Hawthorn's hire service has seen a 90% increase in its supply to the theatre sector this year and the recent investments will play a key role in supporting the business's ambitious plans to build upon this success, as well as demonstrating the company's commitment to providing the very best possible service to clients.
Four prestigious productions are currently using Hawthorn equipment, including Hairspray the Musical, Brideshead Revisited and Jackie the Musical.
The company is currently exhibiting at the ABTT Theatre Show 2016 at London's Alexandra Palace.
Amongst the new stock additions were Martin MAC Viper Performance fixtures which recently headed out on tour with Jackie the Musical, just one of the many touring theatre productions currently on the road using Hawthorn kit.
Two other MAC products, the Viper Wash DX and AuraXB have also secured a place on the Hawthorn shelves. Other additions include Martin Rush Par 2 RGBW Zoom, Source 4 Mini 36 LED Degree and Chroma-Q Colour Force 72 fixtures, eight of which were used on the UK tour of Brideshead Revisited.
It's not just the lighting department at Hawthorn which has seen an influx of new equipment, with the audio department also receiving kit such as the Yamaha Rio 1608-D.
As well as investing in new kit, Hawthorn has also redesigned the 140,000sq.ft warehouse space at its Leicestershire head office. This has included the addition of a mezzanine to increase floor space as well as the addition of a new set department. This now gives the company the ability to design and construct bespoke sets in-house.
Dave Slater, Hawthorn head of hire, comments, "As our growing reputation for delivering an excellent service increases and we continue to see fantastic expansion in our supply to theatre productions, it's important that we have the right kit available to meet the needs of our clients. We take pride in the careful maintenance and upkeep of our kit and having additional capacity within our main warehouse to accommodate stock is fundamental to building upon our success."
(Jim Evans)
