Do you remember? This is Power Gems as it was in 1993
How has your day changed since 1993? Twenty-five years on from modest beginnings in an office in Salford, the world’s leading independent designer and manufacturer of electronic ballasts, Power Gems, boasts three international offices, service centres in New York, Atlanta and China, and sells more than 20 product lines in over 40 countries.
Over the years, Phil Ellams and Patrick McGuane and their team have gained extensive insight into the international lighting market.
Looking back at the changes, Patrick says: “Lighting used to be a cottage industry of independent designers and manufacturers. We’ve seen a massive industry-wide shake out, and only those companies who became more professional remain standing. Fortunately, Power Gems was producing for the global market from the get-go.”
Power Gems are in the middle of bringing you more new products, and Phil took time out from designing a better ballast to add: “In the early days the space we needed grew in line with the turnover. Then about 10 years ago we started to do things differently – we focused on modular build and efficient manufacturing. That changes everything, and you realise you can do more with less.”
Early days
Power Gems at Agecroft Enterprise Park
Straight from gaining a doctorate (PhD), a fresh-faced Phil started work at Power Gems back in 1995. He was soon joined by Patrick McGuane (below), a film industry insider who added much-needed sales skills.
The company began life at the business park at the University of Salford, a university with a global reputation for breaking new ground in the world of power electronics. In the late 90s, a business enterprise park opened nearby on the site of an abandoned colliery. Spotting an opportunity to secure more space, Power Gems moved to Agecroft Enterprise Park, thus replacing heavy industry with light(ing) industry.
Patrick McGuane circa 1990s
They won two major lighting rental companies as customers in the first year, and still work with them some 25 years later. They introduced innovations such as autoscan, crystal locking, multi-connectivity and modular design. They kept expanding into new markets which meant moving into even bigger premises, with space for all the extra people working on each stage of ballast production – final assembly by highly trained technicians, exhaustive testing procedures and specialist packaging.
The bigger picture
Once they had a comprehensive range of ballasts for TV and film under their belt, Power Gems saw the opportunity and indeed need for the company to spread its base beyond this market and out into the wider entertainment, industrial and scientific markets. Whilst the TV and film sector remains their ‘spiritual home’ it now makes up about 45% of turnover, and looking to the future, Patrick and Phil aim to keep developing and expanding into yet undiscovered territory.
Today, Power Gems continues to improve the products we supply, while investing in technology for the ballasts and power supplies of tomorrow.
Fast forward from 1993; we still produce all Power Gems in the UK, manufacture in Manchester and ship worldwide.
In 2018, Phil and Patrick welcomed the 20,000 module off the production line.
