The energy story

We went to press this month just as news reached us of the sad demise of Elite Lighting Solutions and lower than expected growth in the lighting division at Philips.

If you didn’t know it already, it seems that the lighting industry is not immune from the chill wind that appears to be stirring again in the wider economy.

It’s too early to say what did for Elite, but the news of a low-energy LED specialist going to the wall when clients are feeling the pinch from increased energy prices must surely stand out as a surprise. After all, LED seems to be the one bright spot in the Philips’ stable at the moment, with solid state sales outstripping virtually every other part of the business. Perhaps the contrasting news shows just how difficult it is to make the refurbishment case to clients and get the energy sales story right.

Thorn is the latest company to throw its hat into the retrofit ring with the launch of its Energy Solutions arm. The idea is to take all of the trouble out of lighting refurb’s – including funding – so that they become a logical step. Managing director Paul Coggins described it as a ‘turn-key’ solutions offering, the use of the expression perhaps implying that the door is still locked for some end users. To reinforce this impression, he said he was convinced that no lighting company had really succeeded in putting together a perfect retrofit offering.

The general outlook might be bleak but lighting manufacturers still have the perfect get-out-of-jail card: buy our products and we could save you money. The devil is in how to play it.

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