White Light (WL), a d&b solutions company, is your trusted lighting specialist operating in a range of markets including performing arts, music, leisure, education, and trade.
Since 1971, we have built a strong reputation for delivering lighting sales & hire projects of all sizes across the UK, Europe, and globally. We take pride in maintaining a client-centric approach and upholding the high standards of quality that have driven our success.
We started life in London’s West End: our first job was the transfer of The Rocky Horror Show from the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs to the Kings Road Theatre and we subsequently supplied shows that would become international successes.
Whilst we still work in theatre, supplying West End smashes such as Stranger Things, Tina The Musical and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, in recent years we have diversified significantly. Building on our theatre reputation, we now work in a variety of markets including live music, leisure, education and trade. With every client, we have maintained the same customer focus and commitment to quality that led to our previous success.
We have a dedicated Customer Service team to help you with any sales or hires inquiries you may have, as well as dedicated shopping platforms in HireWL, SalesWL and ShopWL. Our award-winning Integrations team have provided the very latest AV and lighting systems to venues as far afield as Germany, Singapore and Macau, as well as pushed the boundaries of Broadcast through the use of our game-changing SmartStage® technology. Our Service Engineers maintain and support venues around the country either as required or through long-term service contracts.
Our commitment extends beyond technical excellence. We value the wellbeing of our employees and customers while fostering sustainability. As a B Corp certified company with ISO 14001 and albert accreditations, we actively promote environmentally responsible practices at both corporate and individual levels.
Having celebrated its fiftieth anniversary earlier that year, in December 2021, WL joined the d&b group, as part of the newly formed d&b solutions business offering end-to-end expertise in the areas of project development, manufacturing, system planning, installation and maintenance. This means that WL’s customers, old and new, are now able to draw on even more expertise and have even greater access to the latest technology than ever before.
WL is based in Wimbledon, south-west London, with over 75,000 square feet of warehouse and equipment preparation space along with 10,000 square feet of office space. Being part of d&b solutions, this means the company also has several other bases across the UK, from Glasgow to Cheltenham to Manchester; meaning it is truly able to serve the entire country and beyond.
1971
White Light founded by John Simpson, Andy Phillips, Rory Dempster, David Henderson and Angela Fox, many of them having worked together at London’s Royal Court Theatre.
1973
Supplies The Rocky Horror Show at the Theatre Upstairs, Royal Court, and subsequently oversees the show’s transfer to the Kings Road Theatre.
1975
Lights Supertramp. Simpson Fox Agency founded.
1976
Produces the York Mystery Play cycle.
1977
Moves to Filmer Road, Fulham, home for the next twenty-five years.
1978
Exhibits at the first ABTT Trade Show in London.
1979
Purchases the first Green Ginger Microset 20-way lighting desks.
1980
Rental price of the classic Strand Patt 23 increased to £1.10 per week!
1981
Declines the contract for the musical Cats, thinking it would never run… White Light North in Yorkshire founded by John Anderton.
1985
Turnover exceeds £1m for the first time.
1986
Takes over pioneering entertainment CAD bureau Modelbox, acquires Donmar Hire & Sales. Receives investment from 3i.
1987
Acquires first fax machine.
1988
Acquires Theatre Sound & Lighting Limited.
1989
Supplies equipment to M. Butterfly, the first West End show to use Rainbow colour scrollers (lit by White Light co-founder Andy Phillips), and Miss Saigon, which runs until 1999; White Light then supplied touring productions of Miss Saigon until they closed in 2006, and is now supplying the Japanese production of the show.
1990
VSFX optical effect system created. White Light USA formed.
1991
Innovative Modelbox Autolight lighting design software launched.
1993
Supplies Crazy for You and many others in the West End. WL in 1993
1994
Democratises the availability of moving lights by creating The Moving Light Company, supplying equipment to Grease and The Rocky Horror Show.
1995
Supplies first ETC Source Fours to the musical Tommy and the play Burning Blue. Introduces the Morpheus ProSpot to the UK.
1996
First White Light website created. Supplies major shows including Martin Guerre and Jesus Christ Superstar.
1997
Supplies Chicago in London. It runs for the next fifteen years…
1998
Supplies shows including Saturday Night Fever and Rent. Establishes White Light Bursary for student lighting designers.
1999
Colourhouse Technical Presentations, now White Light’s Corporate & Events team, created to service the ever-growing number of Corporate clients. Lights the Pyramids in Cairo. White Light website redesigned; new design runs until 2006.
2000
Creates the popular White Light training and education scheme.
2001
Moves to its current base in Wimbledon, south-west London. 42 out of the 69 shows in the West End during the year use WL equipment. Established White Light’s Events team to cater for increased demands from party and event organisers.
2003
New services include direct SMS text number, improving out-of-hours response. Lights the BA London Eye and a charity concert for Elton John on the same night!
2004
White Light’s Digital Festoon System wins an Award for Innovation at the 2004 PLASA Show.
2005
Shows during the year include Billy Elliot plus events and parties at Old Billingsgate Fish Market, the Science Museum, Kew Gardens, and many more top London locations. Lighting for Painshill Park in Surrey forms the subject of a feature article in Country Life magazine.
2006
First job of the year, Footloose, leaves the warehouse on January 1st! Launches new website; this design running until 2012. Wimbledon base re-organised with additional mezzanine levels to house ever-expanding hire stock. Supplies Evita, Spamalot and many others. Helps the Royal Court Theatre celebrate its 50th Anniversary.
