Adlib Expands with New Warehouse and Added Staff

UK-based sound, lighting, and AV rental specialist, Adlib, celebrated the start of 2012 by moving in to its new warehouse in Speke, following another year of steady growth.

The move has more than doubled their space to over 50,000 sq. ft.

An investment of over £1 million in renovation, including the property purchase, combined several buildings into an efficient working environment optimized for Adlib's operation, with more room for all divisions of the company. A further £1.2 million was invested in new rental equipment last year for Adlib's projects and clients.

Integral to the new warehouse is a custom designed fully self-contained classroom complex, seating up to 85 and configurable in different formats, plus a series of practical areas for training sessions and seminars. This classroom complex has dedicated toilets and a catering area. Creating these facilities has always been one of CEO Andy Dockerty's visions.

The new training facilities are also available for use by suppliers and manufacturers to stage their own open days, product awareness, and training events.

L-Acoustics has already staged two K1 system training sessions and launched its new ARCS cabinet there. Other premium brands utilizing the training space in the near future include: Labgruppen, DigiDesign, Yamaha, Midas, and Shure.

Just outside the classroom is a large demo area that can be fully draped off, which is set up with four different audio consoles, allowing engineers to experiment. Also new is a separate space dedicated to rigging and motors, a series of prep bays, plus service and technical areas.

The overall office space has now doubled in size. In addition, the company has added six new full-time staff as part of an on-going restructuring process, bringing the total to 85, plus the regular pool of freelance engineers and technicians.

Tim Robinson has come onboard to co-ordinate the Hire Track department and Dave Bennett has joined to supervise rigging, staging and associated accessories. Gareth Dubbeling joins the team as workshop manager, in charge of all incoming projects, while John Fitzsimmons will map all the kit and run inventories and stock holding checks. Dave Platt is the new warehouse manager for lighting and AV and Jon Priest joins Tristan Bryant in the AV department.

Five new apprentices have also been added, with more to follow shortly.

Adlib is part of the Creative Apprenticeship scheme run in conjunction with Liverpool Community College. This underlines the company's commitment to offering young people the opportunity to learn real skills they will need for a successful future career in the production technology industry.

Says Dockerty, "The expansion, the restructuring and the new warehouse has been a necessity to service not only our clients increasing demands but also to service our internal needs and requirements. The demands upon our office and warehouse staff to continually deliver under the constraints put upon them by lack of space and support were becoming increasingly problematic. Now we collectively have a far superior infrastructure in every way, with both the facilities and personnel to provide a solid foundation for the next five years development."