Strand Lighting

Strand Electric and Engineering Company, as it was originally named, was created in 1914. Arthur Earnshaw and Phillip Sheridan were both London theatre electricians when they set up their company.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MLrwCQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Strand+Electric+and+Engineering+Company%22&pg=PA300|title=Encyclopedia of Stage Lighting|author=Briggs. J|pages=300–301|date=2015|isbn=9781476603001}}

In 1932, Frederick Bentham joined Strand. He would go on to revolutionise theatre lighting with his designs.{{cite news|title=Frederick Bentham - Obituaries|author=Pilbrow. R|newspaper=The Stage|date=31 May 2001|page=11}} The Light Console was the first remote control theatre lighting console, while Pattern 23 (the first mass-produced spotlight) and Pattern 264 spotlights were further creations. The company incorporated as Strand Electric Holdings in 1936.{{cite news|title=Strand Electric Holdings|newspaper=The Times|date=13 February 1936}}{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DQMkAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Strand+Electric+and+Engineering+Company%22|title=Strand Electric Holdings|newspaper=The Economist|volume=122|page=378|date=1936}}

In 1968, Strand Lighting was purchased by The Rank Organisation and thus became Rank Strand.{{cite news|title=Rank buy Strand|newspaper=The Times|date=10 April 1968}}

In 1969, Rank took over Century Lighting (Started in New York in 1929) which became Strand Century in the US.{{cite book|title=Stage Lighting: The Technicians' Guide|author=Mort. S|date=2015}}

In 1976, Rank acquired Stagesound Ltd from Theatre Projects and created Rank Strand Sound.

In 1986, Rank Strand bought Quartzcolor, an Italian-based manufacturer of TV & film lighting.

In 1990, Strand Lighting became the first company (and only North American company) to achieve ISO9000 Quality certification.

Strand was bought from Rank by a venture capitalist group called Schroder Ventures in 1996.{{cite web|url=https://www.lightingassociates.org/i/u/2127806/f/tech_sheets/a_history_of_light_and_lighting.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070116110813/http://www.lightingassociates.org/i/u/2127806/f/tech_sheets/A_History_of_Light_and_Lighting.pdf|url-status=usurped|archive-date=16 January 2007|title=A History of Light and Lighting|website=Lighting Associates Inc.|access-date=27 August 2021}}

On 11 July 2006, the Genlyte Group, a US company, announced its acquisition of Strand Lighting. Genlyte was acquired by Royal Philips Lighting in 2008.{{cite press release

| title = Philips Completes Acquisition of Genlyte

| date = 2008-01-28

| url = http://www.vari-lite.com/index.php?src=news&submenu=Releases&refno=109&category=Press%20Releases

| access-date = 2008-03-15}} The lighting division of Philips was spun off from the parent company in 2016, and in 2018, Philips Lighting became Signify.{{Cite web|url=https://www.signify.com/en-us/our-company/news/press-releases/2018/20180516-philips-lighting-is-now-signify|title=Philips Lighting is now Signify|website=Philips|language=en|access-date=2019-04-15}} Strand Lighting is run as an independent brand within Signify, along with Vari-Lite, and continues as a leading name in stage, television, motion picture, and architectural lighting and services. Following the shift from Philips to Signify, Vari-Lite and Strand regained their standalone brand status in 2019, with a renewed commitment from the business to innovate and support the visions of creative artists worldwide.

On Tuesday, July 11, 2022, Strand Lighting, LLC. voluntarily filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in a Dallas, TX court. When asked about the filing, Signify stated that this filing is a part of the ongoing unifying branding effort to centralize its entertainment lighting products in a single legal entity, Vari-Lite LLC, and with focus on the Vari-Lite brand for all new entertainment products.{{Cite web |title=Signify Rebranding Strategy Covering Strand, Vari-Lite, and Zero 88 |url=https://plsn.com/featured/featured-slider/signify-rebranding-strategy-covering-strand-vari-lite-and-zero-88/ |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=PLSN Magazine |language=en-US}}

• Frederick Bentham
• Lighting control console
• Stage lighting instrument

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.strandlighting.com/ Official site]
• [http://www.philipsna.com/ Philips/Genlyte official site]
• [http://www.strandarchive.co.uk/ The Strand Archive] Complete history of the company
• [http://www.regalgroup.org.uk/collectiongallery.html Regal Group] Collection of restored Strand Lighting consoles and followspots by Regal Group, UK.
• [http://www.dimmer.com/ dimmer.com] Technical information for various Strand Lighting products

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Category:Stage lighting

Category:British companies established in 1914

Category:Entertainment companies established in 1914

Category:Theatre of the United Kingdom

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