Let your light shine
Published: 09 March, 2011
When it comes to a Christmas makeover, outdoor malls and retail parks require specialist solutions. And help is at hand.
Too often outdoor malls, arcades and retail parks settle for a simple and safe, non illuminated, or part illuminated option, when it comes to outdoor Christmas displays. This is often a result of previous bad experiences with lights tripping out due to water ingress, or because the chosen supplier specialises in products designed predominantly for internal use.
This need not be the case, however, as Lite has demonstrated over the last nine years. There are plenty of high quality products available that are designed specifically for external use. However, to find these can take years of research, testing and continuous technical development in order to source the latest LED lights and products that are substantial enough to survive the unique and varied UK climate.
The Lite R&D department in Burnley is kept busy all year round with a vast array of lighting products - manufactured both in-house and also outsourced in Europe and the Far East - constantly on test; under water, in saline spray booths, exposed to the good old Lancashire wind and rain and even some lighting units being suspended on the promenade in Blackpool all year round.
The company was established in 2001 by a group of businessmen who shared over 50 years of experience in the industry and who felt there was a real need in the market place for a customer focussed organisation: one that could look after the needs of local authorities requiring festive illuminations for towns and city centres across the country.
Over the years this expertise has been extended into the shopping centre field and now brings innovative solutions to outdoor centres nationwide. Lite has developed an excellent reputation for delivering bespoke design-led schemes at competitive prices, all of which being project managed by a single point of contact.
A permanent installation of controllable colour changing LED lighting can also offer a very cost effective option to shopping centres at Christmas time, both internally and externally. These lighting units offer the ability to provide a neutral maintenance free lighting scheme all year round and can be programmed, during initial installation, to change colour each Christmas to follow the selected internal decorations theme.
The lights can also be programmed to reflect a special day of the year with a unique display, for example red for Red Nose Day or green for St. Patrick’s Day.
After working closely with Philips Lighting in 2008 on a large and highly successful outdoor architectural lighting project in Manchester city centre, Lite was appointed as a main distributor for the Philips SSL colour changing LED lighting range.
Due to the ever increasing awareness of energy consumptions and the vast savings that can be made - typically 90 per cent when compared to a similar filament installation - this type of lighting is now in huge demand and Lite are now partnered with the Government funded Carbon Trust who can offer self financing interest free loans.
“Despite the current economic climate, the future is looking very bright,” says Martin Avill, sales and marketing director at Lite.
