julie’s Bicycle Stage One Production Manager’s Forum National Skills Academy Annual Conference
Finding Us In Person
By Phone
We’re based in Wimbledon, south-west London. From here, over 150 staff between them handle the average of 400 projects we deal with each week.
If you just want to talk something through without the constant back-and-forth of email then please do just give us a call, by: Phone: +44 (0)20 8254 4800 Skype: white.light.sw19
We’re easy to get to by road (with plenty of parking for cars and bikes, and space for truck loading), or by public transport - bus, train, tube or tram. Our Address is: 20 Merton Industrial Park, Jubilee Way, Wimbledon, London SW19 3WL
Online Our website www.WhiteLight.Ltd.uk, is an on-line guide to everything we do, with a portfolio showing the wide range of productions we’ve been involved with. You can also shop directly on the website, from the comprehensive reference section that details the products we have available and lets you purchase many of them right there.
We also share what we do via social media: WhiteLightLtd @WhiteLightLtd, @WhiteLightEvent white-light-ltd WhiteLightLtd +WhiteLightLtdUk
Your Entertainment Lighting Specialist
For any further information or for any enquiries, please contact our team: +44 (0)20 8254 4800
[email protected] 20 Merton Industrial Park, Jubilee Way, Wimbledon, London SW19 3WL We like keeping in touch with our customers, partners and friends.
Photography credits: Cover: Ghost Peloton, Leeds - Photography by Tim Smith p2: Reception area - Photography by Origin8Photography.com p3: Journey UK Tour - Photography by James MacKenzie P4: Events - Photography by David Spink Lighting Hire - Photography by Paul Coltas Lighting Sales - Photography by Moxhams
P5: Savoy Theatre - Photography by James MacKenzie Service - Photography by by Origin8Photography.com Training = Photography by P7: White Light Warehouse by Origin8photography.com P8/9: Photography by Origin8Photography.com Back cover: White Light Staff by Origin8Photography.com
www.WhiteLight.Ltd.uk
