140 GROUP EX PANSION
AUDIOTONIX | SSL JOINS THE GROUP News of a new acquisition hit our inboxes just ahead of the Christmas break, which, yes, I know feels like a lifetime ago already, but almost six months on, the story is still more than newsworthy in the sense of what it means for the parent group, the industry as a whole, and what happens next. Having formed the Audiotonix group back in 2014, which at the time marked the coming together of three British mixing consoles brands - DiGiCo, Allen & Heath and Calrec - a fourth brand, SSL, was added to the group just before we reached 2018. “We originally spoke to SSL about two years ago now, but it didn’t go anywhere,” explained James Gordon, CEO of Audiotonix. “The discussion was mainly just to say that we were interested. They came back to us about 12 months ago, and we started to work with them more seriously as there was an opportunity.
“The reason for SSL, I guess, is it’s such a strong brand in the industry and it has been around for a long time. It also fits well with the other three brands that we have. We like brands that have a strong, prestigious name, customers that are loyal to the brand and believe in it, and obviously, the team of people behind it are passionate for the brand they work for. That tends to be - in our industry at least - the right ingredients to have an exciting business that you can move forward and develop.” On the surface, having four mixing consoles all under one roof - so to speak - could be viewed as a competitive crossover. However, on closer inspection, each has its strength in a different marketplace. DiGiCo is most prominent in high-end touring and installations, Allen & Heath operates in the same markets but at the mid range, Calrec is the broadcast arm, and SSL brings the high-end studio sector along with live www.mondodr.com
sound and broadcast. “The way the group works is each company that joins has got to be able to add value and we have got to be able to add value to it too,” James continued. “I can say without doubt, SSL can add value, in fact, it already is in certain areas. Allen & Heath has started to do an awful lot more with Dante integration with its dLive product line, and because SSL has already got a lot of Dante experience, the teams have been working together. Funnily enough, the moment they got on the phone, they started to ask questions. If you get two designers in the room that share a common interest, it doesn’t take long for them to start sharing and contributing ideas.” Sharing and differentiating are both equally important though. The culture of each brand must remain individual, so marketing, sales and support operate independently, as does manufacturing generally, as the processes and locations differ. However, technology can be
