Culture fund brings light relief for Lancaster visual arts tech company

Visual Connection Ltd. produce spectacular lighting and video installations for the entertainment and arts world, designed and delivered from their Wyresdale Road base.

They have created stunning illuminated stages for the BAFTA Cymru awards ceremony, and TV productions such as general election debates and Deal or No Deal.

Until this spring’s lockdown, the 10-year-old firm built a profile across the UK and beyond, setting up exciting special effects including high end lighting displays and LED video walls at concerts and festivals, even taking to the high seas to produce shows aboard luxury cruise ships.

They have now been helped through the Covid-19 crisis by input from the Government’s £1.57bn Cultural Recovery Fund, which assists theatres, music venues, museums and the companies behind the scenes who provide technical sound, lighting and staging services.

Thirty organisations across Lancashire have benefited from grants from the fund, which was announced by the Department of Culture, Media & Sport and is administered by Arts Council England.

The Dukes Theatre in Moor Lane is another local beneficiary, as reported in the Lancaster Guardian a fortnight ago.

Lancaster-born David Horner founded Visual Connection in 2009 to answer the needs of an ever growing entertainment market, nurturing the business to employ three full-time staff and around a dozen freelance technicians.

He sees the grant as a lifeline for a local success story.

“Britain is actually a world leader in the technical side of creative industries, as well as in performance," he said.

"This hugely welcome funding helps us keep alive the expertise and skills put at risk by the pandemic, and invest for the future in cutting edge new technologies.”

Visual Connection have earmarked the monies to expand their new Virtual Stage Design Studio, developing software that allows clients to experience and evolve their event lighting set ups remotely using virtual reality headsets.

David said this facility would help the firm and its supply chain to bounce back when the events world opens up again.

“We’re proud of our track record and want to use this help to work with Lancashire-based production companies to showcase local talent around the world.”