UK - Theatres Trust, the charity that campaigns to protect the UK’s theatres, has published its annual Theatres at Risk Register, which highlights theatres across the UK under threat of closure, redevelopment or severe decay, but which all have the potential to be revived for their local communities.
Theatres Trust has removed three theatres from the list, which are no longer considered at risk due to advocacy, planning and viability advice from Theatres Trust, along with the vital support of their respective local authorities, theatre operators and community groups.
Century Theatre, a travelling theatre that toured the country in the post-war years, is now looking more secure in its permanent home in Coalville Leicestershire. It had been threatened by the redevelopment of its site and had been added to the Theatres at Risk Register in 2014, but it is now better integrated into the local area and able to serve the local community with improved facilities.
Walthamstow Granada, a Grade II* listed ciné-variety theatre, had been empty and deteriorating until it was bought by Waltham Forest Council in 2019, with Soho Theatre Company on board as the operator. Having undergone a major refurbishment programme, it will reopen later this year as Soho Theatre Walthamstow, an exciting new London venue offering a mix of comedy, theatre, music and community activities.
The third building to be removed, Swansea Palace Theatre, is a distinctive Victorian music hall that has been on the Theatres at Risk list since it started in 2006. Th

UK - Now in its 15th year, PLASA Focus Leeds is set to return to the Royal Armouries for another year from 9-10 May. Free to attend, the popular regional event connects thousands of professionals with many of the biggest names in live entertainment technology.
With a sold-out show floor, PLASA Focus Leeds is set to be a powerful platform for networking and discovery. 150+ brands representing pro audio, AV, lighting, rigging and staging will span two halls, offering visitors to opportunity to see new products up close while speaking face to face with potential new suppliers.
Headline sponsor Ambersphere will showcase the latest from Astera, Ayrton, MA Lighting, Robert Juliat, and Zactrack. Lighting professionals can also look forward to meeting Artistic Licence, Avolites, Chauvet Professional, ETC, GLP UK, Robe, and Vari-Lite.
Top quality pro audio is also on offer from Bose, d&b audiotechnik, EM Acoustics, Funktion-One, KV2 Audio, Martin Audio, Nexo, and Shure UK.
Heavyweights in rigging and staging technologies will also be in attendance, such as Area Four Industries, Doughty Engineering, Triple E, and UK Rigging.
Not only that, cutting edge AV can be seen at the stands of Epson, PSCo Group. And innovative accessories will be on show courtesy of Drapemakers, Harlequin Floors, J&C Joel, and NSP Cases.
A free programme will run alongside the action on the show floor, with back-to-back sessions aimed to help visitors’ expand their knowledge and elevate their careers. Last year’s programme included sessions on technical st

Spain - Returning to its normal January/February timeslot in the AV calendar, ISE 2023 had 58,107 attendees from 155 countries, alongside record-breaking occupation in the city’s hotels, bars and entertainment venues, and with exhibitors reporting ‘unparalleled footfall’ on booths across the show floor.
Mike Blackman, managing director of Integrated Systems Events, commented: “It’s been an extraordinary week and it’s hugely gratifying for us to look back and realise we’ve delivered an exceptional show for our industry and the wonderful city of Barcelona.
“We’ve had unprecedented visitor levels to the show, so much inspiring content and features on display, and ground-breaking visits from the King of Spain on Tuesday and the President of Catalonia on Thursday to add both a royal and a political seal of approval to the show. This week at ISE 2023 confirms that we can safely say the global AV and systems integration industry is back with an impressive bang!”
The first day of the show set the tone for the week with the highest number of opening day visitors ever for an ISE show, visiting the 56,870sqm of floorspace over the show’s six halls and the Audio Demo Rooms, where French pioneer of electronic music Jean-Michel Jarre unveiled his latest album. The trend continued for the rest of the week with a final total of 58,107 attendees to ISE, making 133,606 visits to the show floor.
On the first day, King Felipe VI of Spain took a tour of the show floor stopping by a few booths to take in a small sample of the technology on di

