A Fife illumination company behind Christmas lights in Newburgh which have taken the internet by storm are to move into bigger premises in the new year as their business continues to grow.
Blachere Illumination send their world famous features to 28 different countries across the globe, and are involved in 260 displays in the UK and Ireland.
Footage of their displays has gone viral on social media, with nearly tens of millions of views for videos of Newburgh’s Christmas lights.
The “wonky” pieces are hand drawn by children in the Fife town with Blachere then recreating them exactly.
And the company recently completed Christmas light fitouts for London’s Mandarin Oriental hotel and the iconic Shard building.
Blachere’s Newburgh lights
The Ladybank-based company is headed by managing director Robert Stalker.
He explained how the company is kept busy throughout the year, to the point where they need to move to a new site in Glenrothes.
Work for next year’s lights will get underway in January, with the designers already thinking of their concepts.
And the phenomenal response to the firm’s Newburgh Christmas lights has been fantastic, Richard said.
“It started after we ran a competition where the children would draw anything they wanted, and we made it into a display. And it really can be anything, it could be a robin, a house, a dinosaur — anything.
“And we would make a feature exactly as the children have drawn.
“I think it’s just because it’s all about the children and it’s not what could be considered a normal Christmas lights display.
“That is, I think, what has caught the attention more than anything.”
London calling
Sustainability is an integral part of Blachere’s operations, Richard added.
By manufacturing their lights and displays in the UK, they can ensure the environmental credentials of their supply chain
And as well as doing Christmas displays for London landmarks, holiday destinations and seaside towns are asking for lights displays all year round.
“We do displays in more than 260 cities and towns across the UK and Ireland,” Richard said.
“In London, we had worked with Harrods in the past and this year we were involved with the Mandarin hotel, King’s Road and The Shard.
“We design and make all of our own lights, so we do not ship them in from China or anywhere else. This means we can be sustainable with our lights. And sustainability is something we have invested in over the last few years, it is important to us.
“When we manufacture our lights we take millions of plastic bottles and we process them, then they are coloured and run through our robots, or 3D printers.
“So nearly all of our lights are now made from used plastic bottles.
“And in our catalogues and brochures, we can tell you how many plastic bottles have been recycled into that feature. And a lot of the councils and customers buy from us for that reason.
“Some of the bottles have been dredged from the seabed. We are probably one of the biggest users of recycled bottles in our features in the world.
“Our machines are running 24/7, printing Christmas lights. Our designers will start in January for that year’s lights. Business is growing annually, and we are moving to a new site in Glenrothes from our current one in Ladybank.
“Our lights are sent across the world, we are currently in 28 countries. So we’ve got this going on all around the world.
“Outside of our Christmas work, we create summer schemes. A lot of places use the wires which go up for the Christmas lights to put summer illuminations on. So for example, seaside towns can have displays with fish, anchors and boats.”
Conversation