LED Eco Lights’ 10 Year Anniversary Q+A

The LED lighting industry is subject to constant shifts and changes. LED Eco Lights recently celebrated 10 years in the industry and to mark this milestone, Phil Edgecombe, Commercial Director, talks to us about his views on how the lighting sector has evolved over the last decade.

How do you view the lighting industry at the moment? 

The lighting industry has leapt forward in recent years and things are likely to keep progressing at an astounding rate with increased use of lighting controls and connected products and technologies. Lighting manufacturers, contractors and specifiers are either proactive and innovative with new technologies or still embracing older technologies and are slow to change. We are pushing the boundaries with controls and SMART lighting, such as remote programming of our luminaires, so end-users get more benefit out of moving to LED.

The most interesting thing I find about the current market is the old industrial giants of the lighting world do not know what to do with their infrastructure supporting old technologies (which still provide 85% of their revenue). In the very near future they are going to have to face some significant challenges as they adapt, moving from being lighting suppliers to solution provider.

How has the lighting industry changed during your time at LED Eco Lights?

Ten years ago there were a few giant companies providing the vast majority of lighting. The advent of LED lighting has allowed more innovative, creative and vibrant companies to come to the fore and develop new forms of lighting that are more customer friendly, more efficient and are focused on what the customer actually wants.

Is the LED lighting market now more or less competitive than it was 10 years ago?

The LED market is incredibly competitive with many small businesses reselling cheap products and bigger businesses flooding the market with single cheap products. We have seen many LED businesses fail because they have not focused on quality and have suffered the consequences.

The increased competition is good though, as it ensures the LED lighting companies have to be at the top of their game.

What do you see as the strongest growth areas in the industry? 

I believe there are likely to be two main growth areas, that of luminaires with integrated controls (like our G5 SMART LED Batten) and modular fittings that can last and last (such as our GX1 Plus LED High Bay). Both of these will make LED lighting even more efficient.

With installers coming under pressure to reduce costs, is there a danger that we will see an increase in the number of poor quality, substandard products being installed?

Quite simply, yes! Contractors typically guarantee their work for a year so they will happily install anything that lasts a minimum of one year. End users have to take responsibility, specify the product they want installed and make sure that is what is installed.

What value added services does LED Eco Lights offer in order to stand out from the LED lighting crowd?

We pride ourselves on providing great lighting solutions and having the experience to be able to assist our customers in making the right choices. We have the largest stocks in the UK so standard stock items such as tubes, panels, SON replacement lamps and our new G5 LED Batten (designed to replace single and twin fluorescent fittings) can be shipped for next day delivery.

We also provide lighting designs, technical assistance and surveys when required.

What do you think is more important to your customers – quality or price? 

Lighting is vitally important wherever it is installed. Our customers understand lighting so they know that Goodlight and Bright Goods provide the best value quality lighting.

Buying cheaper lighting is folly. Cheap lights will fail more quickly, won’t dim as efficiently, will only last a fraction of the time, will take longer to install, will colour shift over time and can be dangerous. A poor cheap lighting solution will be noticed every day until it is replaced with a quality lighting solution.

Our customers choose quality over price every time.

What changes do you predict over the next 10 years?

I fully expect SMART lighting to be globally embraced which will result in even more efficient lighting. No doubt, there will be new advances that improve LED lighting technology and as usual we will be among the first innovators to offer new technologies to the marketplace.

And, as LED lighting is fully embraced across all industries there will have to be a shift to fittings that have modular design so that light sources or drivers can be changed whilst keeping the expensive fittings and housings.

Will there be any ‘old technology’  light bulbs left in ten years’ time?

Yes, but they will be few-and-far between.