SSE Audio in Redditch lit up their HQ to help save the live events and entertainment sector.

Hundreds of venues lit their buildings in red across the UK to symbolise the events industry going into red alert last night (Tuesday, August 10).

Formed in 1976, the company, based in Moons Moat, has grown rapidly over the last decade to become one of the largest sound rental companies in the UK.

At the start of 2020, SSE Audio were preparing for another record-breaking year. Spring and Summer tours were booked with artists ranging from Stormzy to Franki Valli, and over 60 festivals were booked including Glastonbury, Reading/Leeds and British Summertime in Hyde Park.

Redditch Advertiser:

It’s estimated that the loudspeakers of SSE Audio and its sister brands in the UK, would have pointed at nearly ten million people this Summer. Instead, all these tours and events have been cancelled.

The majority of SSE Audio’s staff have been furloughed since April and at the beginning of August the company announced significant redundancies.

SSE Audio was founded by John and Heather Penn, as one of number of fledgling rental companies that emerged with the development of the UK music industry in the ‘70s.

John Penn said: “We have enjoyed unprecedented growth and success over the last ten years, but even that does not protect us from the devastating impact on our industry from the Covid Pandemic.

“We have a highly skilled workforce that we are now forced to reduce in size. Looking back over my career I’ve never seen anything like this.

“Not so long ago at the London Olympics in 2012, the UK production industries were acknowledged for their global reach in that memorable opening ceremony.

“In 1985, when the call came out to support Live Aid, the industry responded, creating incredible memories as well as funding for famine in Africa. It’s now our industry that is looking to Government for support.”