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We started to secure more solution-oriented projects and service-related work and invested in our own innovation and development programmes to create solutions that focused on supporting and solving key challenges for our clients and addressing new market needs. As we grew Holovis, we saw the opportunities in owning more of the value-chain with our clients, so rather than just focusing on the complex AV and integration side, we started to expand into developing software and data solutions that would add unique capabilities to our solutions and that would build valuable IP for the company. This approach led to the significant growth we’ve seen over the past 20 years, as well as our diversification into other market sectors and the use of our multidisciplinary capabilities, IP and solutions for the experiential and entertainment sectors that have now become the dominant markets that we work in globally. From our humble beginnings, building the company and working from our first offices at an old farm site in Lutterworth, we now have over 170 staff across our four main global sites: our impressive HQ, manufacturing and innovation centre in Hinckley UK; our Holovis Inc. office and team in Orlando that services all of our US operations and major client partners such as Universal Studios; our office and joint-venture partnership in Shanghai servicing the Far East markets; and our Abu Dhabi office delivering major projects in the GCC, such as the recent SeaWorld project for Miral, and our new clients in Saudi Arabia including SEVEN and NEOM.
CW: What was it that drew you to enter into the entertainment and attractions industry? SH: As we scaled up the business, we saw that there was an opportunity to leverage the same capabilities and offerings that we had become renowned for in the enterprise sector, in other markets. With our expertise and history in developing large-scale immersive and interactive systems, and our software solutions allowing clients to leverage, understand and draw insight from their data and how this could become the driving force behind creating next-generation solutions and user experiences, we saw the synergies in other markets and expanded into them. The entertainment and experiential markets were an obvious fit for us as there has been a constant drive over the past 10 years towards greater levels of immersion, frictionless guest interactions and the creation of next-generation real-time storytelling, and with clients appreciating that data was becoming a critical focus in this sector as well, not just for operational requirements, but in how data can affect and enhance the guest experience in completely new and unique ways.
CW: Can you tell us about some of your proudest moments during your time as CEO of Holovis? SH: What makes me the proudest in looking back at the last 20 years of growing Holovis is what the Holovis team has achieved, from the early days of securing the first orders with the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, to being part of some of the world’s biggest attractions such as the recent SeaWorld Abu Dhabi project for Miral, to the Mario Kart projects for Universal Studios. We have an amazingly diverse and capable team that works together, often in challenging situations and environments, and across global boundaries and timelines, to design, create, innovate, build and deliver some of the most incredible class-defining experiences and attractions. Their passion, drive and motivation to work together to solve problems, deliver highly complex projects and create unique and exciting attractions and experiences for all our clients, makes me and my co-directors very proud of them.
CW: What does Holovis have planned for the future? SH: For Holovis, our focus remains being one of the world’s leading companies that are developing solutions for our clients that take storytelling with immersion and interaction - not just within a venue, park, main attraction or experience, but as part of the extended experience that guests now demand on their engagement journey - to whole new levels! We pride ourselves on being one of the first companies in this industry to have created unique data-driven, real-time storytelling solutions, and with our ongoing investment and development in our unique HoloTrac and DeepSmarts platforms, as well as leveraging our expertise and capabilities in our diverse multi-disciplinary teams, we see a very exciting future ahead - one where our technologies, IP, solutions and products will take guests to a new level of engagement and experience and create signature memories that they’ll never forget.
LEGOLAND®
Alton Towers Wicker Man Holovis 2018 JULY 2023
QOSM 35
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