In September 2009, London-based Stage Technologies was listed number 52 in the ninth annual Sunday Times Tech Track 100, sponsored by Microsoft. Tech Track 100 ranks Britain's 100 fastest-growing private technology companies.
In a corroborating follow-up this month, the company has been picked out at number 48 in a new listing published on 11 July, International Track 100, which ranks Britain's private companies with the fastest-growing international sales, highlighting important contributions being made overseas.
Stage Technologies has strong regional presences in Las Vegas, where the company has been providing equipment for opera houses and educational performance venues as well as for high-technology, Vegas spectacular shows; Macau, where the casino and hotel industry is on the lookout for ever more sophisticated ways to dazzle audiences; and Australia, where the company is currently in the final stages of work at the new Heath Ledger theatre in Perth. The company's support and maintenance department also provide service contracts and maintenance programmes for venues aboard.
Closer to home, Stage Technologies merged with the successful design and manufacturing business Delstar Engineering in 2009 and continues to flourish due to organic growth, a solid reputation, continued engineering innovation in close response to the market's needs and a worldwide footprint in live performance automation.
The double Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade winner has an example reference list that covers projects in over 30 countries around the world. Notable projects in the UK have included The Royal Opera House, The Royal Festival Hall, Sadler's Wells, The Royal National Theatre, Curve Theatre in Leicester and The Royal Exchange in Manchester. Notable projects abroad have included the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, The Sydney Theatre, KÀ by Cirque du Soleil at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Dragone's House of Dancing Water in Macau, Brussels Opera House, Opera de Lille, Cunard's Queen Victoria cruise liner, and the San Francisco Opera House
A flourishing rental department has provided flying equipment for stars including P!nk and Kylie Minogue, and international touring productions of England's home-grown favourites Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and Mary Poppins, just to name a few.
Commercial director Nikki Scott said, "We are over the moon to have received this second acknowledgement from the Sunday Times for the way our business has grown. Our primary focus continues to be delivering products and services which improve the entertainment experience in some way, whether for an audience of parents at a local school theatre or an audience of millions for a live TV show.
"Receiving recognition from experts outside of our industry gives our clients the reassurance that they are dealing with a firmly established and successful company that is here to stay. We believe that our business is about supplying quality products now, which can be serviced and supported in a sustainable way for decades to come. Our commercial strength, both home and abroad, is at the heart of delivering this pledge."
(Jim Evans)
