Suppliers of hoists and rigging equipment into the entertainment sector have been reporting good levels of business so far this year, attributing this variously to changes in legislation and to intrinsic growth in the market.

“We supply mechanical lifts to bars, clubs and restaurants throughout the UK and business is booming,” says Jess Penny, general manager for sales and marketing at Penny Hydraulics. “The market is stronger than ever.”

Legislation governing manual handling practices has been key in driving demand within the hospitality industry, she says. “Harmonised EU standards have played a part in ensuring safer workplaces in the UK. Business owners have a duty of care to their staff to provide them with suitable work equipment and therefore the more rules that are introduced, the more demand there is for lifting equipment. “As a result of this, almost all architects build in a goods lift into the initial plans for a building and all reputable pub and restaurant chains ensure all their premises have suitable lifting equipment on site.”

Mantracourt, designer and manufacturer of BroadWeigh, a wireless monitoring system for the entertainment sector, also cites legislation as a key market driver.

“We’ve seen a significant increase in demand since the summer of 2015 when we launched the upgrade to our BroadWeigh system,” says Jonathan Purdue, BroadWeigh business development manager.

“We have taken on key industry players globally, especially from the US and Europe,” he continues. “The BroadWeigh brand is well known in the industry and we see a large proportion of sales from word of mouth recommendations.”

He says that each month saw “more interesting and diverse applications within the entertainment industry” and that this led to developing new technologies to support the existing BroadWeigh range. He adds that the company had also seen growth in the rental market.

“There is growing interest in exact point loading and the variability that happens when hoists are at different heights,” says Tom Lilly, BroadWeigh sales engineer. “This is rapidly increasing acceptance of load monitoring as an improved tool for the modern rigger. More and more venues are asking for full weight reports and are always pleased to see live monitoring to back up the calculations.”

“Until this is completed, then [German safety regulation] BGV D8 Plus is changing the rigging requirements. For example, if you want to tour in Germany you would have difficulty using the older standard hoists that were used in the past.”

All the shackles BroadWeigh has sold in the last 18 months have had the new radio modules in them and have been very well-received. High profile events that have used the technology have included Mariah Carey and Adele tours, the Ottawa Blues Festival, Massey Hall in Toronto, a Live Nation Italy concert in Bari, Italy and a major American football league event.

LTM has introduced the aforementioned LP500 electric chain hoist, which GIS designed and manufactured specifically for the entertainment industry in response to demand for lighter weight, higher capacity hoists.

Penny Hydraulics entered a new market sector back in 2012, thanks to a business acquisition to complement its existing lifting equipment range. Penny Hydraulics R&L Systems supplies and installs raising and lowering equipment for lighting installations such as chandeliers and high mast lighting. Common applications for its winching systems include places of worship, theatres and stage light bars, hanging art such as pictures and sculptures, and advertising material. “Our chandelier winch systems are installed in Buckingham Palace, The Royal Academy of Arts, The Royal Geographical Society and many more,” says Jess Penny

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