A day in the life of Pulse Cinemas

Mike Beatty, Managing Director, and Kapes Patel, Business Development and Technical Director, both co-founders of Pulse Cinemas, explain how becoming part of the Midwich Groups has freed them up to focus on innovation and dealer support offering even more added value for dealers.

Mike explains, “The new structure within the Midwich Group has removed much of the day-to-day noise of running a busy company and has allowed both of us to concentrate on delivering the added value and dealer support the company was built on. With the warehousing and delivery systems now sited elsewhere, and the day-to-day duties concerning things such as accounts and finance, taken care of by Midwich, we can focus all of our energy and experience delivering for our customers.”

Kapes adds, “We started Pulse Cinemas because we love music and movies and demonstrating the systems we help create to dealers and end users through special initiatives, events and gathering together the best brands around. As Pulse Cinemas grew, we could see the time that we had to spend doing these core deliverables shrinking, the new ownership structure means we can be laser focused on doing what we started the company to do in the first place.”

Mike continues, “As the new situation has bedded in it is clear we are becoming a better version of ourselves as we crystallise into the true version that we always wanted Pulse Cinemas to be. Every day now we get to work on the business instead of working in the business, we are also able to support our team more effectively and help them deliver the very best for dealers and ultimately end users as well.”

Just one recent example of this freeing up of time is attendance at the recent High-End Show in Munich meeting brands and dealers and interacting with the market in a way that had become difficult with time taken up with the day to day duties of running a busy distribution company. Both Kapes and Mike plan to be in attendance at many more events this year and into the future. More time to plan and be proactive rather than reactive has allowed the planning and execution of a whole collection of events and initiatives already this year.

Mikes explains, “We are able to plan and collaborate like never before. At Pulse Cinemas we have held a series of Trinnov Waveforming events, celebrated 50 years of Krix with a special BBQ, and we have also partnered with Invision and got out on the road with showcases for the AVA brand of smart remotes and toured the UK with the Source To Seat initiative that highlighted all the high performance home cinema equipment and systems available from Pulse Cinemas and Invision.”

Kapes adds, “We have also been able to make time to showcase to a large number of dealers the upgrades and changes we have made to our demonstration facilities both here at Pulse Cinemas HQ and at our other sites as well. The Pulse Cinemas technical team and I have been able to spend more time upgrading, tunning and working on our demonstration spaces to make them more powerful than ever before. The Main Cinema now boasts WaveForming functionality and madVR processing partnering Sony projection, the performance in this space is best it has ever been. The Media Room has also had Sony projection added and is impressing visitors even more than before. We are also in the middle of planning upgrades for the Small Cinema and also new products and displays for the reception/kitchen and training room spaces. However, we are not stopping there, we have big plans for the space freed up by our warehousing moving to within the Midwich set up. Stay tuned because we have some really exciting plans for this part of Pulse Cinemas HQ. We are also working with our partners at Invision looking at upgrades for the Innovation House at Bracknell site, exciting times all round.”

The duo has also found more time to spend time on other special projects such as Mike’s Legends podcast series. “This was something that initially I was a little reluctant to do, it was outside of my comfort zone,” says Mike, “but with more time to spend exploring new possibilities I have immensely enjoyed engaging with people from all walks of our industry learning from them and informing our own knowledge base and decision-making process. I have spoken with the immensely experienced Kevin Andrews founder and creative director of installation company Ideaworks, the inspirational Priscilla Morgan, COO at Kaleidescape and industry veteran and founder of Together For Cinema, Ian Morrish. We have more exciting people lined up for our podcast series as we explore how our sector really works and what we are about; not box shifting but servicing the needs and desires of our customers.”

Another area the new arrangements has allowed more time for is the DécorCinema concept.

Mike reveals, “We still have big plans for this concept which is based around creating cutting edge interior design and high-performance home cinema and delivering something the market has not seen before in a repeatable and identifiable format. To be honest we did have to pause this initiative whilst the Midwich sale and our partnership with Invision bedded in, but we are now ready to fully realise the potential of this initiative so stay tuned and we will reveal plans for DécorCinema very soon.”

Kapes adds, “For my part, an exciting part of the sector and what Pulse Cinemas can offer is in advanced window shading systems. We have a refocused and re-energised team able to deliver everything installers need via Lutron’s excellent range of systems, so get in touch if this is something you would like to include in more of your projects.”

Kapes and Mike also explain that as part of the new structure each has taken on around 20 of the company’s most longstanding and loyal dealers to support them directly making the most of what Pulse Cinemas and the industry has to offer. Both are now able to take time out to visit and interact with key partners to find out directly what the industry needs and then innovate to deliver it.

Training initiatives are also to receive a boost as the Pulse Cinemas sales team are now tasked with feeding back vital information to help shape the training offering right across the company.

Kapes reveals, “We are working on training programmes for Trinnov WaveForming, room acoustic treatments and automated shading. Working with our partners across our brands and with the Invision team we are looking to provide the very best training around to improve our dealers skills in some of the most crucial parts of the industry.”

Reaching out further than before is also a big focus for the Pulse team. Mike says, “We are making it our business to attract new customers into our industry. There has been a tendency right across our sector to perhaps rely on established customers, but for the industry to grow we are working on initiatives including DécorCinema to help make this happen. Our expanded and improved demonstration spaces are open for not only our own events, but for dealers to bring their customers and hold their own events, so just pick up the phone and talk to us and let's plan something that will impress customers old on new.”

So busy times ahead, and for a long time too, as Mike underlines, “Both of us have been asked if we will soon be leaving Pulse Cinemas. This could not be further from the truth we are both in this for the long haul and made the changes to ensure the longevity of the company, our own involvement and our ability to concentrate on our core skills. Neither of us can play golf, so our destiny for now and the foreseeable future is at the helm of Pulse Cinemas helping our dealers deliver the very best systems and support that they can. Speak to us soon and learn more about how we can deliver for you.”