Italy - Chauvet Professional has appointed Zalight the exclusive distributor of its products in Italy.
"The timing of Chauvet and Zalight joining forces to develop the Italian market is spot on, as both companies share a similar vision and culture,” said Stéphane Gressier, international sales director of Chauvet. “We are thrilled to start this new adventure with Graziano Zanini and Luca Di Donato's team at Zalight. Antonio Parise, our business development manager EMEA, and Goran Doncic, our senior European business development manager EMEA, and the rest of the Chauvet team are looking forward to accomplishing great things with Zalight.”
Graziano Zanini, CEO of Zalight, is equally enthused about the new agreement, staging, “Chauvet Professional needs no introduction. It is a highly respected global brand with offices with universally recognized leadership, and a wide catalogue of top-quality products. We have always been impressed by its ability to respond to market needs with innovative technological solutions.”
Recent examples of Chauvet Professional innovations that have impressed Zalight include the Color STRIKE M, and the COLORado PXL Bar 16 as well as the entire range of IP65 moving heads, which are increasingly being specified on many international tours.
“Thanks to its extraordinary variety of products, Chauvet Professional offers infinite possibilities to lighting professionals,” said Luca Di Donato, business development manager of Zalight, “Our goal is to make it a reference brand also in Italy, as is already the case

Spain - LED screen manufacturer Alfalite received the visit of His Majesty King Felipe VI on the first day of ISE. The Spanish manufacturer is exhibiting at the Digital Signage and DooH Zone in Hall 6 (stand 6H310).
Jesús Cabrera, CEO of Alfalite, was among the team welcoming Felipe VI. During his visit, Felipe VI praised Alfalite for their innovations in LED technology.
Jesús Cabrera says, "We feel honoured by the King’s visit to our company stand at ISE. We shared a brief talk about the company, its products and innovations. And we took the opportunity to invite him to visit our plant in Huelva."
The Spanish manufacturer has 20+ years of experience designing and manufacturing LED screens for advertising, shows, television and conference rooms with the most sophisticated technology. Its innovations for the display market include technologies like ORIM or Modularpix Pro VP XR line of panels.
The Spanish company was recently involved in major projects, including building a 132sq.m LED wall in record time for Plazamedia's hybrid studio near Munich to broadcast all FIFA World Cup matches from Qatar.
At ISE 2023, Alfalite is showing its Alfalite VP XR solution, a complete virtual production environment using Alfalite LED screens with a specific development and full integration into the production ecosystem of the UK manufacturer Mo-Sys. Alfalite's Modularpix Pro LED screens are also on display on some partner stands, including AVIXA (stand 3Q400), Novastar (stand 3B750) and nsign.tv (stand 6H400).

Spain - Electronic musician and composer, Jean-Michel Jarre, and contemporary French artist Eric Decastro teamed up with Coda Audio to unveil Space by Coda at ISE 2023.
Space by Coda combines advanced AV technology with art ‘to create a seamless audio-visual experience that is scalable and adaptable to any environment – and where the mechanics of what is a concert-grade audio experience are rendered completely invisible’.
“Conventional AV solutions are often a compromise between technical requirements and visual aesthetics,” explains Coda founder and MD, Svetly Alexandrov. “High quality AV solutions usually include projector and/or LED screens, multiple loudspeakers, mounting accessories, and a lot of cables as well as acoustic absorbers and diffusors. This is usually at odds with the vision of the architect and/or interior designer who don’t want loudspeakers, acoustic elements, cabling and other technology cluttering up their interior design. Space by Coda resolves all these problems.”
Space by Coda integrates high-end, immersive 3D audio, a 4K projector screen, ambient lighting and advanced acoustical treatment with the art or projection of your choice into a united system solution to transform spaces with audio. The result is the Space Panel.
At just 70mm deep, Space Panels can offer sound quality and performance surpassing that of conventionally designed (cabinet) loudspeakers. This driver-equipped canvas can transform spaces to feature invisible audio, enabling high quality, full-range sound in previously limitative envi

