Everyone in the AV world knows the name Saville. They are the oldest, largest and one of the best conference equipment suppliers in the industry and in the last ten years have won over 30 awards. So Fineline were delighted to work with them on their recent investment in new radio mics.

Driven not only by the OFCOM rulings but also a need to consolidate its radio mic systems to one brand with the latest technology, Saville purchased over 100 new Sennheiser G3 Wireless systems. The £390,000 investment was financed by Fineline and the systems were distributed throughout the company's 12 UK branches.

Due to the nature of Saville's business they are being used worldwide, in this quarter alone the company has worked on 31 overseas events. These have ranged from awards ceremonies, webcasting, conferences and include clients in blue chip companies, government organisations, universities, hospitals and the armed forces.

So when the time came to change the mics it was important for them to use one brand to enable the 12 centres to borrow systems from each other when needed. Sennheiser was chosen as the preferred brand as they felt they offered the best technology, support and finance package. Fineline came recommended by Sennheiser and Saville has been very happy with them, especially with their technical knowledge and speed of processing the orders.

www.saville.co.uk

Art4noise sound post production is a well established Bafta award winning, and Emmy nominated sound facility based in the heart of Soho which has recently endured a forced period of change to accommodate construction of the Crossrail link.

When Crossrail notified the company in mid-2009 that it was effectively bulldozing blocks on Fareham Street that winter, Managing Director Peter Baldock began the search for new premises.

"After looking at a few places we settled on three floors of the former Rainbow Post facilities at Ingestre Place and began transferring our facility and equipment over as well as building an ADR suite and a custom designed mixing room big enough for a Dolby Trailer licence," Baldoock explains.

"Whereas at Fareham Street we offered sound post and sound design for our in house productions we needed to do all our final feature mixing and ADR recording at other studios. It was a natural progression to use this forced relocation as an opportunity to extend our business and improve the service we could offer to clients."

The centrepiece of the newly-equipped main theatre, designed by Munro Acoustics, is an Avid Euphonix System 5 console used as either a standalone desk fed by multiple DAWs or as a controller for DAWs from Nuendo, Protools and Pyramix.

"The Euphonix allows us to pre-mix up to the final mix stage on low to medium budget features before moving to larger studios such as Pinewood Shepperton for Dolby mastering," he explains.

"The initial idea was to rent the desk from Avid for a nine month period with the option of buying it at the end of that period. But things don't always work out the way you plan and it turned out that the move from Fareham Street had dropped us off the radar for several months. It is only now that we are starting to get back into the flow and making people aware of us again."

With the Euphonix console still a priority, Baldock sought Avid's advice for finance options. In turn they recommended Fineline.

"We talked everything through with John Bartlett and agreed a package in which we would lease the system for three years."

Art4noise has recently completed the low-budget indie feature Mothers directed by Milcho Manchevski, and the full audio post on Robin Hardy's Wicker Tree and the indie horror film Don't Let Him In from director Kelly Smith.

"We were always able to complete and mix high-end documentary soundtracks but instead of having to go outside for features now we feel confident to premix features here up to the final master."

"We are a tight knit team of permanent staff and also work with some of the industry's finest freelance editors and mixers," adds Baldock. "We pride ourselves on combining creativity with the latest technology to ensure an inspired sound track for any job. Whether the project is a slash horror film or period drama, Art4noise has the ability to deliver a sophisticated, appropriate and thoughtful sound track."

www.convergenceav.co.uk

As you are no doubt aware, by the end of 2012 all production industry wireless radio mic and IEM receiver / transmitter equipment will be required by law to switch to the new Channel 38 (606-614 MHz) or venue specific frequencies allocated for wireless use in the UK.

The main consequence of this switch from Channel 69 is that the vast majority of the UK's stocks of wireless microphones, which are essential tools for content production in the creative industries and beyond, will soon be rendered unusable.

In 2010 Fineline was approached by Sennheiser, the microphone equipment manufacturer, which was looking at how best to help its clients when this major change happens. The result was a 0% finance deal over a two year period which will apply to Channel 38 compliant wireless purchases, and includes the following models Sennheiser G3 GB 100, 300 and 500 series models: Sennheiser 300 series IEM models and Sennheiser 2000 series.

