1. A New Chapter for LiGHT
LiGHT has achieved remarkable growth in just a few years, and its recent acquisition by Messe Frankfurt UK marks an exciting new chapter. How do you balance preserving the entrepreneurial, community-driven culture that made LiGHT successful while leveraging Messe Frankfurt’s global reach, resources, and international exhibition network to take the event to the next level?
LiGHT has been one of the industry’s great success stories, and that’s a credit to the team that created it and the community that has supported it from day one. One of our priorities at Messe Frankfurt UK is to ensure we retain the qualities that made the event so successful in the first place: its strong focus on the specification community, its high-quality content programme, and the welcoming atmosphere that people genuinely value.
At the same time, becoming part of the Messe Frankfurt family opens up significant opportunities. We have access to a global network of industry contacts, market expertise and world-leading trade fair brands, which allows us to bring new perspectives, international connections and long-term investment to the event.
Rather than changing what LiGHT is, our ambition is to build on a strong foundation and support its continued growth as an essential meeting place for the lighting and design community.
2. Beyond an Exhibition
LiGHT has evolved into much more than a product showcase. How do you see the event shaping conversations around the future of lighting specification, rather than simply displaying new products?
Since becoming Event Director of LiGHT just a few weeks ago, I’m already hearing that today’s lighting sector faces increasingly complex challenges, from sustainability and wellbeing to digital integration and changing building registrations. The industry needs spaces where these topics can be explored collaboratively, and I’m really enjoying getting to know the industry and understanding how LiGHT and the Messe Frankfurt UK team can best support.
LiGHT has become a platform for dialogue as much as discovery. Our conference programme, expert panels and industry-led discussions are designed to give visitors insight into emerging trends, practical challenges and future opportunities. The products on display are important, but understanding the thinking behind them is equally valuable.
Our role is to create an environment where meaningful conversations happen between manufacturers, designers, architects, engineers and end users. Those discussions often become the catalyst for innovation.
3. Measuring Success
Beyond visitor numbers and exhibitor participation, what metrics truly define success for LiGHT? Are there qualitative outcomes such as collaborations, innovations, or business partnerships that matter even more?
Attendance figures are important, but they only tell part of the story.
For me, success is ultimately measured by the quality of engagement. We want exhibitors to leave having met the right people, not simply the most people. We want visitors to discover solutions that genuinely influence their projects and to gain knowledge that supports their professional development.
Some of the most rewarding feedback comes when exhibitors tell us new partnerships were established, when designers discover a solution that transforms a project, or when conversations started at LiGHT continue long after the event. Those outcomes have a lasting impact on the industry and are often far more meaningful than headline statistics.
We’ll know we’ve done a good job when exhibitors tell us they’ve made valuable new connections and visitors leave with new ideas, knowledge and contacts that they can take back into their work. Ultimately, it’s about bringing the right people together, at scale, and creating the right environment for meaningful conversations, networking and shared learning.
4. The AI Revolution
Artificial intelligence is beginning to influence every design discipline. How do you envision AI transforming lighting design, specification, and project delivery over the next five years, and how is LiGHT preparing the industry for that shift?
AI has the potential to become a powerful tool throughout the design and specification process. We are already seeing technologies that can analyse building performance, optimise energy use, support lighting calculations and streamline project workflows.
Over the next five years, I believe AI will help professionals make faster, more informed decisions, while giving designers more time to focus on creativity and the human experience. However, technology should enhance expertise, not replace it.
Lighting design remains deeply connected to human perception, emotion and wellbeing. At LiGHT, we’re keen to facilitate discussions that explore both the opportunities and responsibilities associated with AI so the industry can adopt these technologies thoughtfully and effectively.
5. Smart Buildings
As buildings become increasingly intelligent and connected, what role do you believe lighting will play within the broader ecosystem of smart buildings, digital twins, and building automation?
Lighting is becoming one of the most valuable sources of data and connectivity within modern buildings. Intelligent lighting systems can support occupancy monitoring, energy management, environmental controls and user experience simultaneously.
As technologies such as digital twins and integrated building management systems continue to develop, lighting will play an increasingly central role in providing information and enabling responsive environments.
This evolution positions lighting as a strategic component of building performance rather than simply a utility. It’s an exciting shift that creates new opportunities for manufacturers, designers and building owners alike. We look forward to seeing what conversations develop both within and around the Technical zone at LiGHT 26, which we know will be intelligence and data-fuelled.
6. Human-Centric Lighting
Lighting is increasingly being recognised as a contributor to health, productivity, and wellbeing. Do you believe human-centric lighting will soon become a standard expectation rather than a premium offering?
I do.
