Clay Paky SpA is one of the world’s leading developers of professional lighting systems for the entertainment sector (theatre, television, concerts, nightclubs and outdoor events). The company is based near Bergamo, about 40 km from Milan, Italy. It operates from a modern facility housing its R&D labs, main production plant and quality control, sales and administration departments. At present Clay Paky exports 95% of its production through a global sales and service organization represented by a dealer network active in more than 80 countries around the world.
History
The Clay Paky company was founded in August 1976, taking its name from the shortened, anglicized form of the name of its founder, Pasquale (Paky) Quadri, one of the first entrepreneurs to realize that technological developments in lighting would have an enormous future in the show business and entertainment world.
In 1982 Clay Paky presented the Astrodisco, which used a single lamp to project multiple rays of colored light across ceilings and dance floors. Five years later it launched Brilliant, a digitally controlled moving head and forerunner of a new generation of “intelligent” projectors. This was followed in 1988 by the programmable Golden Scan, a moving mirror projector and the first luminaire to implement stepper motor technology instead of servo motors.[4] Acclaimed by the specialised press as “the world’s most popular and best-selling projector”, the Golden Scan became a commonly used lighting effect at nightclubs and rock concerts during the late 1980s and the 1990s. The London rock band Klaxons claimed the projector was the inspiration behind their light-themed, hit single Golden Skans.
Since 2000, Clay Paky has also been developing its offer for indoor and outdoor architectural applications. In 2002 it moved its headquarters to a new industrial complex in Seriate (Bergamo), achieving certification for compliance with the UNI EN ISO 9001 quality standard that same year.
Clay Paky has experienced constant growth, reporting revenues of more than 50 million euro for 2011, up by over 50% from 2010 (33 million euro). It has a workforce of nearly 200 people.
Awards
Over the past two decades, Clay Paky’s dedication to innovation has been recognized with more than forty international awards. Recent awards include Professional Lighting And Sound Association (PLASA) Innovation Awards in 2008 and in 2010, and LDI Awards granted by the US-based Live Design Institute in 2010 and 2011.
