The First Facility Management Blog

The venue has been closed for two years, undergoing a $220 million refurbishment. Since 1951, Royal Festival Hall (RFH) has attracted one of the most diverse audiences of any UK venue. For over 50 years it has hosted a wide-ranging program of classical and world music, rock, pop, jazz, and dance. Designed and built in three years, following World War II, the Royal Festival Hall is part of the South Bank Centre, not far from the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

One element of the refurbishment is an overhaul of the Royal Festival Hall’s lighting system. With specifications from theater consultants Carr and Angier to increase flexibility and efficiency while maintaining low ambient noise, specialist installation contractor Northern Light has installed a dimming, networking, and lighting control systems from Electronic Theatre Controls, Inc.(ETC).

Colin Cuthbert, managing director of Northern Light, said: “ETC dimmers and control were selected for the Royal Festival Hall refurb for a variety of reasons. The Queen Elizabeth Hall, one of the South Bank Centre’s other venues, has ETC Sensor installed, so the customer was familiar with the technology. In addition, it was felt that ETC’s Unison control integrated best with the GrandMA lighting desk. Finally, the acoustic properties of ETC’s SineWave dimmers were specifically requested by the consultants.”

The hall was designed to eliminate outside noise, including that from nearby Tube and train lines that run both beside and directly underneath. Sine wave dimming further eliminates noise from tungsten filaments allowing silent operation of lighting. In terms of the remaining circuits, the Hall chose ETC Sensor dimming because it is cost effective, yet still promises to deliver maximum reliability with a minimum failure rate.

More than 250,000 people turned out for the Festival Hall’s reopening “The Overture,” a 48-hour marathon of free music, dance, spoken word, film and visual arts presented by 18,000 performers including four orchestras, 27 gamelan ensembles, 3,000 dancers, 12,000 singers and 2,500 schoolchildren.

Susquehanna Commercial Finance, Inc. has been selected by Segway Inc. as a preferred financing company for commercial customers purchasing Segway Personal Transporters (PTs). The selection allows Susquehanna Commercial Finance, Inc. to provide efficient financing options to help businesses, municipalities, and other commercial customers acquire Segway PTs more than 100 dealers in the U.S. and Canada, based on participation.

“The flexible financing we offer gives government agencies, security firms and other businesses a new option to acquire the Segway PTs that can add greater convenience and efficiency to their operations,” said Donna Wesemann, vice president of sales for Susquehanna Commercial Finance. “Businesses now have the option to finance their Segway PTs for a monthly expense, as opposed to purchasing them as part of their capital budgets. We’re excited to partner with Segway to make these innovative vehicles available and even more affordable to commercial clients across the country.”

The Segway PT transportation device is being adopted by many companies and municipal organizations to increase productivity and reduce costs. To date, more than 400 police and security agencies worldwide are using Segway products to patrol airports, transit stations, manufacturing facilities, shopping malls, and campuses. The Segway PT also offers increased mobility to employees in large industrial and retail facilities and allows workers at hotels and resorts to reduce response times and increase customer satisfaction.

“The options that Susquehanna Commercial Finance offer to our commercial customers will help Segway and its dealers expand the access to our products,” said Jason Barton, vice president of global sales, Segway Inc. “I think customers will find that Susquehanna’s financing expertise will help them get their Segway PT implementation underway quickly and conveniently.”

About Susquehanna
Susquehanna Commercial Finance provides leasing and financing solutions to businesses and other organizations nationwide, specializing in transactions for commercial-use equipment and software. The company is a subsidiary of Susquehanna Patriot Bank/Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc. For additional information, please visit www.susquehanna.net/scf.

Susquehanna Bancshares, Inc. is a financial services holding company with assets of $8.2 billion. It includes three commercial banks that provide financial services at 163 branch locations in the mid-Atlantic region. Through Susquehanna Wealth Management, the company offers investment, fiduciary, brokerage, insurance, retirement planning, and private banking services. Susquehanna also operates an insurance and employee benefits company and a vehicle leasing company.