Helping to expand the profile of the Multi-cellular Loudspeaker Array platform across the Middle East is Access All Areas; the company confirms that it has added a 24-enclosure MLA Compact rig to its inventory, purchased from Martin Audio's Dubai-based distributor, VTi.
Set up by British ex-pat Martin Gravestock and Grant Collins in 2003, Access All Areas specialises in providing turnkey production solutions for the conference and concert sectors. This is the company's first Martin Audio acquisition.
"With the market changes post 2008, we adapted our plan, and sold off a lot of older outdated equipment," Gravestock explains. "For a while it was better to sub-contract the equipment we needed, but with a longer term view to re-invest again when the time was right - and with an even more focused and specialised approach.
"Our plan with audio was to find a solution that could cover our core business adequately, with room for expansion, but also one that gave us an edge over our competitors."
Martin Gravestock already had a long standing relationship with Richard Maunder at VTi and was well aware of the brand value of Martin Audio - so this was his first port of call. "At the same time I checked out other leading systems but Martin Audio were simply more pro-active. I felt confident that I was going to get the ongoing support from both the distributor and the manufacturer that I needed."
He notes that while other systems he reviewed "would have done the job" none had the attributes of MLA. "Our system techs felt at ease very quickly with what is initially perceived as a very complicated system. But it all makes perfect sense and is actually very quick to set up."
Aside from rental, Access All Areas also has a profile in installation, and Martin Gravestock confirms ongoing high profile projects in the education sector which will see both Martin Audio OmniLine and DD12 Differential Dispersion technology deployed.
In the meantime, he says, "Having MLA will elevate our profile in the market - it will enable us to also grow our customer base, and expand the type of shows that we do."
(Jim Evans)
