In 2023, we took our lighting consultancy to new heights. Our experts played a pivotal role at some of today’s biggest lighting and electrical exhibitions, featured in key publications and took on impressive roles with top organisations. Plus, we hosted some activities of our own and launched our first training programme.
We’re absolutely chuffed with everything we’ve achieved in 2023 and can’t wait to tell you all about it. So, without further ado, here’s everything that made 2023 one of our best years to date!
There were LOTS of events
In the summer of 2023, DFL attended the Professional Lighting Summit: a two-day event jam-packed with conferences and workshops designed to educate and unite like-minded lighting enthusiasts.
There, one of our senior lighting designers Amanda Reece hosted a talk about women in engineering and lighting and our executive director Richard Jackson led a discussion on the ‘cable on the pavement’ issue (where poorly installed EV chargers cause a nuisance to pedestrians). These sessions were a huge success — stimulating inspiring discussions around hugely important topics.
We also had our own stand at Highways UK this autumn, where we gave away our largest prize yet and hosted live lighting demos — both of which were a hoot. And then there was the annual Highway Electrical Association (HEA) Golf Day, which one of our department leads Scott Pengelly was privileged to host. Two different, but equally enjoyable days out!
Employees enjoyed plenty of time in spotlight
When our experts weren’t attending events in 2023, they were sharing their lighting design wisdom with all sorts of publications, like the Institution of Lighting Professionals (ILP) Lighting Journal.
Starting the year as he meant to go on, senior lighting engineer Guus Ketelings was featured in the first Lighting Journal of the year — discussing how he joined our lighting consultancy and what he loves about the industry. Guus was then invited to speak on the Fun Kids A-Z of Engineering podcast, where he said we’re all artists, lighting is our brush and buildings are our canvases. Inspirational!
Alistair Scott, our chairman and non-executive director, also appeared in the March ILP journal, where he spoke about the British Lighting Standards. Meanwhile, our owner Richard got a two-page spread on electric vehicle (EV) charging point installation in the A1 Lighting Magazine and talked all about streetlights in the June HEA journal. How did they do all that in just one year?
Team members thrived on their own ventures
DFL’s Guus and Richard volunteered for the local Search and Rescue and Ambulance Service in 2023 — something we’re very proud of. And that’s not all our employees did outside of our company!
After representing our lighting consultancy on the HEA council for three years and being vice president for one year, Richard was selected for the HEA presidency in 2023. As part of his role, Richard’s set on supporting the ‘Next Gen’ initiative to attract diverse talent into highway electrical careers, widen HEA membership, and much, much more.
In more great news, our Lighting Impact and Planning lead, Ryan Carroll became chair of the ILP’s Young Lighting Professionals (YLP) group in 2023. Ryan has worked tirelessly to support not only DFL but also the wider industry during his career, and this post could not be more well-deserved. We can’t wait to see what Richard and Ryan achieve in the years to come!
The organisation expanded its horizons
If there’s one thing our teams together did in 2023, it’s learn. Our employees regularly got together to share and soak up knowledge in the past year — helping us be more aware all the time.
For International Women’s Day 2023, our very own Amanda gave a presentation explaining what we can do to support female lighting professionals, ensure access to equal opportunities and foster an inclusive workplace. Such presentations didn’t just take place when big events were happening, either!
In 2023, we invited experts to host a series of lunch and learn sessions from our offices — covering everything from the development of safe, compliant lighting assets to all the latest and greatest products hitting the lighting market. We also obtained the Cyber Essentials Online Certificate of Assurance to ensure we know how to protect staff (and clients!) from security threats.
We got LAMP Academy up and running
Perhaps our proudest achievement from 2023 was the launch of our Learning and Mentoring Programme, which we like to call LAMP Academy.
Designed to provide aspiring lighting designers, technicians and engineers an opportunity to kickstart their careers, LAMP Academy would see industry newbies learn from our knowledgeable professionals, pick up invaluable experience across a range of sectors and earn at least £30,000 when they’re finished.
We’ve thoroughly enjoyed welcoming LAMP Academy recruits and seeing them learn the ropes from our team in 2023. And the best part: it’s only the start of this exciting new venture for DFL. We’re super proud of how our teams have embraced the academy and can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. Bring on 2024!
Impressed by what we got up to in 2023 and interested in working with us in 2024? Say no more. We offer a range of services covering everything from lighting impact and planning to electrical and EV charging design; call +44 (0)1962 855050, email info@dfl-uk.com or complete our contact form to learn more.