2007
White Light North re-located to Wimbledon. Supplies the UK tour of The Producers, the epic stage adaptation of The Lord Of The Rings and many others.
2008
Supplies the new UK tour of Mary Poppins, the first show to use the EvenLED LED cyclorama lighting system. Helps with the creation of the Mayor of London’s Green Theatre Programme. Undertakes major sales and installations projects across the UK and around the world.
2009
Supplies City of Dreams in Macau, Nürburgring Visitors Centre in Germany. Installs new external lighting at the Natural History Museum in London.
2010
Launches innovative HyLight hydrogen fuel cell lighting system. White Light iPhone app launched. Supplies Love Never Dies, the sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, in London, Voyage De La Vie in Singapore and the annual Tattoo in Edinburgh.
2011
White Light Family of products grows to 16 manufacturers distributed in the UK exclusively by White Light. Celebrates fortieth birthday, looking forward to many more years to come…
2012
New website launched. Supplies stage shows including the UK tour of The Lion King and the new musicals The Bodyguard and Viva Forever, plus events ranging from EE Live, the launch of Britain’s latest mobile phone network, to the Horse of the Year Show.
2014
Provides the production support on concerts for Wet Wet Wet, George Benson, Elton John, The Seekers and Barry Manilow. Sponsors the UK Theatre Awards. Installs LED house lighting at Savoy Theatre. Named approved supplier for Historic Royal Palaces. Provides lighting for Tower of London Poppies Display.
2015
Expands its audio services with dedicated audio department. Acquires Shock Solutions to increase video solution services. Named as Production Service Partner for Central Hall Westminster. Installs new audio system at Thorpe Park theme park. Launches Studio15, its very own cutting-edge studio facility based in South Wimbledon.
2016
Launches ShopWL; an exclusive site offering the very best technical products. Continues broadcast work with ITV Sport’s coverage of Champions League, Europa League and EUROs. Supplies both Aladdin and Harry Potter in the West End.
2017
WL becomes in-house technical supplier for Claridge’s and The Connaught hotels, supplies Pink Floyd: Their Mortal Remains exhibition at the V&A, Hintze Hall reopening at the NHM, ITV Sport Horse Racing season and Gfinity E-Sports studios.
2018
An exciting start of year with the supply of ground breaking coverage for the Winter Olympics Broadcast for Discovery Eurosports. WL supplies & installs the world 1st open standard IB solutions studio for Bloomberg’s new European HQ, whilst in the West End we supply Tina the Musical. We are also excited to have secured a new managed venue partnership with Illuminate at the Science Museum.
2019
Supplies over 50 shows in London’s West End, wins AV Awards’ National Integrator of the Year, installs the world’s first mixed reality online learning environment at University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, provides outside broadcast studio lighting for Prime Video’s ground-breaking Premier League coverage and launches HireWL.
2020
During the most challenging time in our nearly 50 year history, we devastatingly lost well over half of our business, as well as a third of our staff. Despite this, we rallied with the creative industries to promote the tireless work of campaigns such as #WeMakeEvents and wherever possible, supported our network of peers, clients, suppliers and freelancers. Formed strategic partnerships with ELP and SFL,
2021
Delivered BBC’s Bamous as first XR broadcast for terrestrial television via SmartStage®. Extremely grateful recipient of £1 million from the second round of the Government’s Cultural Recovery Fund, to help WL recover and reopen. Launched SalesWL platform. Won the Inavation Award for ‘Best R&D’, in partnership with disguise, for SmartStage®. Began pre-rigs for brand-new shows Frozen and Cinderella, coming to London’s Westend in summer. Building University of Portsmouth’s SmartStage® as the technological centrepiece of their ground-breaking new Centre for Creative and Immersive eXtended Reality (CCIXR) opening in Autumn. Delivered technical upgrade installation at Sage Gateshead.
2022
White Light became part of the d&b Group by joining the newly-formed d&b solutions business. Launched SmartStage new product range and is officially trademarked in the US. WL led integration of state-of-the-art technology installation for BAFTA 195 Piccadilly redevelopment that reopened in early 2022. Supplied Culture Creative Christmas at trails
2023
A focus on sustainability. We were delighted to be a certified B Corporation (B Corp), joining the socially and environmentally conscious movement of thousands UK-based and worldwide companies. This news came just a few months after we gained ISO14001 accreditation – the international standard for environmental management systems. We further progressed on event sustainability by joining ISLA as well as support many other industry initiatives. We were proud to continue helping venues in their sustainable journey by advising on the best suited products for our customers projects.
2024
Investing in technology — We are proud to be at the forefront of supplying the latest technology which included being one of the first to supply Macula Remote Follow Systems, as well as Mac Viper XIP’s and Ayrton Rivale’s to iconic productions such as War Horse, Oliver and Come Alive: The Greatest Showman Circus Spectacular. We continue to support many industry events and awards such as the Olivier Awards, WhatsOnStage, The OFFIES, The Stage Awards, as well as TheatreCraft the Next Generation
2025
Supplied lighting equipment to the latest West End shows including Oliver! and Kyoto. We look forward to continue supporting the Theatre community and fostering sustainability. We are proud to have been reaccredited as an Albret Supplier and will be delivering talks about Sustainability at various conferences and events.