Europe - Hall Technologies has announced a new distribution relationship with ADI Global Distribution, a global distributor of security, AV and low voltage products. ADI customers across EMEA will now have access to the comprehensive line of end-to-end pro AV solutions from Hall Technologies.
“As part of our global expansion strategy, we’ve partnered with ADI to bring our human-centric products to their clients. Hall’s focus is on truly understanding what customers need and offering top quality products to exceed those needs. We look to ADI as a key strategic partner to help us grow our brand and customer base in the region. We’re thrilled to collaborate with ADI and look forward to our mutual growth opportunities,” says Hall Technologies vice president of sales and marketing, Hal Truax.
"ADI remains committed to expanding our Pro AV portfolio of products and providing our customers with the products they need to successfully design and install integrated solutions." said Chris Godfrey, senior category manager, Pro Av. "We're really excited work with Hall Technologies and further expand ADI's Pro AV product portfolio."

UK - New professional training which provides the latest guidance on the In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment (ISITEE) – including why the term ‘PAT Testing’ should now be considered a thing of the past – has been announced.
Presented by James Eade, expert on electrical power safety for entertainment environments, the popular JET 2377 courses will be available in Bristol on 15-16 February and again on 17-18 May 2023.
The course brings attendees up to date with the important changes introduced by the revised 5th edition of the IET Code of Practice on In-service Inspection and Testing of Electrical Equipment, written by James himself. Among the major developments that everyone should be aware of is that what was commonly called ‘PAT testing’ – the process of inspection and checks on equipment while in-service – is now out of date, replaced by the latest guidance.
Designed by James Eade, the two-day course is aimed at increasing understanding of the need for a holistic approach to the management of electrical equipment in the workplace – as well as the practicalities of actually doing so.
The course focuses squarely on the entertainment and events industry but can be tailored for other industries. It puts the IET guidance and requirements in the Code of Practice into a context that will make sense to (and prove invaluable to) anyone with responsibility for electrical equipment and systems – including rental companies, technicians, freelancers and venue managers alike.
Of the JET 2377 courses,

Spain - A new feature for ISE 2023 which opened in Barcelona this morning, the Audio Demo Rooms in Hall 8 will showcase the latest innovations from leading audio brands.
Exhibiting brands including AED Group, Coda Audio, d&b audiotechnik, Holoplot, Martin Audio, Pioneer PRO AUDIO and Void Acoustics will provide rotational live demos throughout each day, including an exclusive guest appearance with Coda Audio from French electro musician and composer, Jean-Michel Jarre.
The launch of the Audio Demo Rooms follows a period when ISE worked closely with a group of leading audio companies to conceptualise and produce this exciting new show floor feature. Each demo room has been specifically tailored to the requirements of each manufacturer, ensuring optimal listening conditions for visitors.
Mike Blackman, ISE managing director, comments, “We are delighted that we can offer audio companies what they desire at the Fira Gran Via, the opportunity to demonstrate 360º immersive audio solutions to full effect. Audio plays such an important role in the creation of unique AV experiences, so it’s only right that we can feature it fully at ISE.”

UK - The Association of British Theatre Technicians (ABTT) has announced the launch of the Make A Difference conference, an annual proactive conference day committed to finding solutions to current industry issues. The conference will be more than simply talking and will ask attendees to commit to taking action and developing strategies to achieve solutions for the issues discussed.
The first conference will be held on Friday 21 April 2023 in the Ambassadors Lounge, Lyceum Theatre, 21 Wellington Street, London WC2E 7RQ with thanks to Ambassador Theatre Group for their support of this event. The theme for this year’s discussion is Solving our industry’s recruitment & retention crisis.
The conference has been developed to continue the joined-up thinking that is happening in the many ABTT seminars which are convened throughout the year and at the ABTT Theatre Show. “With support of academic theatre production staff from Guildford School of Acting we shall facilitate these continuing discussions at our conference day and provide a more focussed proactive platform to encourage actions and find practical solutions to move us forward with industry issues,” says ABTT.
ABTT co-chair & senior lecturer at Guildford School of Acting, Mig Burgess Walsh comments, “I am excited to see what this conference can achieve. It’s my privilege in my role as co-chair of the ABTT to attend many exciting and passionate seminars and talks from all parts of our industry. I hope this conference will provide a focussed time away from busy trade shows

