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Circus 1903, design by Paul ‘Smiffy’ Smith; The Script 2011, design by Bryan Leitch and Jamie Thompson; The Killers 2009 tour, design by Steven Douglas; BBC Radio 2 Proms in Hyde Park 2013, design by Steve Finch and James Scott; DanTDM Presents The Contest, design by Cassius Creative; Reading Festival; Coldplay 2005, design by Bryan Leitch and Nick Whitehouse. now able to provide professional-grade camera packages and PPU systems to the live events sector,” Grant explained.

Siyan also lent its services to campaigning for sector-specific UK government support amid the lockdown, helping create material for the #WeMakeEvents Campaign, which highlighted the plight of the sector with its stirring ‘Unfamiliar Faces’ video, which attracted over 200,000 views across social media platforms.

THE ROAD TO FULL STRENGTH Like most businesses in 2022, addressing workforce shortages – in addition to financial stability and accruing two year’s worth of losses amid the lockdown – is at the top of the Siyan’s agenda. “There’s a lot of pressure to hire good people and we have been lucky to recruit five production technicians on a full-time basis over the past few months,” Grant acknowledged. “It won’t be long until we’ve doubled the size of our 2019 team!” Newly-recruited Production Technician and TPi Breakthrough Talent winner, Owen McIlreavy, said his favourite aspect of working at Siyan is the culture of camaraderie.

“People always have time for each other, both professionally and personally and I think when one is in such a working environment as that, it’s easier and more enjoyable to put on the growing number of great productions that Siyan is known for.” The latest addition to Siyan’s accounts department, Tamie Masters added: “I’ve received such a warm welcome and support from the entire Siyan ‘family’ – from the directors right through to the warehouse team.”

As well as investing in personnel and products, Siyan’s medium term plans include a move to a significantly larger new premises, as part of the company’s next phase of expansion, enabling it to service its ongoing and future workload more easily. With a busy summer season ahead, which will see Siyan’s new look workforce traverse their way through a series of concert tours, projects and muddy festival fields, Grant was optimistic about the future. “We’ve recently landed all three stages at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend Music Festival, which was a big coup, in addition to our annual pilgrimage to Leeds and Reading Festivals,” he stated. Key to Siyan’s success, it seems, is its ability to focus on maintaining a steady rate of growth. Not only from a financial perspective, but elevating its portfolio of work which is, according to Grant, ‘self-perpetuating’. “Most of the people who work with us are either long-standing clients who are themselves growing, or are accrued based on the recommendation of others,” Grant concluded. “We are also well aware that the groundwork which we have put in over the past few years has put us in good stead for the next 21 years.” www.siyan.co.uk

ANDREAS AND DANIEL SENNHEISER

Sennheiser co-CEOs, Andreas and Daniel, highlight the company’s new structure, following the sale of its consumer brand, with a renewed focus on three core business units: Pro Audio, Business Communications and Neumann.

Words: Stew Hume Photos: Sennheiser

Back in May 2021, Sennheiser revealed it was selling its consumer division of the company to Sonova. A year on, co-CEOs Andreas and Daniel Sennheiser review this change of culture within the Sennheiser camp, how the company fared over the past two years, and how this new framework is set to improve the companies’ progression within the professional audio sphere.

“One of our main goals over the past 24 months has been making steps to set Sennheiser up for future success, which has involved streamlining many workflow processes,” began Andreas. “The sale of our consumer division was the end of this transition and we can now focus on three core units: Pro Audio, Business Communications, and Neumann. Each one has a different strategy for growth, and with our combined resources, we are now strong enough to go to the next level of success.” Although confident with the company’s position as we move into 2022, both brothers spoke candidly about the hardship the pandemic inflicted on manufacturers in the sector. “It was difficult to predict trends and demands in the pro audio market,” stated Daniel. “We saw a boost in wired microphone sales, which we attributed to artists and professionals working in their home studio, who had no immediate need for wireless setups.” As well as having to be flexible to accommodate market demands, like any manufacturer, addressing the issue of the global supply chain was at the forefront of Sennheiser’s road to recovery post-lockdown. “With supply issues – specifically the lack of microchips – we had to step back from our normal planning process into a short cycle process,” he outlined. As a family business, the team were afforded the flexibility to make decisions when it came to purchasing specific components.

“Thankfully, we have direct access to various core components and were able to continue to create products with little interruption,” stated Daniel.

Like many other manufacturers within the sector, Sennheiser’s core team utilised the enforced downtime imposed by the pandemic to research its customer base and discover what they would like to see when it comes to the next generation of Sennheiser products. “There’s a strong desire from our customers to create solutions for the digital ecosystem,” informed Daniel.

“The question for us now is how do we slot into this ecosystem? We don’t want to create a whole new one ourselves. At Sennheiser, we believe in an agnostic approach, which allows us to connect seamlessly with established networks. For instance, on the Business Communications side, this would undoubtedly mean integrating our products with Zoom and Microsoft Teams.” When it came to its live event offerings, both CEOs highlighted the importance of Dante and AES. “We want to ensure the best audio quality for our end users,” stated Daniel. “We also believe we can up our game on the configuration side of preparing for a show, such as making it even easier to set up a wireless system.”

Andreas picked up on the upward trend of immersive audio. “We understood the potential of spatial audio and what it can provide for an audience or individual,” he noted. “Now, with the increase in virtual events and hybrid performances, people seem more susceptible to exploring this idea further, and more importantly, the benefits of reduced listening fatigue – not to mention providing a more realistic experience for the viewer.”

With a focused business model more prepared to cater for the demands of the marketplace, both CEO’s seem optimistic about the future. “Customers are going to see more specific communications along with dedicated products for each strand of our business,” stated Daniel. “We’ve showcased this with Neumann, following the release of MCM, its first clip-on instrument microphone – something we’ve never done before.”

Andreas concurred, adding: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, we launched Evolution Wireless Digital – another example of a sectorspecific product, which was frankly a bit of a gamble. Given its success and the positive feedback we have received since the release, we’re looking to expand our EW portfolio in the near future.” www.sennheiser.com