London, UK (October 31st 2007) Live event lighting company, Essential Lighting, announced today that it has become part of Australian based Staging Connections Group.

Essential joins the Staging Connections family of world class businesses based in eight countries around Australia, Asia and the United Arab Emirates and marks its first step in a European expansion.

Joining the Staging Connections Group is great news for Essential‘s customers, adding a wealth of expertise and skills to the Essential offering and ensuring that the newest and most advanced fixtures and technology are available to Lighting Designers and Production companies in the UK and Europe.

Essential‘s 24 hour support and technical assistance will also benefit from close links with people who provide technical services for over 50,000 events a year, from a small conference to challenges as epic as the Sydney Olympic Games. Through a network of group businesses it will now be easier both to provide the Essential service for events travelling to Europe and for European customers organising events in the Middle and Far East.

It‘s business as usual at Essential Lighting, with the company, brand, directors and team all continuing exactly as before, committed to continuing to deliver the highest quality lighting services and equipment to the live event industry.

Essential‘s Managing Director, Martin Locket commented, ‘We are very excited about the opportunities that becoming part of a global, professional group of technical specialists presents to the development of Essential Lighting. The experience, technology and combined global resources ensure that we will continue to evolve the service that we provide to our customers. We remain focussed on supplying our clients in the UK and European live events industry with the best equipment and services for every size of event.‘

Michael Gardner, Chief Executive Officer of Staging Connections Group, added, ‘Essential is a great fit with our family global event services businesses; the quality of equipment and professionalism of staff matches perfectly with our values and we‘re delighted to welcome them to the group. We‘re committed to support Essential‘s continued growth, delivering the best combination of resources to the UK and European live event market.‘

Essential Lighting is a leader in the live event business, delivering lighting for challenges as diverse as the BBC Proms in the Park, Eurovision‘s ‘Making Your Mind Up‘, car launches for Ford, Renault, Toyota, BMW and Volvo, to London Fashion Week and political conferences. Offering Full Service with lighting design, Systems Rental under the direction of an independent lighting designer and comprehensive Dry Hire services, Essential provides the highest quality service and equipment, maintained and prepared to exacting standards. Caseline, a subsidiary of Essential, manufactures bespoke flight cases for the live event industry, protecting fragile control desks, screens and fixtures in transit and storage.

Staging Connections Group Limited (SCGL) is a publicly listed international event services company which delivers an extensive range of integrated and specialised services from four key divisions: Integrated Event and AV Services, Specialised Event Services, Exhibitions and Produced Events. SCGL has over 1100 staff and operates from over 21 offices in Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, the Middle East, UK, South East Asia and China, delivering world class expertise for live events to clients worldwide.

Press Contacts:

Stephen Craggs, Essential Lighting

+44 (0)208 335 6000
stephen.craggs@elguk.com

Maria Benedetti, Staging Connections

+61 3 9321 6762
maria.benedetti@scgl.com.au

Photography & Images:

High resolution photography, logos and images are available for download at www.essential-lighting.co.uk/press