Lighting’s 10 leading remanufacturers
AN ECOSYSTEM of remanufacturers and restorers is emerging in the lighting industry to help with the reuse of existing luminaires, often upgrading them from fluorescent and halogen to LED. Here’s our run down of 10 of the most prominent in the sector.
1 Commercial Lighting Systems
This Southampton-based firm has created a remanufacturing division called ReVive. Much of its work is reconditioned Willy Meyer luminaires – the company is a UK distributor of the brand – but it is also happy to upgrade products not originally supplied by it. ‘While replacing end-of-life fittings with new would be easier and more profitable for us,’ says CLS, ‘we strive for sustainability and value for the client above all else.’
2 EGG Lighting
Glasgow-based EGG Lighting has been a pioneer in remanufacturing for several years, and is on a mission to prove it as a successful and environmentally sustainable business model. Its process is guided by the BS887 and is conducted in line with UK lighting industry and legal requirements. This allows the company to offer as-new warranties. It has a sting of successful projects to its with clients such as Hilton Hotels and Edinburgh Leisure.
3 FUTUREdesigns
FUTUREdesigns is something of an unsung hero in reconditioning, as it undertakes spectacularly huge luminaire upgrades, mainly new LED gear trays for fluorescent. Law firm Clifford Chance saved a staggering 56 tonnes of steel by reusing rather than replacing 22,000 luminaires during a lighting upgrade at its London docklands headquarters conducted by FUTUREdesigns. The company also reused over 5,000 existing luminaires at Shell’s headquarters in London, saving the company the equivalent of 71 tonnes of carbon compared to a replacement.
4 Coco Lighting
Essex-based Coco’s background is in emergency lighting conversions, but it is rapidly earning a name in the industry for its remanufacturing service. Being an independent company it’s willing to work with different manufacturers. The firm, pictured above, has its own LIA-approved photometric test facilities within a BSI 9001:2015 QMS Framework and it can also test for EMC, electrical safety and thermal stability.
5 Fritz Fryer
Fritz Fryer is a 40-year-old British lighting manufacturer which has long championed sustainable manufacturing principles, from short supply chains to offering a take-back service at end of life. For many years its technical team at its factory in Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire has undertaken reconditioning work for its customers. Recently the company restored a huge inventory of original lights at the refurbished Grand Hotel in Birmingham.
6 Llumarlite
Founded in the early 1990s, this Buckinghamshire-based business offers turnkey lighting projects to commercial clients including design, supply and install. It boasts a hugely experienced management team and offers bespoke, remanufactured and upcycled luminaires to blue chip clients including the Bank of England, Tesco and Marks & Spencer.
7 JW Lighting Specialists
JW Lighting Specialists is a manufacturer specialising in the production and restoration of traditional street lighting. The company works mainly with local authorities and other large organisations and projects include city centres, parks and gardens. The company offers restoration as well as replacement and replication of columns, lanterns, post pedestals and wall brackets.
8 Silent Design
Silent Design came to prominence with the Build Back Better Award-winning lighting refurbishment of the Building Research Establishment in Watford. Here, all its existing light fittings were upgraded from fluorescent to LED, saving 252 kilograms of luminaires’ bodies from removal and resulting in energy savings of up to 45 per cent and increases of light output to up to 35 per cent. Silent specified a Tridonic DALI lighting control system run on a wireless Casambi platform.
9 Light Projects
From its theatrical beginnings in Covent Garden as an early innovator in low voltage lighting, Light Projects has built up a reputation supporting designers, specifiers and end-users in realising their visions. The firm makes its own products and it also distribute brands including Tokistar, Roblight and Wibre. Its South London manufacturing base is available for local restoration and reconditioning projects.
10 Kemps Architectural Lighting
Kemps’ background is in cold cathode lighting but it has been slowly building up its reputation for luminaire restoration and refurbishment over the years. Recently it reconditioned and upgraded the huge chandeliers at Leeds Town Hall. The chandeliers were first dismantled and the internal and external frames cleaned and refinished. While this work was in progress, both the bespoke LED modules and the specially fabricated chassis to hold them and their control gear were designed and manufactured by Kemps.
