Andy Dockerty with Texas lead singer Sharleen Spiteri
If someone offers you the chance to provide the backing for a 32-stop David Bowie tour, what do you do? Have a good gargle and check the guitar strings are in tune? Maybe - but Andy Dockerty had a different reaction. He began looking for an extra £300,000 to ensure that his part in the Bowie tour hit all the right notes. Some gargle.
Andy is MD of Adlib Audio, the Speke company which sells and hires audio rigs to cover everything from a shindig down the local to high profile stadium gigs like the Bowie tour. "I started off as a sole trader pursuing my hobby. Now we have a turnover of £1.2 million and employ 35 people" says Andy.
Adlib designs and constructs audio speakers with an innovatory zeal which has won the company a valuable place in the market - not only making the gear they use themselves but selling to pubs, fashionable venue chains like the Living Room, and exporting overseas. They also make metal flight cases and recently added audio-visual facilities to their portfolio.
The Bowie tour was the biggest challenge faced so far. "Bowie's sound engineer Pete Keppler liked our sound systems and we won the contract ahead of a German company," says Andy. "It was a nerve-wracking experience at first because of the substantial investment in new kit but it was one of those offers we couldn't turn down. You only get one chance at that level and we just had to do it." A hectic two-month trek taking in 14 European countries followed.
As a result Adlib will be involved in Metallica's tour this summer and they're also pitching for further high-profile events. "The Bowie tour has given us worldwide recognition. Now we're looking to attract American touring bands before they hit Britain." The company is also supplying a new sound system for the refurbished Villa Marina on the Isle of Man. "We're the only company which does everything from pub rigs to stadium tours," says Andy, "and we're proud to retain our close connections with the local market."
