British loudspeaker company PMC has ambitious growth plans, especially in the EMEA – Europe, Middle East and Africa – region, where it’s eyeing expansion in a number of emerging markets. To ensure it’s set-up to handle that growth, it’s moving to the country: it has acquired an 1860s-built Georgian-style country house in Bedfordshire, and will be restoring and converting it into its new headquarters.

The company has its roots in pro-audio applications, as the Professional Monitor Company name makes clear, and its products are used in studios and by musicians worldwide. It was founded in 1990 by Peter Thomas of the BBC and Adrian Loader of FWO Bauch, and its first product was the BB5-A active studio monitor.

That speaker was immediately adopted by the BBC’s Maida Vale studios, and classical labels including Deutsche Grammophon, Decca and Harmonia Mundi.

While its professional business continues to expand, of late PMC has seen a massive growth in the sales of its home-use speakers, with its current fact and twenty ranges proving major sales successes to the point that other lines have had to be curtailed to ensure production can meet demand.

It’s to service that expansion that PMC has acquired Holmes Court, set in five acres of Bedfordshire countryside near Biggleswade. The house retains original features such as its central staircase and high ceilings, and will now be renovated and restored over the coming months to house the company’s admin, sales and research and development departments.

The R&D department will get greatly improved facilities, allowing the development of even more new products, and dedicated demonstration rooms will be built for both domestic and professional products.

PMC owner Peter Thomas says that ‘We have seen sustained growth from both consumer and professional audio sectors year on year and the introduction of new models and new technologies has boosted demand globally, with the reaction to the twenty series, the new fact.12 and the active twotwo range nothing short of phenomenal.

‘We have a range of extremely exciting projects we can now bring to market with the expansion of the headquarters.’

Andrew Everard