PEL Services has completed the design, supply and installation of music and public address system at Debenhams’ flagship Oxford Street store in London, UK. The project was carried out as part of a extensive £25 million refurbishment to the stores, which purportedly makes it one of the biggest redevelopments the West End area of central London has ever seen.
The refurbished store features seven floors of latest fashions, Debenhams’ largest ever Beauty Hall, a destination shoe hall and a new home floor. Such a large store required an exceptionally large sound system. PEL Services, which has developed a close working relationship with Debenhams over the years, designed, supplied, installed and commissioned a state-of-the-art Bose professional digital sound system store-wide.
One of the key challenges for PEL Services, apart from the sheer size of the installation, was the phased nature of the work. The store remained open throughout the refurbishment which meant the existing sound system had to be kept operational at all times.
The new digital sound system features 650 ceiling speakers, making it one of the largest Bose ceiling speaker installations in the UK. The system has been zoned by PEL two zones per floor, plus a dedicated zone for the Atrium escalator to enable Debenhams to play different music and announcements in each area. With the store now providing a range of in-store events, including fashion shows, the flexibility of the sound system was said to be an essential component of the design.
Being an advanced digital system, PEL was able to set up the configuration and operating requirements during installation and commissioning. As a result, Debenhams staff don’t have to do anything with it apart from adjust the volume control or change the CDs in one of the 13 CD players, making it very easy to use and avoiding unwanted interference.
This highly prestigious contract was awarded to PEL Services as a result of the company’s reputation, its competitive tender and the relationship it has developed with Debenhams through its systems and MediainStore music supply service for all their UK stores.
PEL Services is a senior Bose Pro-Partner with extensive experience in design, supply, installation and commissioning of audio solutions perfectly applied to meet the demands of the dynamic retail and leisure industries.
In addition PEL provides a range of service agreements including routine maintenance and fully comprehensive cover, on third party equipment as well as PEL systems, throughout the UK and Eire.