As research continues to demonstrate the impact of light on health, mood, productivity and circadian rhythms, expectations are changing. Occupants, employers, educators and healthcare providers increasingly understand that lighting can directly influence wellbeing and performance.
From the conversations I’ve been having across the industry, there’s a growing sense that human-centric principles are moving from being viewed as a specialist consideration to something that’s becoming part of mainstream lighting design. As the evidence base grows and technology becomes more accessible, that’s certainly the direction many people see the market heading.
As technology becomes more accessible and evidence continues to grow, we can expect these approaches to become standard practice across a wide range of sectors.
7. Sustainability vs. Commercial Reality
The industry speaks extensively about sustainability, yet budget constraints often influence purchasing decisions. How can manufacturers and designers strike the right balance between environmental responsibility and commercial viability without compromising innovation?
I think the conversation needs to shift from upfront cost to long-term value.
Sustainability and commercial viability should not be viewed as competing priorities. High-quality, energy-efficient products often deliver significant operational savings, lower maintenance requirements and improved lifecycle performance.
Manufacturers also have an important role to play in designing products that support circularity, repairability and transparency without creating unnecessary complexity. Innovation is most successful when it delivers environmental benefits while also providing clear commercial advantages for clients and end users.
8. Global Innovation
Many groundbreaking lighting innovations emerge from different regions around the world. Which international trends do you believe will have the greatest impact on the UK and European markets over the next few years?
One of the advantages of being part of Messe Frankfurt is the visibility we have across multiple international markets and industry sectors. We’re seeing strong momentum globally around connected lighting, AI-driven building management, circular product design and embedded sustainability throughout the supply chain.
There is also increasing convergence between lighting, smart building technologies and data-driven building performance. Lighting systems are becoming more intelligent, responsive and integrated into wider building ecosystems.
What I’m increasingly hearing from the industry is that the innovations gaining the most attention are those that successfully combine performance, sustainability and user experience. From where I sit today, those are the trends most likely to shape the UK and European markets in the years ahead.
9. Industry Transformation
What is the single biggest misconception you believe the construction and design industry still has about modern lighting, and what conversations is LiGHT trying to change?
One thing that has already become clear to me is that one of the biggest misconceptions about lighting is that it’s primarily about illumination. Modern lighting influences energy performance, wellbeing, productivity, sustainability, aesthetics and the overall experience of a space. It has become a strategic design discipline that contributes to wider project objectives.
LiGHT aims to broaden that conversation by bringing together different stakeholders and demonstrating the value that thoughtful lighting design can deliver across the entire built environment.
10. Future Challenges
If you were advising lighting manufacturers preparing for the next decade, what would you identify as the biggest opportunities and the greatest risks facing the industry?
As I’ve spent more time speaking with manufacturers, designers and specifiers, the themes that come up repeatedly are connected technologies, sustainability-led innovation and the growing demand for healthier, higher-performing buildings. Those seem to be some of the biggest opportunities shaping the industry’s future.
At the same time, the industry faces challenges including economic uncertainty, supply chain pressures, evolving regulations and the pace of technological change itself. Manufacturers will need to remain agile while maintaining a clear focus on quality, transparency and long-term value.
Those organisations that successfully combine innovation with genuine customer understanding will be best positioned to thrive.
11. Vision for LiGHT
Looking ahead to the next five years, what is your vision for LiGHT? How do you see the exhibition evolving to remain the UK’s leading platform for lighting innovation, education, and industry collaboration?
Our ambition is for LiGHT to strengthen its position as the UK’s leading specification lighting event while expanding its influence internationally.
Over the next five years, I see LiGHT becoming an even more important platform for knowledge sharing, innovation and collaboration across the built environment. We want to continue attracting the industry’s leading brands and designers while creating opportunities for new voices and emerging talent to contribute to the conversation.
As part of Messe Frankfurt UK, we have the ability to connect the UK market more closely with global trends, expertise and innovation. Ultimately, our goal is for LiGHT not simply to reflect the future of lighting, but to help shape it by bringing together the people and ideas that will define the next generation of the industry.
12. The Signature Question
If you could bring together five global leaders, from lighting, architecture, technology, sustainability, or even outside the industry, for a roundtable discussion at LiGHT, who would they be, and what is the one question you would ask them?
I’d bring together Bjarke Ingels, Norman Foster, Thomas Heatherwick, Fei-Fei Li and Sir David Attenborough.
They each represent a different perspective on how we design, build, understand and sustain the world around us. Together, they would create a fascinating conversation that crosses disciplines and challenges conventional thinking.
The question I would ask is:
“How can we use technology, design and human creativity to create places that are better for people and better for the planet?
I suspect the discussion would generate insights not just for the lighting industry, but for the future of the built environment as a whole.