Spain - BikeFest returned to Spain last week, cycling over 360km towards ISE in Barcelona, and so far has raised an astonishing £40,000 for industry charities Backup Tech, Music Support and Stagehand along the way.
The now annual event has garnered huge support from across the live AV and events industry, in both the UK and Spain. Organised by #WeMakeEvents, PLASA and AFIAL, the 2023 edition of BikeFest Spain was proudly sponsored by Ayrton, AVIXA, d&b Group, EARPRO, Fantek, ISE, SOJC and Total Solutions Group.
Piers Shepperd, Backup Tech Chair, Technical Director of Wonder Works, and BikeFest member, says, “I’ve been amazed by the widespread support for BikeFest and Backup Tech, as well as our fellow industry charities Music Support and Stagehand. It's been a delight - making new friends, and catching up with old ones, but most importantly riding in a way that shows we care about each other and our very precious industry, which has suffered so much over the past few years.”
Dave Crump, Creative Technology CEO and fellow BikeFest member, adds, “What an amazing journey! The support, both within the team and from across the industry, has been outstanding. It’s a real testament of what we are all capable of and shows how meaningful this industry is to us.”
The intrepid team comprised of 22 industry colleagues, representing BishopSound, Creative Technology, EARPRO, Equipson, FLUX Events, PLASA, SHARP/NEC Display Solutions, Stage One Creative Services, Total Solutions Group, White Light and d&b Solutions, and Wond

UK - Newark-based Ampetronic has been presented with its 2022 Queen’s Award for Enterprise for excellence in International Trade.
Employing 50 people Ampetronic has been trading since 1987, its mission is to bring intelligible sound into the lives of people with hearing loss by improving the quality of installed hearing access equipment. The company produces a wide range of electronic products for hearing accessibility, primarily Audio Induction Loop Systems that can deliver sound direct to hearing aid users.
On being presented with the award by The Lord Lieutenant of Nottinghamshire - Sir John Peace, MD of Ampetronic Julian Pieters, commented: “We are honoured to receive the award today, made especially poignant following the death of Her Majesty last year. I am delighted that our customers and the team at Ampetronic were able to sustain a significant level of growth in international trade over the last six years despite restrictions imposed by the pandemic and this reflects the genuine benefit we provide to people who experience hearing loss.
“We’re a small business with a global impact and our long-term investments in future technology will ensure our presence in assistive listening for many years to come.”
Sir John was accompanied at the ceremony by Deputy Lieutenant Ed Attenborough, Chairman of Nottinghamshire County Council, Councillor Roger Jackson, Chairman of Newark and Sherwood District Council, Councillor Sue Saddington and the Mayor of Newark, Councillor Laurence Goff.

USA - To better serve its customers in the New York City and New Jersey area, Renkus-Heinz has announced manufacturers’ representative Audio Associates will be taking over the key territory.
Audio Associates has been a leading manufacturers’ representative firm in the AV, professional audio, system integration, sports and government market sectors since its founding in 1981. Audio Associates has been representing Renkus-Heinz in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, including Washington D.C., Maryland, Eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, and Virginia, since 2020.
“After being a part of Renkus-Heinz’s success over the past two years in the Mid-Atlantic, I believe we are well positioned to take on the New York Metro territory,” said Joe Blacker, owner of Audio Associates. “We have always enjoyed our established relationships within the consultant community as well as live production rental & staging, from Broadway theatres to corporate events. There are many vertical markets unique to New York that will be a great fit for Renkus-Heinz.”
“We’ve already had a great partnership with Audio Associates in the Mid-Atlantic area, and we’re excited to now be working with them in the NYC area as well,” said Joe Fustolo, eastern regional sales manager, Renkus-Heinz. “Given their wide outreach in NYC, we are confident that together we’ll be able to capitalize on additional vertical markets and better serve our customers in a much larger capacity with the audio solutions Renkus-Heinz is known for.”

