1st June 2018 | Installations

A story of when things go wrong!

When you are dealing with the elements, electricity, lighting product, human beings, equipment and vehicles. There are plenty of opportunities for things to go wrong. I believe that it is not the thing that goes wrong that is the problem, it’s how you handle it.

Blackpool, a seaside town famous for its Illuminations.

We were invited to restore their famous arches that are at either end of the 5 miles of illuminations. We set to work fixing a product that we had used for 3 years very successfully and were confident that this was the answer for the arches. Testing went well, programming went well. Switch on night went well. All going well. Great job guys. After about a week we got a call from the head of the Illuminations that a fault had appeared. A section was flickering out of sequence. We dispatched a crew to investigate. And all was good again. We were called out every 2 or three days with other faults. We keep fixing the fault and another would turn up. We got through the season, only just. But we clearly had a major problem with the product. We spent some time investigating the faults. This product was clearly not up to fighting the Blackpool weather. We were committed to find a solution.

There was a product that we were developing that may fit the bill. We expedited the manufacture of the item and proceeding with some onsite testing. It worked. We went into full swing as time was short. Removing all the old product and replacing with the new. The installation was still being undertaken on the Bank holiday just before switch on night. This product has proved to be up to the task and has performed well.

What is the best advice to organisers of winter functions?

Planning, preparation and sound electrical and mechanical infrastructure. Give yourself as much time as you can. When you rush things they can go wrong. Get it right first time. There is never enough time to do it right. But there is always time to do it over.

Blackpool said: “Love the look of these and I must congratulate you on a thoroughly professional job executed both how you said and when you said.
They look fabulous and will hopefully be a credit to us all. 
Sincere thanks for your work on this over an extended period including all your design/test and R and D.”