Raytec have been shouting about a new facility they have acquired, so our MD Roy Cooper jumped on a plane to Newcastle, to check it out.
Raytec have moved all the company under one roof in a very impressive building. As well as manufacturing, stock and service areas the new 12,000sq ft premises also houses dedicated research and development facilities for CCTV lighting, The company have gone the extra mile and have a premises that will allow plenty of expansion, it looks full now but I am sure a lot more can be fitted into the space, so a clever ploy for the guys. “Positioning the premises as the global centre for excellence in this increasingly important field.” That’s the words that Shaun Cutler Managing Director of Raytec likes to use. "The move to our new factory is a significant step forward, it not only equips our development teams with outstanding production and testing facilities, it also gives our service department the best resources to support our customers and alliance partners.” Well I saw that in action and I also learnt something about an LED from one of the tech guys. I won’t bore you with that as you probably knew that all LEDs were blue but had to be coated with phosphate to give white light etc!
During the last 12 months Raytec has significantly increased its turnover and is close to its forecasts and budgets which I have to say having discussed the numbers was very ambitious and quite impressive not that I can share those with you. The year 2007 saw the company winning a number of business accolades including Small Company of the Year in the prestigious North East Business Awards and they are finalists for the 2008 export award this year. The company report that they are selling into 40 countries with offices here and in the United States.
The company has three main focuses in the market place; they are CCTV lighting (both infra red and white lighting), ANPR (Automatic number plate recognition) and White lighting for the commercial and industrial market. The white lighting product is very impressive and will reduce the customer’s electricity bill by up to 80 per cent. I would have thought that all companies should be looking into this product with the savings to be made and the emphasis on your carbon footprint.
This coming year will see the launch of several significant product lines including the Platinum high power lighting series, Voyager 2 dedicated number plate capture range, low voltage options plus specialist lighting products such as hazardous-environment EX-rated solutions and the new IP lighting range launched earlier this year.
The company are very much behind the ethos of education. They believe (and it seems the figures bear proof) that working closely with resellers, distributors and partners pushing the education about lighting, its needs and capabilities that this will enable them to ally with their customers and drive the product forward. They already run night time demonstrations for installers and end users working with other manufacturers of CCTV equipment showing what can be done.
I have said it before, we all take light for granted and forget that without it we can’t see; neither can a camera. How many expensive installations out there fail because the night time lighting is inadequate? So if you get a chance you should check the company out. It may cast some light on things for you.
