THE STADIUM sports lights at AFC Wimbledon’s new stadium have been switched for the club’s ‘return’ to its spiritual home of Plough Lane.  Wimbledon FC – not to be confused with AFC Wimbledon – played at the Plough Lane stadium for over 80 years.  However, in 2001, a consortium of businessmen bought the club, changed its name and relocated it to Milton Keynes – 60 miles away.  Wimbledon fans responded by launching a new club, AFC Wimbledon (the AFC stands for ‘a fans’ club’) and starting all over again at the bottom of English football. AFC Wimbledon was promoted six times in th ..read more

COMMUNITIES across the UK are demanding that street lights – switched off to save energy – are turned back on to improve the safety of woman at night following this month’s murder of Sarah Everard.  Street lighting if often turned off late at night to save energy, a trend that began in the 1990s thanks to the widespread adoption of controls.  But the abduction and brutal killing of the 33-year-old marketing executive has led to nationwide campaigns to scrap the policy.  Social media pressure is ramping up on local authorities to act.  In Lincolnshire thousands of people hav ..read more

ESCALATOR handrails are being cleaned using ultra-violet light at London Euston station in a new trial to keep passengers protected from germs. The kit inside the escalator shines powerful ultra-violet (UV-C) light onto the handrail surface. Network Rail says the system kills 99.99 per cent of bacteria each time the escalator goes around. Engineers have installed the device into one of the station’s six escalators as part of the trial. Continuously sterilising the handrail from inside the mechanism helps stop the spread of harmful viruses like Covid-19. This latest anti-viral technology is one ..read more

THE EXTERIOR lighting sector is set to benefit from a surprise announcement last night that the Safer Streets fund will be doubled to £45 million. The move follows a meeting of the Criminal Justice Taskforce, chaired by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, to find ways to provide further reassurance for women and girls following the murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard.  The fund provides neighbourhood measures for local projects and includes lighting upgrades and CCTV.. The Government said the money could be targeted at parks and alleyways, and routes from bars, restaurants and nightclubs as we ..read more

Signify’s new UK CEO Stephen Rouatt is getting stuck into a bulging in-tray which includes major supply disruption, a challenging K-shaped recovery and a £2 million Brexit bill. Interview by Ray Molony.  TAKING OVER the reins of the UK and Ireland’s largest lighting company in the middle of a pandemic, a month before the Brexit rubber meets the road and in the midst of unprecedented shipping and component supply disruption would seem, on the face of it, a daunting prospect.  But you get the impression that fresh-faced Canadian Stephen Rouatt is relishing it. Rouatt was appointed CE ..read more

THE LIGHTING industry is calling on the Government to give a definitive ruling on whether luminaires, lamps and controls are included in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s eye-catching 130 per cent capital tax write off.  The Lighting Industry Association has written to the tax authorities requesting urgent clarification on whether the new measure – introduced in the budget earlier this month – includes investment in new lighting systems. If it is included, it will provide a much-needed fillip to an industry still grappling with the effects of the pandemic, Brexit and rapidly rising costs of t ..read more

OVER 240 lighting suppliers signed up to an online light fitting specification platform in its first year of operation. Luminaire Broker, developed by global building services consultancy Arup, is a tool to facilitate communication between specifiers and lighting equipment suppliers.  It creates the means for specifiers to be exposed to a greater range of products, and suppliers to match their products to specific requirements.  The platform is designed to improve the process for selecting lighting products for a project and streamlines the preparation of lighting specifications. Lum ..read more

A NEW report by think tank Centre for London argues that London government needs to take a serious look at the way the capital is lit.  The document sets out a new vision for lighting the capital with recommendations to improve lighting quality as a way of supporting economic recovery and meeting sustainability goals.  Lighting is a ‘low cost, environmentally sustainable way’ to make public spaces safer, more liveable and more fun, but it is often overlooked, say the authors. With no city-wide lighting strategy and only two of London’s 33 local authorities having a local strategy, th ..read more

NORWEGIAN lighting manufacturer Glamox has bought 100 per cent of the shares in UK wireless lighting control specialist LiteIP.  Southampton-based LiteIP – which designs, manufactures and supplies proprietary wireless lighting control technology – has developed a strong position in the UK market in recent years.  Glamox says its ability to make ‘simple intuitive solutions’ for customers has enabled it to compete with larger companies in the industry ‘This is a milestone for Glamox,’ CEO Rune Marthinussen told Lux. ‘We are taking an important step to strengthen our strategic position ..read more

A STATE-OF-THE-TECH project in Belgium combining the expertise of Xicato, Legrand and Kreon uses Bluetooth mesh to give the occupants personalised control of the lighting.  Freed from traditional rigid wired and centralised controls systems, the Xicato Bluetooth Mesh controls system including Xicato’s intelligent drivers afforded the flexibility needed for Legrand’s Vantage system to create an environment for employees at Kreon’s headquarters that delivered customised spaces.  ‘We knew what we wanted but couldn’t have gotten there without the open nature of Xicato’s API,’ B ..read more