The time has flashed by since Andy Dockerty established the company in 1984, taking the first steps in building a brand that would grow steadily and diversify to become one of the most successful and respected technical production solutions providers in the UK and internationally.
Driven by Andy's passion for music, sound engineering and the industry he loves, Adlib has grown and blossomed into a dynamic multi-faceted operation, currently employing 90 full time staff and a small pool of trusted freelancers. They are headquartered in large premises in Speke near Liverpool Airport.
It's built up a formidable respect as one of the best and most competent sound rental facilities and is still driven forward by that same dedication with which Andy started the company.
In addition to sound rental, Adlib now also has very proactive Lighting, AV, Sales and Installation departments as well as a Design division, and is an authorised L-Acoustics and Coda ViRAY distributor.
Recently, the Adlib Speakers name was re-launched to market their very successful own-brand of specialist 'Made in Liverpool' speakers - already utilized prolifically for their own projects for over a decade - to international markets.
Adlib has always remained an 'independently' owned company. This has kept the management structure streamlined and the decision making process agile and helped preserve its special atmosphere and approach to business.
Adlib is most definitely a people company and Andy is the first person to salute his key management team - the skills, enthusiasm and characters they bring to the mix - underlining that another high point is seeing just how many of the significant individuals like Marc Peers, who joined the company in its first decade, are still there today.
The directors include Dave Kay, Mark Roberts, Dave Jones, Phil Stoker, Peter Abraham and John Hughes, the 'youngster' of the family with a mere eight years of service. "Their dedication and expertise has helped build and shape our reputation for excellence as well as being friendly and accessible," says Dockerty with pride.
While heading Adlib and driving it in 2014 consumes an enormous amount of Andy's time, he's still not lost his first love which is mixing sound. He still keeps hands on the board when possible including as FOH engineer for Texas.
Looking forward to the next 30 years, Andy is really hoping that there will be some more time for him to do less administrating and more live mixing, "I would really like the chance for more time to return to what I was doing when I started it all."
(Jim Evans)