One company to take up this opportunity is Capital Sound which provides professional live sound equipment for concerts, tours and major events in Europe and the UK including respected acts such as The Killers, Stereophonics, Grace Jones and Julie Andrews to name just a few. Additionally Capital has just announced it will be meeting the sound requirements for Take That's already sold out UK tour in 2011. One of the reasons it leads the field is its continued re-investment in new, state of the art audio equipment and this includes the recent purchase of Sennheiser 2000 series IEM systems, together with associated antenna systems.

Paul Timmins from Capital Sound comments on the purchase, "The decision was part of the initial phase of our changeover to the new 38 systems and we believe that they will form the basis of our core inventory of IEM systems for the next 10 years."

These have already been put to use with a number of touring artists, such as James, Hurts and Duran Duran, and Capital is already seeing the new equipment featuring on specifications.

Commenting on why they took the decision to use Fineline, Paul adds, "It was through the recommendation of Sennheiser and the extremely competitive financial deal proposed, enabling us to finance the product over a period of time that was beneficial to us."

Another company that has had to reinvest in new equipment is Thames Audio which supplies sound equipment to the theatre and corporate sectors. MD Graham Simpson says that although the switchover has forced them down a strategic reinvestment path it will be beneficial in the future. The company has used Fineline before but saw the promotion as a good time to speak to them again and importantly get the deal done quickly as it's a very busy and demanding time of the year for them. It also took advantage of the promotion to consolidate its Channel 69 RF stock to comply with the trade-in schedule agreed with Equiniti.

The switchover won't just affect concerts and theatres, but also smaller events such as corporate meetings, weddings and parties. London based Peachy Productions is an expert in this field and has taken advantage of this offer to make the switch also adding some d&b Audiotechnik speakers into the Fineline finance package.

So, if having read this you think you need to replace your equipment, now is the time to speak to Fineline about the packages and deals on offer.

www.sennheiser.co.uk

Many facilities in the UK have long and prestigious histories, but few can match that of AIR Studios. First established in 1969 when legendary Beatles producer, George Martin, left EMI records to establish an independent recording complex in the heart of central London, it has since become one of the most iconic studio operations in the world. After setting up a famous sister studio on the Caribbean island of Montserrat – sadly closed in 1989 after Hurricane Hugo devastated the island – the London operation moved to Lyndhurst Hall, a Grade II listed Victorian

Recording artists as diverse as Peter Gabriel, The Porcupine Tree, Razorlight, The Killers and The Streets have recently used the facilities, while recent film scores recorded there include Alice in Wonderland, How to Train your Dragon, and the hotly anticipated remake of Clash of the Titans. In other words, it is a facility with a serious pedigree.

Since 2006, AIR Studios has been owned by Strongroom MD Richard Boote. Strongroom too has an illustrious pedigree in both audio and post – recent recording credits alone include Florence and the Machine and Placebo – and in growing from a corner of an industrial space in Shoreditch to occupying the entire building, it has helped bootstrap Shoreditch from unfashionable London backwater to buzzing artistic community.

Along the way Boote has also diversified extensively into post. His latest project is the expansion of AIR Post Production, with 10 new Final Cut Studio suites being installed in a new building round the corner from Strongroom, taking the company's total number of Final Cut suites up to 18. "We already have extensive Avid capability and with our clients wanting to try out Apple kit we decided to equip the rooms with Apple as the platform is now very stable and offers a great editing platform," he says.

"Strongroom has been based in Shoreditch since the mid 1980s and I have watched it change over the years, especially in the last decade," Boote says. "We have a loyal local post client base built up with our post facility at the Strongroom and needed to expand this to satisfy the demand – hence the building of the new facility."

As you would expect, AIR Post's credits are as impressive as the rest of the group's, with recent factual credits including The Man with the Golden Gavel, My Daughter Amy, and Octomum: Me and My 14 Kids.

