How many entrepreneurial stories begin with a kitchen table? Someone sketching designs, sending emails, writing business plans. It would be inspiring, perhaps, to gather all those kitchen tables together into one big display, illustrating the journeys the various entrepreneurs went on to make and the amazing global businesses that were born of their early efforts. Andrew Johnson and his firm Aurora could light such a display. Who better?
His Aurora group of lighting companies also started at a London kitchen table in 1999. Today it is an internationally recognised brand, the only privately owned, vertically integrated, LED organisation in the world with manufacturing facilities in China and England, and distribution facilities in every continent. His designs have been awarded and applauded, and now, as he moves into yet another new era with lighting that can sense, feel and control — and with everything internet-connected — he has never been more excited.
“I don’t want to say I’m a Steve Jobs, because we’re humble; we’re not like that. But in a way, my role has been quite similar to his in that at Apple, Steve was very much at the forefront of developing technologies, coming up with ways to grow the business and be disruptive in other industries, and I also am deeply involved in the product development,” Andrew says. “We have completely reinvented ourselves five times in the past 17 years.”
“Innovation is everything. You can’t grow a business from a kitchen table to where we are today unless you are constantly at the forefront and bringing unique product to the marketplace.” – Andrew Johnson
Agile problem solvers
But let’s return to that kitchen table. Andrew set himself up there after having spent many years travelling and living in Asia doing extensive product development and learning about the lighting business alongside Taiwanese business partner and friend Jack Huang, who had a small OEM (original equipment manufacturing) business selling electronic transformers.
“We really didn’t have anything — no computer system, no office, no bank accounts. We actually did start from zero and I’m proud of that,” Andrew says. “We did a deal, my partner and I, whereby I sold product in the UK and he sold it to the rest of the world. Mainly, at that time, we focused on halogen lighting. We were basically the first people to properly solve some of the technical issues associated with electronic transformers and electromagnetic conformity. At the same time, we also bought a small share in a material-processing factory in China, so we had an early footprint over there.”
From the outset, Aurora — named after the Aurora Borealis, Mother Nature’s greatest light show — demonstrated it had what it takes to survive in this fast-changing world: agility. Very soon, Andrew had spotted a problem and recognised that solving it would be key to driving growth. At the time, the British were going mad for stainless steel accessories in their kitchens, and halogen downlights were the perfect partner. However, this meant cutting holes in their ceilings, therefore destroying their 90-minute fire rating. Andrew says they developed a core patent that involved putting a material around the housing of the can which, when in contact with fire, blocked the hole and enabled the ceiling to maintain its fire-rating integrity.
Early LED adopters
The business was thriving and Andrew was enjoying his success when the global financial crisis hit and the whole world ground to a halt. Andrew, however, refused to be held back. Once again, he sought out solutions rather than dwelling on problems. The company moved into projects and began an acquisition program, and then, since everyone was short of money, it responded by moving into energy saving. “I looked at LED lighting and thought: ‘This technology is at its early stages, but it’s a great light source, an outstanding product, and it has energy-saving capabilities’,” he recalls. “I think we were one of the early adopters of LED lighting, and we moved aggressively from traditional lighting into semiconductor lighting solutions.” This sprint from the blocks took competitors by surprise. Even five years ago, they were nowhere near catching up in adopting LED.
“What that did was enable us to avoid burdening the company by developing a product that wasn’t going to last,” Andrew continues. “We realised, however, that we needed economy of scale. It’s very much a volume-related business, so we made an acquisition in Australia, set up our own business in South Africa and in the US, and went from being just trade focused in the UK to having our footprint on all continents.”
A strong, global brand
The flexibility that comes with being a privately owned company has always served Aurora well, and as it sets itself up for yet another transition into smart lighting, it will clearly serve it well again. But what is it that has seen it survive and prosper not only in the face of a global recession but also, more recently, against massive interventions from large semiconductor companies and the Chinese government? For a start, it’s a strong, internationally recognisable brand, something which they are, in Andrew’s own words, “quite paranoid” about protecting. “We’ve invested heavily in it, and from day one we’ve had our own in-house marketing company. We care a lot about how we present ourselves as a company,” Andrew says. This also extends to its charitable arm, The Aurora Light Foundation, an organisation in perfect synergy, as it builds sustainable light solutions for the underprivileged 20 per cent in the world who live in darkness. With the Life After Dark program, the company also supports initiatives that promote education and entrepreneurial endeavours. “We have a strong social responsibility.”
“Every time I fly over a city, I look down at all the buildings, and very few of them are actually smart buildings.” – Andrew Johnson
In addition, Aurora has strong manufacturing capabilities, both in Asia and the UK, and a swathe of loyal talent — many of the core people who started when the company first set up are still on the team. Meanwhile, selling product all over the world means Aurora is switched on to what is happening globally. The business is financially stable and also, perhaps most importantly, it has never lost its entrepreneurial panache. Andrew certainly still sees himself as a visionary with a talent for spotting the next trend and preparing the business accordingly. “I think innovation is everything,” he says. “You can’t grow a business from a kitchen table to where we are today unless you are constantly at the forefront and bringing unique product to the marketplace. Aurora is never worried about what other people are doing or launching. We have always had our own program of where we see the market and made sure we differentiated ourselves from everyone else.”
Smart lighting
That is, of course, more correct — and more important — now than it’s ever been. Lighting in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT) will no longer merely be about illumination. As well as making lamps, luminaires, transformers and controls, Aurora will now ratchet up its connected lighting push, leveraging Gooee’s enterprise scale IoT lighting system. Gooee was also founded and is headed up by Andrew and basically allows LED luminaires to monitor physical conditions and human activity in a building or shop and to tie that information into cloud computing.
This will allow retailers to offer promotions and assistance to shoppers, and can also help intelligently control lighting, as well as keep track of any maintenance issues. It uses tiny sensors to monitor motion, occupancy and climatic conditions, using wireless Bluetooth Mesh to route information to the internet.
This year, Aurora will roll out a smart home solution into Australia. After that, it will launch the next generation of conscious, connected luminaries with Gooee Inside, delivering ‘Value Beyond Illumination’. This is the core of the organisation’s next big transition from a product-to-product and service business.
As it moves forward lighting up the world, Aurora is working with other partners. It has grown its partnership with FEGIME, one of the largest groups of wholesalers in the world, and it’s also been developing smart bulbs for British Gas Hive connected home solutions, which allow users to wirelessly turn lights on and off and brighten, dim, and even change their colour from anywhere via an app. It has also not forgotten its roots and will continue
to service its trade channel with its Enlite brand.
It’s clear that Andrew is as excited as he’s ever been. “We love the industry and we understand it. It’s been a great business to be involved in because it keeps evolving and we’ve kept moving forward, reinventing ourselves to be a leader in creating the best, affordable, smart, energy-efficient LED lighting solutions available,” he says. “It’s been such a wonderful journey — and, you know, every time I get in an aeroplane and fly over a city, I look down at all the buildings and very few of them are actually smart buildings. I think about the scale of the market, the opportunities, and the small number of people who have the technology and capability that we have, and I think we have a huge and exciting journey ahead.”
Thank you for writing this report to let us focus on the innovation of lighting.
An incredible journey – well done all at Team Aurora!