About Us

Working at the cutting edge of technology

Carallon was founded at the start of 2004 by seven engineers and developers who’d previously worked together at another iconic UK company, innovative lighting control specialist Flying Pig Systems, originator of the Wholehog lighting consoles.

From the start Carallon was set up as a business owned and run by its employees, allowing them to do the kind of exciting, innovative product development work they enjoyed while keeping some control of their own destiny.

Over 16 years the company has grown substantially from those 7 to 70+ employees, and has spawned sister companies Pharos, Brompton and SixEye - but the essence of what Carallon is about has remained unchanged.

In 2020 the primary shareholders sold their controlling shares to an Employee Ownership Trust, so that for years to come the company can continue its original vision of being owned by and run for the benefit of its employees.

Learn more about our work

Putting employees first

An Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) is a special form of employee benefit trust which buys a controlling interest in a company and holds this interest on behalf of and for the benefit of the employees of the company.

Carallon became owned by an Employee Ownership Trust in 2020. The Trust Board is responsible for strategic decisions regarding the company, and includes four current employees: two of the founding members, and two elected employee representatives.

The final member of the Trust Board is our independent Chairman – industry legend Mike Wood, who worked with some of the Carallon founders many years ago at High End Systems and has remained a good friend, while also leading entertainment technology trade associations PLASA and ESTA on both sides of the Atlantic.

Now all employees have an indirect stake in Carallon's success, without any personal financial risk. If the company does well, Carallon employees receive a percentage of their salary as an annual bonus, which thanks to incentives from the UK government to encourage employee-ownership is tax-free (up to a maximum of £3,600 per employee).

Employee Council

In the spirit of Employee Ownership...

Carallon also has its own Employee Council, made up entirely of elected representatives from every department in Carallon and across its sister companies.

The Employee Council is designed to be a forum for discussion of ideas about how to improve efficiency and the working environment for the benefit of all.

The Council is chaired by one of the employee trustees, and directors or senior managers can be asked to attend meetings to discuss particular topics.

Our team at work

Board of Directors

Chris Hunt

CEO

One of the original seven founders, Chris has been its CFO since inception and managed all commercial and operational aspects of Carallon throughout its journey. He became the CEO in 2021.

Richard Mead

Chairman

Richard was one of the founders of Carallon and its CEO for 17 years. With a background in engineering, Richard helped establish Carallon as a leader in control system development for the entertainment industry. In 2021 he assumed the role of Chairman and now focusses on sister company Brompton Technology.

Nick Archdale

Creative Director

An original founding member, Nick is responsible for the many iconic product designs that Carallon has produced for its partners, including all the products of sister companies Brompton Technology and Pharos Architectural Controls.

Sarah Darby

Director of HR

Sarah has been with Carallon for 8 years and has played a pivotal role in putting essential structures in place to support the growth of Carallon and its sister companies. She is always on hand to offer her support and advice, and chairs our Employee Council.

Leo Khale

Director of Engineering

Leo is one of the original seven founders of Carallon, and now has oversight of its large engineering team. He has led many projects for key Carallon clients, and manages the relationships with all our product development customers.

Will Wagner

Director of Software

Will is one of the original seven founders of Carallon, and leads our software department, with overall responsibility for software quality. He has been the lead architect of many of Carallon's iconic products, and currently works particularly closely with Pharos Architectural Controls.

Martin Walton

Director of Electronics

Martin joined Carallon in 2006 and heads our electronics design department, which has a fantastic track record of designing high performance, reliable products.

Alex Drofiak

Director of Manufacturing

Alex joined Carallon in 2009 and now heads its extensive manufacturing operation, with particular responsibility for ensuring that products are made to the highest quality and reliability.

Our History

2000

2004

Carallon is founded

2005

First products delivered for Pharos Architectural Controls

2005

Pharos: PLASA Awards win

Pharos wins the PLASA Innovation Award for the Pharos LPC (Lighting Playback Controller).

2007

Kinesys introduces K2

K2 is a 3D motion control system developed as a partnership between Kinesys and Carallon.

2008

ETC launches the Unison Paradigm System

Carallon acted as the primary software development partner for this project, and continues to support ETC to this day.

2009

Martin Professional launches the P3 LED video processing system

Carallon was brought in to develop an improved processing platform to support Martin’s LED video product range.

2012

Brompton Technology launches its first product

The Tessera LED video range rapidly established itself as the gold standard for LED video processing on live events.

2016

HQ relocation

Carallon and its sister companies relocate to a larger premises in West London to fulfil increased manufacturing requests and continue growing the team.

2018

Brompton Technology launches Tessera SX40

Its first 4K LED video processor, this product heralds a phase of rapid growth for Brompton Technology and Carallon.

2020

Brompton Technology wins Queen's Award

Brompton Technology wins the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2020.

2020

Carallon becomes an employee-owned business

2020

Carallon Limited
272 Gunnersbury Avenue,
London W4 5QB
United Kingdom

+44 (0)20 7471 9400

info@carallon.com | careers@carallon.com