The deal for the new Apple suites, which also included installation, air-con and so on, was organised by Fineline after AIR was let down by another finance company at the eleventh hour of negotiations. "Fineline came on board at the last minute and the deal was agreed very quickly," says Boote. "I was very impressed at the speed with which things were agreed and moved forward.

"They quickly approved all the finance and allowed me to draw down when needed so that I wasn't having to purchase kit before it was required," he continues. "Gareth Wilding from Fineline also understood the business and kit requirements so was much easier to deal with than the usual banks."

www.airstudios.com

Keyboard player and collaborative songwriter Andrew Hale has been a member of the massively successful international band Sade, named after lead vocalist Sade Adu, for the past 25 years. He is currently basking in the commercial success of the latest Sade album, Soldier of Love, which has already sold over a million copies in the US, spending its first three weeks at No.1.

Hale also works on other side projects from his studio in London, currently scoring an upcoming Playstation game, LA Noire, for Rockstar Games, and had previously been using the Digidesign Icon D-Control console for his work. However, he then spotted the Solid State Logic (SSL) Duality 48-channel audio mixing console while recording Soldier of Love at Peter Gabriel's renowned Real World Studios in Box, Wiltshire.

"Like most people these days, ProTools is the medium I work in most, and while I love the Icon, the fact that it is locked into PT means that it lacks flexibility when it comes to working in different ways. I liked the hybrid nature of the Duality and frankly I missed having an analogue console," explains Hale. "Equally it gives me the opportunity to have a great mix room in and out of the box - I think its a great solution to a contemporary way of working."

The finance needed to be agreed and in place to satisfy SSL, so Hale set to work drawing up a business and finance plan. He knew he needed to spread the cost of the new console, with one eye on his existing business and another on future plans. "With a desk of that nature coming into what is essentially a private studio I wanted to make sure it would pay its way."

"Fineline was able to help me in several ways," he explains. "They helped with the financial planning, but also by being in tune with the market and understanding the business very well. Dealings were always very transparent, there was no smoke and mirrors, and there was no need to make anything more complex than it needed to be. It wasn't about a heavy sell, just facilitating the finance," Hale explains.

What's more, in addition to arranging the finance to enable Hale to take delivery of his prized SSL console, Fineline was also able to effect the disposal of his existing Digidesign console to one of their Soho facility house customers that they knew had been searching for a good quality used model. A smooth operation indeed.

When composer Chris Blackwell decided to upgrade his studio, he approached Fineline to fund the work

Chris Blackwell is a professional drummer, musician and film and media composer. He moved into the composition field after several highly entertaining years on the road writing, recording and touring with Robert Plant.

"I had enough of touring in the end, so thought I'd try my hand at something else instead," he says.

Blackwell got it right first time out with his first ad, the multi-award winning Reebok – The Edge, a tour de force of layered, tribal drum patterns that opened all sorts of doors for his heavily percussive style. Recently, however, he had found his home studio facilities were lagging behind and in need of a major overhaul.

"My old Macintosh needed upgrading, and from there it made sense to move away from ProTools and switch to an Apogee system. And once that upgrade process had started I began looking at everything else," he says.

The result was a £70k rebuild, jointly financed through Fineline. "I got much of the kit from Gearbox, who have strong links with Fineline, so it all made perfect sense," says Blackwell.

Blackwell now has a hybrid studio that was half the cost of his original, is two thirds of the size (there is no mixing desk), features totally new equipment (including a very nice Hart Dynamics drumkit), and in which he reckons he can do nearly ten times what he did before. Advertising is still a major market, with clients including Sony PSP, Landrover Freelander, BMW and Virgin Atlantic, but as he has developed the business that work has been joined by TV theme commisisons (Irish Guinness Six Nations Rugby, The African Cup of Nations, Breakfast with Frost, Tomorrow's World, various Election broadcasts, various Reviews of the Year).

Alongside this he's also generated plenty of material for the likes of the Cavendish and Focus music libraries and his next major goal is to move further away from the 29-second pieces for commercials and into film composition and orchestral scores.

"The new studio really extends the range of my possibilities," concludes Blackwell. "It was a three month project to get it all in place but the time spent was well worth it."

