Bright future in prospect for new lighting lab in Telford

The Lighting Industry Association, a trade body, has been planning its new lighting laboratory for more than 15 years.

Now an official ceremony has been held to mark the opening of the centre, which is believed to be the biggest and most technologically advanced of its type in Europe, with Telford's mayor, Councillor Leon Murray, cutting the ribbon.

"A lot of people have been watching and waiting for this day," said LIA chief executive Steve Davies.

"The LIA has been promising it for a long time, so I'm thrilled we can deliver it and build new business from here."

Currently, the LIA serves about 250 customers who are involved in designing and manufacturing lighting products, helping them with testing and product development.

The new centre, built at a total cost of about £4.2 million to include the new machinery which has been installed inside it, is expected to help contribute to new businesses making use of the Stafford Park facility in Telford.

Partly funded using European Regional Growth Fund money, among the conditions which allowed the organisation to make use of the grant was that it would bring in new employees.

At present, the LIA employs 34 people in Telford, but the number of lab technicians is to double, and the number of staff in its offices will increase by about 75 per cent, to take its total headcount much higher.

The conditions of the grant suggested that must happen within two years, but Mr Davies added that he expected it to take fewer than 12 months to ramp up the operation following the opening of the new lab.

The Lighting Industry Association is now looking at adding a training academy for the lighting industry on the same site, in the ground floor space in its offices which had acted as a makeshift lab before the recent building programme.

Despite the long planning period before the move, the actual building process has been completed in under a year, as ground was only broken in mid-April 2015.

As part of the process, the LIA left one wall incomplete while a new piece of machinery used for testing lights' ranges was installed. It also has equipment for testing safety, brightness, consistency and lifespans of different lighting, for use in everything from bedside lamps to floodlights and street lights.

Mr Davies said: "This building of this laboratory has been discussed for more than 15 years.

"Part of the reason for it taking so long has been to establish the capability we require, as the LED lighting revolution means traditional requirements have changed dramatically.

"We have test rooms allocated for new technology, and we are pretty confident that the lab is future-proof for five or 10 years, which is all people will realistically forecast for lighting at the moment."

He added: "The reason we moved was that we had reached capacity in our existing premises. It was difficult to ensure that the service we were aspiring to.

"The lab is independent and provides independent standard testing, but we also help members with technical expertise.

"It will help companies to work to the standards of the industry and apply them to their products. In the long term, it is there to help them to shape their products.

"Whether it's a street light, a stadium light for the rugby match in the Six Nations, or a bedside lamp, it has to work reliably."