PCL Live continues expansion with Leyard LN Series investment

Two years ago, PCL Live opened its doors to provide a one-of-a-kind proposition for Northeast Scotland’s production needs. Investing in the latest technology and using the team’s extensive experience, the company quickly established itself as the go to for unique AV solutions for both installations and events. From the start, it had a large focus on Leyard Europe LED screens. Significant expansion continues that focus, as does a recent investment in Leyard’s LN Series, which is helping the company go from strength to strength.

“We now have over 200m² of Leyard video wall including CFO, NEV and MGP, plus the recent addition of the new LN Series, all of which has been very good and extremely versatile,” says Alex Sherman, Business Development and Technical Manager at PCL Live. “Because the LN Series is both indoor and outdoor rated and the panels are so easily connected together, we can quickly create amazing structures. This has allowed us to expand what we do and gives us a lot more flexibility in what we can provide our clients. We can handle projects for large companies, especially in the oil, gas and energy sector.”

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In fact, in the past two years, PCL has invested over half a million pounds into Leyard video walls alone, expanded its warehouse to twice its original size, increased its fleet of vans, and seen a 200 per cent increase in staffing levels. Revenue also doubled in its second year, with further growth projected for next year.

This is testament to the company’s small yet agile team, which has extensive experience and complimentary skillsets that include in-depth knowledge of LED screens and content production. It also has a talented roster of freelancers, allowing them to handle projects of any size.

“We’ve pushed the boundaries in Aberdeen, and this has allowed us to move into more national and international projects,” Sherman continues. “Because we operate such a lean business model, we can be competitive with our pricing. Our Leyard products go out multiple times a week, which allows us to quickly recoup our investment. It's a no brainer from our point of view and means we can compete with the bigger players.”

Sherman asserts this would not have been possible without the help of Leyard. “They have been brilliant in terms of support,” he says. “Adam [Wilson, PCL founder] likes to come up with fun ideas and is always trying to push the boat out. If we ever have questions, or funky ideas, the Leyard team are always open to hearing them.”

Sherman also notes that the reactive nature of the industry sometimes means last-minute calls for PCL’s services, but that Leyard systems are so easy to integrate into their workflow and quick to set up, they can react very quickly.

“With Leyard, our clients don’t have to settle for less because a project is last minute,” he says. “This has allowed us to expand into different areas.” These include watch parties in bars, fan zones, and other venues for this summer’s UEFA Euro championships. “We also do a lot of events with the Chamber of Commerce in Aberdeen such as the Ultimate Masterclass Festival, which feature celebrities and people in the marketing industry like Stephen Bartlett, Gary Neville and Davina McCall,” he adds. “We supplied a comprehensive AV solution for them, including a 6 by 3m CFO video wall, flanked by two 2 by 4m CFO banners for the 5,000 attendees. We also partnered with Speak Easy for the Life Science Awards in Glasgow, providing a 12 x 4m LN video wall as the centrepiece of the event, which formed a stunning visual backdrop for the awards ceremony."

“There are no screen size or creative limitations, which empowers our clients to do whatever they want. We'll come in with some funky ideas, like creating big columns in a space, with images moving around on them that the audience can walk through. We can do big arena events with video walls and banners, plus live streaming. Leyard is a big factor in helping us to do that because it increases our offering, and the quality of their screens gives our clients amazing visuals.”

PCL Live is currently pitching for some exclusive events throughout Scotland in which the team have had to utilise out of the box thinking to accommodate the client’s desire to have video walls in challenging locations. The company is looking at new ways for utilising its Leyard screens, with ingenious use of products that would traditionally be used for fixed installations, MGP for example, which has been deployed for rental projects such as conferences and exhibitions, for example for stands at the biennial Offshore Europe conference.

“It’s wonderful to see PCL go from strength to strength and gratifying to know we’ve played a part in that,” says Leyard’s Luke Marler-Hausen.

“Leyard has helped us a lot, and maybe we help them with innovation in terms of ideas for new products. If it wasn't for our Leyard products and the fact that we can offer them in a reactive way, bending to different requirements and being willing to make changes when we’re asked, we certainly couldn’t have grown so fast.”

Alex Sherman
Business Development and Technical Manager, PCL Live