Austria - Ayrton has announced the appointment of K24 Technik & Vertrieb GmbH as its new exclusive distributor for Austria with immediate effect.
K24 Technik, which celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2023, is a respected sales and distribution company that carries a number of quality lighting and audio brands and services a wide range of rental companies, theatres and broadcast companies across Austria.
Managing Director, Johannes Stummer, chose Ayrton to fulfil his requirement for a versatile, reliable lighting brand to add to their portfolio.
“Following solid research and many recommendations from our clients, we found Ayrton to be the most creative and innovative products on the market,” he says. “We had received many positive accounts of Ayrton products and found so many of our clients to be very interested in using them. Once they heard K24 was to become the new Ayrton distributor, their response was an immediate and encouraging ‘Good move.’
Stummer and the team at K24 will market the entire Ayrton range and support rental companies, theatres and the television market.
“Ayrton's IP-certified fixtures are also very popular with rental companies, in part because of their excellent protection against rain and dust during outdoor events, but also because of the reduced maintenance time in a rental company's day-to-day operations," says Stummer.
“Ayrton is very glad to have K24 on board as our latest distributor,” says Ayrton’s Kseniia Igoshkina. “It’s a pleasure to know that our Austrian customers are i

Spain - ISE 2023 sees Creative Technology officially unveil its systems integration division to the market.
“Creative Technology is well-known for its spectacular productions in the world of live events, but even though our work in the systems integration market has been happening for some time now and is equally impressive, so far it has been much less visible to the market,” says Dave Crump, CEO at CT EME. “ISE offers us an ideal platform to highlight exactly what we can do.”
Attending ISE alongside CT SI will be NEP Integrated Solutions, to highlight the multiple markets the group supports and the vast technical solutions it provides globally.
CT SI has completed multiple projects in immersive and experiential venues as well as sports, corporate, high end residential, retail broadcast/XR and studios. The CT SI stand will showcase some of the company’s installations, with LED screens displaying a showreel of projects from across the globe, from spectacular installations to virtual production stages. Team members from CT SI’s extensive global network will also be on hand to welcome visitors to the stand and offer the opportunity to discuss their forthcoming projects in more detail.
“CT is a coordinated global supplier and service company for the systems integration market and beyond, with the advantage of guaranteeing the same representation, expertise and dedication to any project, wherever it is in the world,” concludes Patrik Dejve, managing director, CT Northern Europe. “The skills and expertise within the CT Group are e

UAE - To address its rapidly expanding Middle Eastern market, Chauvet has entered into an agreement with Dubai-based AV distributor NMK Electronics.
NMK is now the distributor of Chauvet Professional, Chauvet DJ and Illuminarc products in the UAE, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“We’re very excited about our relationship with NMK,” said Stéphane Gressier, ‘Sebi’ Romero, and our senior BDM for this region, Goran Doncic, at NMK’s Dubai training session. NMK’s commitment to excellence and passion for service reminded all three of us of the philosophy that has guided the growth of Chauvet. We’re looking forward to building an extraordinarily strong relationship with NMK as we grow together.”
Schalk Botha, brand manager at NMK, adds, “Chauvet carries 33 years’ worth of heritage and experience,” he said. “We are thrilled to add their products to our portfolio and are excited to show our customers how they can provide solutions for any application. Our goal is to promote this brand across all verticals from retail and house of worship, to small and large venues, entertainment, education, and the rental market. We have tremendous respect for Chauvet and appreciate the well-deserved reputation the company has established across the globe – and now we’re honoured to be part of this success story.”

