Bristol, UK based The Lighting Hospital is a unique new concept developed by production industry technical maverick Dik Welland – to take care of, treat, offer TLC, counselling and repair of specialist lighting equipment elements – with a fast, efficient, cost-effective and personal service.
The primary products repaired and serviced are electronic switch mode lamp power supplies up to 7Kw. Says Welland, “There was a definite gap in the market for the quick and efficient repair of these, especially when out of warranty, and that's initially why I have set up the company”.
Additionally, The Lighting Hospital also caters for a far wider range of products, including low voltage switch mode power supplies and control boards covering a whole gamut of moving light brands including Vari*Lite, High End, Martin Professional, Robe lighting and others.
Xenon 7Kw and 5Kw Capra projection supplies are also covered along with Hardware Xenon and Hazemeyer supplies.
The main workshop is in Bristol, with a West London drop off/collection point for extra convenience.
The Lighting Hospital has been designed to work as a highly flexible personal service, cutting endless layers of bureaucracy and paperwork and getting straight to the job in hand with an expert in the field.
“I realise that launching a business in the midst of a credit crunch brings on a few challenges,” intimates Welland, “And so the idea is also to devise a raft of strategies to make it work in these challenging times”. This includes a sliding scale of costs relative to the degree of work entailed in the repair, and a no repair no charge policy.
Fast track and express repairs are also undertaken, along with a 1 year warranty for any repair discharged from The Lighting Hospital .
Welland graduated from the University of London with a BEng Honours degree in electronic engineering and has worked hands-on in the production industry ever since 1985. In this time, his posts have included Head of Lighting Control at White Light, Senior Service Engineer at Vari*Lite Europe and as a fixtures specialist for High End Europe.
He has also spent many years working on the road as a freelancer with moving lights from all the major manufacturers … and so is supremely qualified as a casualty doctor and well au fait with the needs, demands and tight timescales of a fast moving industry where the show has to go on whatever the circumstances.
The company officially launches on May 1st, but already the work has been flooding in from Welland's industry contacts and associates.