Midnight
were formed in October 1987 to specialise in the field of security &
communications. The directors - Chris Wood and Dennis Sumner - had
previously been employed by British Telecom, where they had gained
considerable experience in voice and data communications. Recognising
that the expanding electronic security industry would make extensive use
of communications, they decided to form the company specialising in both
areas.
Moving
into a totally new market in 1987, the directors quickly realised that
establishing the company and achieving growth was not going to be easy.
This was not helped by the long recession of the early 1990’s.
Nevertheless, Midnight has achieved slow growth in all but one of the
recession years through to 1994/95. The directors made a positive
decision to step-up growth in 1995, recognising the improving economy
and the market potential in the security and communications fields.
Turnover doubled in three years from 1995/96 to 1998/99 and a further
60% growth is projected this financial year based on the current order
book.
Whilst
the upsurge in growth is partly due to the improvement in the economy,
particularly within the construction industry, it is also attributed to
the foundations laid by the company throughout the difficult years.
Midnight became NACOSS approved in 1998. Being BICC Brand-Rex approved
for Category 5 structured cabling installations as well, Midnight became
an ideal choice for commercial installations where both security and
communications were required.
Midnight
also made a further strategic move in 1998 by entering the emerging home
entertainment market. We became members of CEDIA (Custom Electronics
Design & Installation Association, which promotes custom
installation for security, communications, lighting and audio-visual
systems. As these systems are normally installed during property
refurbishment or new build, Midnight’s background and experience
within the construction industry gives it a considerable advantage over
its competitors who are new to the installation process. Midnight’s
extensive product range also makes it an ideal supplier - a single
company to install all specialist systems.