UK - Tech LED, the UK’s trusted supplier of LED lighting solutions for installation and live events, has announced the addition of Lumos Controls to its distribution portfolio to support the precise and automated control of its current architectural lighting ranges within the building design space. At a time when energy efficiency tops every agenda, Lumos Controls provides a simple-to-retrofit, complete solution for any enterprise looking to fully control its energy landscape.
Tech LED’s Gordon Addison, comments: “Lumos Controls are future-ready with unique software that will lead the way in the market. Crucially, Lumos is a green and energy efficient solution, providing real-time information wirelessly, to ensure building and energy management is efficient and simple. For customers looking for a simple and effective solution to control energy use, Lumos products are easy to install and operate so that retro-fitting into buildings is a breeze.”
Lumos Controls manufacture future-ready lighting control products for smart enterprises that communicate wirelessly creating a zoned and automated ecosystem for an experientially designed space. Products in the Lumos Control range include light controllers, sensors, smart switches, gateways, LED drivers and smart fixtures.
Tech LED is focussed on providing the complete solution for its clients in partnership with Lumos. The company’s DALI-based and 0-10 Volts control systems connect symbiotically whilst adding extra dimension to the new distribution lines in Tech LED’s architectural lighting portf

UK - Event Power Ltd, one of Ireland’s leading electrical hire companies supplying temporary power to major sports, festivals and state-run events, has invested in Data Strategy’s QC-Check workstation so that in the company’s busy warehouse, safety is an integrated part of the daily process.
With its power and cable inventory in constant demand, the company required a system to facilitate control of the stringent record-keeping associated with certified testing of distro and cable, as well as one that offered on-demand reporting.
Taking the advice of global temporary power specialists, Aggreko, who currently rely on more than ten QC-Check workstations to inspect the integrity of their power distribution units and cables in use at high-profile international events such as the recent Commonwealth Games, Event Power invested in a QC-Check workstation which included a CAB-4 cable test unit to test the integrity of single and three-phase cables, as well as a Power-Check add-on system to inspect power distribution boxes.
Custom-built by SES Entertainment Services Ltd, Event Power’s new QC-Check 2-bay workstation, bestows simplicity and speed of testing to the company’s warehouse processes. Anne Foley confirms: “Now we have the peace of mind that when we go to use our stock, all industry regulations have been adhered to, as we have the records to show it’s all certified and ready for use.
”Importantly for the busy warehouse, the new QC-Check was swiftly transitioned into the rental workflow. Anne agrees: “Once we received the initia

UK - A player within the global AV industry over a number of years, Greg Jeffreys has announced the decision to separate his consulting practice from the core manufacturing and distribution business, Visual Displays Ltd (VDL).
Greg Jeffreys Consulting Ltd (GJC) will therefore now function as a stand-alone business. And while VDL will continue to specialise in high specification displays, Jeffreys will build on a career that has seen him fulfil a number of volunteer leadership roles within the world of AV, rising to become the first non-American president of AVIXA (known then as InfoComm). Having either led or co-written various AVIXA displays-related standards, he is coming to the end of three years’ leadership of the Association’s standards body.
GJC will separate these consulting specialisms away from his other interests and at the same time meet the increasing post-pandemic demand for consultancy in the design and configuration of hybrid meeting and teaching spaces. He will lead a team of associates - specialists in a comprehensive spread of technology-enhanced workspace disciplines - now known generically as the Teams Room market.
“I’m excited to be continuing my consultancy assignments in this new way,” states Jeffreys. Commenting on current trends, he says, “There has been an ‘all roads lead to Rome’ feeling about the direction of travel with the issues that users and clients currently want to discuss. COVID accelerated the move to hybrid working and teaching with eye-popping velocity, forcing rushed specification decisions a

