What is SSE’s working relationship like with Wigwam?
We started negotiations with Wigwam on Good Friday back in 2012, and we had to come up with a project name so I decided we’d call it “The Good Friday Agreement” [laughs]. It took around a year – in fact, it was around Good Friday 2013 that we announced the acquisition. It was a long, long process, but it’s a very special company so it had to be done right. They have their way of doing things with their clients, and that’s why their clients go to them, so we won’t be changing anything.
And you’ve picked up a lot of cool extra kit too, right?
Well, there is now a consolidation with regard to bits of kit, which is good. For example, recently I needed a [DiGiCo] SD7 for Paul Weller, so Wigwam sent me one down; and it’s the same deal when they need stuff from us. But I think to try and change the methodology of the way they think and work would break their model really, so there’s no logic in playing around with that. They already have a great model.
It’s been five years since Canegreen merged with SSE; how has your role in the SSE empire evolved?
[laughs] I don’t like to think of it as an empire – that’s not me at all, but yes, it’s been a bit more than five years. We’re not actively discouraging people from thinking that Canegreen is a brand, because it is a brand that represents Meyer Sound; people know both and they’ve gone hand in hand in tandem, and to destroy that would be pointless when SSE and Canegreen merged; but move on to now, I probably don’t feel as personal about it as I did. I don’t have that closeness to the name that I did five years ago.
It was a natural progression; we still use Canegreen crew that we’ve had for years, but we use SSE staff too. The cross-pollination between the two has been a long process, and you know it’s much easier than it was to get those two totally different thought processes and practices together.
In talking with John Penn [managing director of SSE] a year or so ago, I asked whether a one-stop-shop would ever be a possibility in the UK for a rental house… Is that just around the corner, perhaps?
It’s possible, certainly, but we haven’t got a master plan, so to speak. We work in so many different areas in audio; we don’t dabble in one, we specialize in them all, and the market share in all of those areas is substantial. I’m sure that the market can take the bigger companies. Each of these elements are managed by a team of our specialists – we have 140 full time over seven bases. The whole French operation is set up in France, and all tax affairs are dealt with and paid for in France. One might suggest that’s the way they should deal with the big corporates; you deal with the tax returns in the countries where the service takes place, which is exactly what we do.
When you go to tender these days, are you being made aware of new firms trying to take your business?
I don’t think there is much of that actually, no – it’s still the same old competitors. Some have grown in stature and others have reduced in size; in the old days, it was the likes of Entec ruling the roost. I and Clair Brothers were not based here – I’m talking back in 1980 – but things have changed now. Our turnover alone is the biggest by far in this country, pro audio wise, but we have to make sure Wigwam keeps its clients, so we will make sure they are dealt with in the way they are used to, as that’s why they went to Wigwam in the first place.
Is SSE planning on another acquisition?
Well, where it goes now, I don’t know, but we’re still open for business, put it that way; and I’m sure there’ll be others, hopefully before I pack it in. That could be tomorrow, but it probably won’t be. There’s only so much satisfaction that I can get from pruning roses, cleaning the kitchen floor, and mowing the lawn – albeit from doing it on two different ride-on lawnmowers. That’s stuff for old people, and you don’t want to fall off your lawnmower, ‘cause you’ll cut your legs off!
Paul Watson is the editor for Europe for Live Sound International and ProSoundWeb, and he’s also now editor of Headliner, a new pro audio publication based in the UK.