Producing and selling CDs or DVDs to the audience of the concert they left moments earlier is just one of the many impressive things that Soundesign can achieve from their new Mobile One Studio.

At the start of 2005, Conrad Fletcher decided to develop his sound engineering business and offer top quality on-site audio recording, post-production and live broadcast from a mobile facility.

As Conrad explains "Delivering content is now more diverse than ever and ranges from Internet Broadcasting, Streaming IP, iTunes downloads, mobile phones as well as conventional TV and radio. Producers and broadcasters need to take advantage of all forms of media delivery in order to reach as wide an audience as possible. Mobile One provides that breadth of technology cover by having the best on-board recording, editing and transmission facilities available."

Mobile One was kitted out by Studer and is a multi-use audio vehicle that covers every type of requirement including providing additional microphones, on-board simultaneous recording, editing, transmission facilities and full 5.1 surround monitoring.

Chris Biggs, Fineline Account Manager, explains, "Conrad approached us with an ambitious business plan that would accelerate him into the top rank of mobile media operators. We liked the plan and understood the level of finance required to make it happen. To make it viable, and give Conrad some breathing space, we arranged for low initial payments so that he could get Mobile One operational and delivering income. In overall terms we were able to put together a four year deal that matched their budget and cashflow requirements."

Andrew Hills of Studer comments "Studer is delighted to be chosen for this project and are convinced the state of the art Vista 8 will be ideal for the wide variety of work to be undertaken with this new truck. Vista offers an unmatched "analogue style" control surface with a highly flexible digital "engine" combined with widely acclaimed sonic quality. The Soundesign Vista 8 joins a growing band of Studer digital desks in the BBC and other UK users and we are sure will prove a significant player in the highend audio recording and broadcast market.

Conrad adds "At a time when broadcast budgets are being squeezed and the consumers' appreciation of audio and video is becoming ever more sophisticated via CD, DVD and HiDef, there is a real need for a facility such as Mobile One that can produce work to the highest standard, in the most efficient and cost-effective way."

He concludes "Mobile One extends the reach of what we can record and when we record without compromising quality. Fineline has played an important part in helping us develop and grow our business. They took the time and trouble to understand our business and help us manage the finances in such a way that we could successfully achieve our ambitions."



"We probably would not be where we are today if it was not for Fineline" says Keith Littler, founding father of Little Entertainment Company Ltd

Established in Cheltenham since 1988, Keith comments "When we started nearly 20 years ago we had to overcome two problems – breaking away from Soho and getting finance. The first was a bit of a gamble, but proved in the end not to be a problem. Finance was a bit tougher. Banks were not willing to invest in a media start-up business with hardly any track record. Fineline took a different view. The only thing we had to offer was reputation, and fortunately that was enough for Fineline to back us and kick start our business."

Little Entertainment Company is now one of the world leaders on all aspects of animated children's programme production, from casting, scripts and music, right through to a complete post-production and mastering service.

Credits include Watership Down, Casper the Friendly Ghost, and many projects for the BBC including Lazytown and Little Red Tractor. Keith continues "Our business is based on trust and relationship, both internally and externally. Our team of 26 are all responsible people, understand our business and our business ethics, take responsibility and get on with the job. Our relationship with Fineline is just the same – having been together since the start they are part of our team. We always need new kit, and a phone call is all that is needed to sort the finance. We don't have to dot every 'i' and cross every 't' – they know us and the kit we want. But they also know that the deal has to be competitive, and that is the basis of our relationship."

Gareth Wilding, Fineline Director adds "Finance is a competitive market and having worked with Keith for so many years we are able to tailor a package that fits their financial position and forecasts. Last year we completed a package for four Sony digital camcorders and three SADiE audio editing systems. A couple of calls was sufficient to put the whole deal in place."

Jim Gross, UK Sales Manager of SADiE, comments "We are a world leader and pioneer in the development of PC based digital audio work station products. We work with many of the world's leading studios, like Little Entertainment Company, where top class professional audio facilities are required. In putting this deal together all three parties worked together to get the best result for the client."