UK - Audio-Technica has announced a new distribution agreement with Massachusetts-based RF Venue, which will see the company represent the wireless essentials brand across EMEA from 31 January 2023.
Offering a wide variety of wireless mic and IEM antenna, combiner and band-pass filter products, RF Venue is relied on for everything from HOW and fixed installations to touring and other event applications, with a reputation built on more than 10 000 projects since its inception in 2011.
Alexandra Bischof, Audio-Technica marketing manager EMEA commercial audio said, “We’re delighted to be representing RF Venue throughout EMEA – the company’s portfolio allows us to offer customers an increasing range of wireless solutions alongside our own systems. Their track record of delivering excellent value, efficient problem-solving technology is a great fit for Audio-Technica and we look forward to introducing the brand to our customers across these territories in the coming year.”
RF Venue president Chris Regan commented, “We are excited to grow our relationship with Audio-Technica Europe and to make RF Venue products available to support Audio-Technica wireless systems in the EMEA market. RF Venue wireless Essentials have a proven track record as excellent companion products to Audio-Technica wireless systems.”
Both Audio-Technica and RF Venue will be exhibiting at ISE 2023 in Barcelona (Audio-Technica located at booth 3P450, RF Venue at booth CS604).

Spain - 22 live event and AV professionals are ready to cycle up to 390km from Valencia to ISE in Barcelona this weekend. Together as the BikeFest team, they are raising vital funds for industry charities Backup Tech, Music Support and Stagehand.
Organised by #WeMakeEvents, PLASA and AFIAL, BikeFest Spain is in its second year. Last year’s debut saw a team of 10 head toward the empty Fira de Barcelona exhibition centre, where ISE should have been taking place, poignantly showcasing the impacted live events sector.
However, this year’s BikeFest will head towards a thriving trade event – but not before taking in the stunning Mediterranean coastline. 18 members of the team cycle the entire route over three days, with the remaining four joining for the final 95km on the last day. The team represents the span of the live sector, including companies such as Bishopsound, Creative Technologies, Earpro (part of Midwich Group), Equipson, FLUX Events, Stage One, Total Solutions Group, d&b Group and Wonderworks.
The money raised by the team has already surpassed an incredible £20,000, with donations still rolling in. Furthermore, BikeFest Spain 2023 is supported by sponsorship from Ayrton, d&b Solutions, Ear Pro, Fantek, ISE, SOJC, AVIXA and Total Solutions Group.
Peter Heath, MD of PLASA and member of #WeMakeEvents steering group, says: “The team and I are geared up for another BikeFest in Spain, and it’s great to welcome many more members this year. BikeFest Spain really has become an important date in the diary for many of us. No

UK - Martin Audio has announced its partnership with the recently-formed 22live pro-audio service provider.
In so doing it reunites the company with hire director, Paul Timmins - part of an experienced team that also includes MD Spencer Beard and commercial director, Alex Penn. They are joined by technical director, Simon Gladstone, operations director, Stefan Phillips and finance director, Ian Bidmead.
Driven by Timmins, who has enjoyed a long relationship with Martin Audio, the company has confirmed a large investment in Martin Audio’s advanced control and array technology. This enabled them to make an immediate impact in 2022, supporting the Sigur Rós global tour with the manufacturer’s Wavefront Precision system and Torus scaled for arenas, and the Australian Pink Floyd Show UK, with Wavefront Precision and Torus scaled for theatres up to small arenas. Both bands have enjoyed a long relationship with Paul Timmins, which looks set to continue under the new production company.
One of the first key considerations when 22live set out its stall early last year was which loudspeaker company to forge a relationship with. Setting out the reasons for backing Martin Audio as their front-line brand, Timmins was aware that a long historic relationship with a brand is not necessarily justification for future investment. “There is always a lot at stake when it comes to selecting a partner brand,” he says. “For us, we needed to get our hands on a product that gave us more of a USP, and was supplied by a manufacturer that complemented our own ethos.