Business Offer

Personal profile

Antony Smith, Business Director I joined Nimbus 30 years ago and was made a main board Director in 1997. I was initially responsible for organising Nimbus Records’ distribution network, first in the UK and then in the US, and was appointed General Manager of Records in 1993 with responsibility for Production and International Sales and Marketing. Later I was appointed Vice President of Commercial Operations for the laser mastering division Nimbus Technology & Engineering responsible for global contract negotiation and European Sales. In November 1997 I became Director of Asia Operations and in March 1998 relocated to Singapore to manage the company’s sales and after sales in a region stretching from Australia to China and from India to Japan. Since returning to the UK in May 2002 I have worked to develop commercial strategies for the Wyastone Business Park, the Nimbus short run disc service, along with the global sales for Nimbus, Lyrita, Saydisc, Hallé and other partner labels. I am now responsible for all aspects Wyastone’s business to grow the commercial success and to enhance the local, national and international profiles.

Company profile

Wyastone Estate Limited was formed to manage the international trading of Nimbus Records, operate the commercial buildings at Wyastone, and maintain the 72 acre estate in its natural state. Nimbus believed that by adopting a new strategy of Manufacturing on Demand they could return Nimbus to profitability. We invested in, and co-developed in-house technologies that have eliminated the need to hold excess stock and allow for discs to be manufactured “on demand”. Having proved the effectiveness on their own catalogues this facility is now being offered to other record labels and third party customers by the production division Nimbus Disc & Print. WEL owns in excess of 950 albums across six sub brands (Nimbus, Prima Voce, Grand Piano, World Music, Nimbus Alliance, Hermes) and holds exclusive licences to manage the international manufacturing and distribution for a further eight partner labels (Saydisc, Lyrita, Hallé, British Music Society, Red Priest Recordings, IntegraRecords, Sterling and Retrospective). Titles are marketed throughout the UK, internationally and as streaming and digital download via iTunes and other internet sites. The Wyastone Business Park was opened in 2005 and has seen steady growth in occupancy with lettings and revenues have remaining stable even throughthe financial crisis. The Nimbus Foundation, which was established in 1988 to support the Arts, is also now managed by WEL and uses the Concert Hall to drive its objectives. The Foundation supported a Summer Series, festival of concerts from 2002 to 2007 and promotes the careers of young musicians wherever possible. The Concert Hall is considered the UK’s premier studio for classical recordings and is in use by international artists and production teams for more than 150 days each year. It also co-promotes a number of live broadcast concerts in partnership with BBC Radio 3.