Keith summarises "Gareth typifies our relationship with Fineline. I can pick up the phone at any time and discuss all manner of commercial issues and know that I will get constructive and positive support. And without Fineline we may never have got started!"

www.littleentertainmentcompany.co.uk

Shepperton production company completes new sound stage

"We provide the complete package, from the original concept to the finished product and then selling in the retail marketplace." says Lyn Beardsall, Director of Classic Pictures, a company originally established to produce programmes for other people.

Lyn explains the transition, "We took the decision to buy all our own kit so that we had the additional capacity to develop our own programmes as well as improving the facilities we provided to our existing customers."

Based at Shepperton Studios, Classic Pictures' facilities include over 4,000 sq ft of recording studio, edit suites and most importantly a fully equipped stage.

Lyn continues, "Having our own facilities means we can turn productions around very quickly, which is important when time and money is so critical. With our own stage we can re-create the feel of a concert or originate a concept. The area of our business developing concept-DVDs has really taken off and we have recently been working on programmes for artists as varied as Bill Wyman, Rick Wakeman, YES, Procol Harum, Nazareth, and Dionne Warwick

Chris Biggs from Fineline adds, "We have worked with Classic Pictures for six years and fully understand their business plan and their objectives. They are a hard working team that deserve their success. Financing their capital expansion has never been a problem."

Recently Classic Pictures has acquired additional kit including Digidesign ProTools for audio recording and editing, Soundcraft Monitoring Equipment, and an Audient ASP510 Multichannel Monitor Controller from Stirling Audio, and Sony DSR cameras and assorted broadcast equipment from Mitcorp UK Ltd. Michael Groom of Mitcorp commented, "The purchase was for ongoing productions and to complete their studio set-up. Mitcorp were able to specify and supply equipment from multiple manufacturers on time and to budget."

Taking a concept and turning it into a product on a shop shelf involves many steps from the original idea, shooting the programme, producing the graphics and sleeve design, authoring, marketing, retailing and distribution. Regularly being in the top ten of the UK's Music Distribution Companies has demonstrated the success of Classic Pictures.

Lyn says,"Fineline makes my life easy. When I want to invest in new equipment I make a single call and it is done. I can get on with my business. Other finance houses have approached us but inevitably require answers to a lot of obscure questions. Being busy people, we have better things to do."

www.classicpictures.co.uk

Elton John, Live 8 and Billy Elliot are just some of the major projects involving Dobson Sound Productions, based in South London, and their two recently acquired Digico Soundtracs D5 Live FMX Digital Consoles.

Paul Dobson, the founder and inspiration behind Dobson Sound, describes his business as "Large scale productions in alternative spaces." By way of explanation Paul continues, "Our core business is clearly focused on producing high quality sound in unlikely venues for a variety of purposes. Most of our projects are involved with large scale corporate events, civic occasions, press launches and charity work. We also do a lot of work for individual clients, such as recently supporting Destiny's Child at a private party in the South of France."

Quite often Paul's work takes him into interesting venues such as the Natural History Museum. "Setting up our sound systems in museums and galleries presents a few challenges. Given that such venues are open to the public our work can only begin when the doors are closed and we can gain access. This means an hour and a half maximum to get the equipment in place, tuned and balanced, and sound checks completed before the performance begins. The Digico kit allows us to set up in minutes."

Dave Webster, Marketing Director of Digico references the recent Live 8 event in Hyde Park, "Without the agility and transparency of the D5, the planned timings couldn't have taken place. This quote from Jon Lemon, engineer for Pink Floyd, says it all, 'Because of the obvious quick changeovers it would have been impossible to reset an analogue console. For those of us lucky enough to have rehearsed it was just a case of taking our setting with us on a USB key and for those that hadn't, the consoles were set up with presets for vocals, drums, etc."

Gareth Wilding from Fineline adds, "We have worked with Paul and Dobson Sound for over 15 years. I like to think that our relationship enables Paul to always be ahead of the game as far as technology is concerned."

The final word goes to Paul, "Fineline enables us to get the most advanced kit available. This means we deliver a better service and stay competitive."

www.dobsonsound.co.uk