Autograph to bring skills together in restructure to reach new markets

Autograph Sound, best known for providing audio for theatres since 1972, has revealed to Inavate its new structure to move the company forward post-Covid.

Autograph Sound Recording was formed in 1972 and has worked ever since in the field of providing top class sound for theatre.

In 1982, Autograph Sales was incorporated to bring the skills and knowledge from theatre into the sales and installations markets. The two companies of Autograph Sound and Autograph Sales are now under one banner.

Going forward, the company’s activities will now encompass sound design, equipment rental and sales, events, technical support, consultancy, infrastructure design and installation, training, and product development. 

MD Scott Arnold said; “The enforced lockdown periods, though not welcomed, did give us the opportunity to concentrate on completing the changes we are now pleased to announce. We are able to deliver all of the qualities and expertise that are uniquely Autograph to a much wider range of customers and applications - whatever the project, the experience our customers receive will very clearly have the Autograph stamp on it.” 

Speaking to Inavate yesterday at the PLASA show in London, Andrew Hedges, head of special events, described his role as looking after "anything that isn't theatrical." This side of the business has already had experience of working at car shows and providing AV for other big launches. Will they be looking to go after other corporate work such as AGMs? "My aim is that we do look at a more specialist delivery of those things. There's lots of people that do big corporate sit down things, we’re quite into finding solutions for problems. Lots of people come to us and say we're doing this event or this project, can you find a solution?"

Adam Broom, projects installations manager at Autograph says the move has been happening for years and is partly driven by the growth of AV over IP platforms.  "This new division has been developing for a number of years, and the scale and size and type of jobs we've been doing has been moving forward as well. Previously, people would look to us for installations if they were mostly a performance-based venue, and they held audio in high regard. That previously fell to Autograph sales and installations. In recent years people have wanted a one stop solution for AV. In those early years of doing this, the A was always much bigger than the V. More importantly, we made the shift to be being able to offer integrated services. A lot of the platforms now (we primarily use QSC's Q-SYS), allow you to control a lot of third party devices. So suddenly, we're in a situation where we're providing high quality audio, but the process that we're choosing to use can also control video sources, blinds, lights etc."

These new AV platforms have allowed Broom's team to expand its offerings to other sectors such as high-level hospitality, higher education and houses of worship. "Our clients want a simple operation, they want to use one contractor, and they want somebody to coordinate between all these other people to make their operating systems easier. So when we do integration work, it's always from that premise. It's about the user experience, what they need on a day to day basis, how simple their operational systems are."

Why does Broom think clients should choose Autograph? "It's not about the product we provide, it's about the service we provide. Because of the history of the company, we find ourselves in a very fortunate position, that in our arsenal we have most brands available. So we can be completely brand agnostic, we can go into a venue and really understand their business and provide a solution."

 


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