Type | Public limited company |
---|---|
LSE: VID | |
Founded | 1910 |
Founder | William Vinten |
Headquarters | Richmond, London U.K. |
Key people | Ian McHoul (Chairman) Stephen Bird (CEO) |
Products | Camera Supports: Pan & Tilt Heads, Tripods and Pedestals |
Revenue | £451.2 million (2022) [1] |
£31.5 million (2022) [1] | |
£32.9 million (2022) [1] | |
Website | videndum |
Videndum plc is a manufacturer of hardware and software for the film industry founded in 1910 and based in Richmond, London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The business was established by William Vinten when he started manufacturing Kinemacolor projectors for Charles Urban in 1909. The company, trading as 'W. Vinten Cinematograph Engineers', was formed in 1910 and was originally based at 89-91 Wardour Street, London. [2]
In 1914, the company workshops were taken over by the government and William Vinten was invited by Sopwith at Kingston upon Thames to work alongside them in their aeroplane factory. This led in 1915 to an invitation by the Royal Flying Corps for William Vinten to design and build the Model B, a special cine-camera for use in aircraft. [3]
In 1928 the company expanded and moved to Cricklewood, North London, mainly supplying the film industry by creating specialised equipment for companies such as Kodak. [3]
The Second World War created an increased requirement for reconnaissance cameras and the company secured military contracts which gave it world market presence for reconnaissance work. [3]
In the late 1940s, the broadcast market began to flourish and the company developed the first telerecording camera. As a result the British Broadcasting Corporation became increasingly involved with Vinten. The BBC became the world benchmark for whom Vinten adapted many of their original film camera supports creating equipment more suitable for television cameras. [4]
In 1964 Vinten moved to Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. In 1972, the company was floated on the London Stock Exchange. [5]
In the early 1980s, the company worked in partnership with the BBC to develop pedestals, tripods and other equipment for use in their news studios. [6]
In 1988 Vinten split into two separate entities, W Vinten Ltd (which became Thales Optronics), focused solely on reconnaissance equipment, and Vinten Broadcast, focussed on broadcast mounting equipment. [3]
From 1989 the company began a series of acquisitions: Manfrotto (1989), Bexel (1991), Gitzo (1992), Bogen Imaging (1993), TSM Inc [known for its AutoCam product range] (1993), Sachtler (1995), OConnor (2003). [7]
Vinten Group plc changed its name to Vitec Group plc in 1995. [3]
Following the acquisition of Radamec in 2003 a new brand Vinten Radamec was created to take over the manufacture of robotic camera support products. [8]
In April 2021, Vitec acquired Quasar Science, a linear LED tube manufacturer. [9]
In May 2022, the company changed its name to Videndum plc. [10] Vinten continues to exist as one of the group's brands. [11]
The company's main brands include: [12]
The Eastman Kodak Company is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in analogue photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated in New Jersey. It is best known for photographic film products, which it brought to a mass market for the first time.
ITV1 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for the central and northern areas of Scotland where STV provides the service.
Rebranding is a marketing strategy in which a new name, term, symbol, design, concept or combination thereof is created for an established brand with the intention of developing a new, differentiated identity in the minds of consumers, investors, competitors, and other stakeholders. Often, this involves radical changes to a brand's logo, name, legal names, image, marketing strategy, and advertising themes. Such changes typically aim to reposition the brand/company, occasionally to distance itself from negative connotations of the previous branding, or to move the brand upmarket; they may also communicate a new message a new board of directors wishes to communicate.
Dixons Retail plc was one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe. In the United Kingdom, the company operated Currys, Currys Digital, PC World, Dixons Travel and its service brand Knowhow.
Ferguson plc is a British-American multinational plumbing and heating products distributor with its head office in Wokingham, England. Its brands include Ferguson Enterprises.
Tate & Lyle PLC is a British-headquartered, global supplier of food and beverage ingredients to industrial markets. It was originally a sugar refining business, but from the 1970s, it began to diversify, eventually divesting its sugar business in 2010. It specialises in turning raw materials such as corn and tapioca into ingredients that add taste, texture, and nutrients to food and beverages. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
Kinemacolor was the first successful colour motion picture process, used commercially from 1908 to 1914. It was invented by George Albert Smith in 1906. He was influenced by the work of William Norman Lascelles Davidson and, more directly, Edward Raymond Turner. It was launched by the Charles Urban Trading Company of London in 1908. From 1909 on, the process was known and trademarked as Kinemacolor and was marketed by Charles Urban’s Natural Color Kinematograph Company. Urban sold Kinemacolor licenses around the world. It was a two-colour additive colour process, photographing a black-and-white film behind alternating red/orange and blue/green filters and projecting them through red and green filters.
PerkinElmer, Inc., previously styled Perkin-Elmer, is an American global corporation that was founded in 1937 and originally focused on precision optics. Over the years it went into and out of several different businesses via acquisitions and divestitures; these included defense products, semiconductors, computer systems, and others. By the 21st century, PerkinElmer was focused in the business areas of diagnostics, life science research, food, environmental and industrial testing. Its capabilities include detection, imaging, informatics, and service. It produced analytical instruments, genetic testing and diagnostic tools, medical imaging components, software, instruments, and consumables for multiple end markets. PerkinElmer was part of the S&P 500 Index and operated in 190 countries.
Thales Optronics is a optronics manufacturer and a division of the French defence corporation Thales Group. It is headquartered in Paris. The company has three main subsidiaries: Thales Optronique SA in France, Thales Optronics Limited in the United Kingdom and Thales Optronics B.V in the Netherlands.
Color motion picture film refers both to unexposed color photographic film in a format suitable for use in a motion picture camera, and to finished motion picture film, ready for use in a projector, which bears images in color.
Manfrotto is an Italian brand of camera and lighting supports, including tripods, monopods, and other accessories, that is manufactured by Lino Manfrotto + Co. Spa, a company headquartered in Cassola, Italy. The brand is wholly-owned by Videndum plc.
Gitzo S.A. is a manufacturer of photographic accessories, including bags, but specialising in tripods and supports.
Virgin Media Television Ltd is a commercial television company in Ireland, based in Dublin. Launched in 1998 as TV3 Television Network, the TV3 Group was formed in January 2009. The company was acquired by Liberty Global in 2015, and the channels were rebranded to Virgin Media Television in 2018.
Sachtler is a manufacturer of film and video camera support products and reporter lighting equipment. The company was founded in 1958 and was bought by the United Kingdom's Vitec Group in 1995.
Lowepro is a brand of carrying bags for cameras, laptops, imaging accessories and portable consumer electronics with corporate headquarters in Petaluma, California. It is part of Videndum plc.
Gentec International is a Canadian distributor of consumer accessories, headquartered in Markham, Ontario, Canada.
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A camera pedestal is an item upon which television cameras are mounted, typically seen in television studios. Unlike tripods, pedestals give camera operators the ability to move the camera in any direction. They are commonly used on shiny-floor shows, sitcoms and soap operas.
Vinten is a brand of lightweight manual and robotic camera supports such as tripods, pedestals, pan and tilt heads, robotic heads, and robotic tracks, many of which are aimed at the television studio and outside broadcast markets. The brand was established by William Vinten when he started manufacturing Kinemacolor projectors for Charles Urban in 1909. The brand is wholly-owned by Videndum plc.