01Move
DNA dimensions
Events/month (24–60), avg ticket (£1,400–£4,400), DJ + hire bundle attach %, repeat-client %, PLASA / PSA member status, sound + lighting rack utilisation (cost-of-asset-vs-revenue), club residency MRR.
All playbooksServices
DJ & sound playbook.
A London DJ + sound + lighting hire company covering weddings, corporate parties, club residencies, brand launches and festival side-stages. The 2026 win is a wedding + corporate-party hire stack (sound + lighting + DJ + photo-booth) at £1,400–£4,400/event plus PLASA-grade pro-AV hire for production agencies.
Overview
A London DJ + sound + lighting firm in 2026 runs four engines: wedding DJ + sound + lighting bundle (£1,400–£4,400, 14–22/month at 56–66% margin), corporate party + brand launch (£1,800–£8,400, 8–14/month at 48–58% margin), club residency + DJ talent placement (£280–£640/night × 4–8 nights/month + agency commission, 32–42% margin) and pro-AV dry-hire to production agencies (Funktion-One + L-Acoustics + Robe movers, £600–£3,400/day at 64–74% margin, 14–28/month). Maths for 5-DJ roster + 4 sound engineers + warehouse: 18 weddings × £2,200 + 12 corporate × £3,400 + 12 club residency nights × £420 + 22 dry-hire days × £900 = £105k/month gross. Wedding+corporate bundle is the brand spine — Hitched + Bridebook + GBP organic + production-agency repeat pipeline; rack utilisation discipline (>62% on owned inventory) decides profitability vs sub-hire dependence.
44
Events/month
£1,800
Avg ticket
62%
Repeat client
№ 01 / What you'll need
Equipment list with real 2026 UK prices.
Sized for a 2–4 chair shop. Buy mid-range on chairs and clippers; cheap kit fails inside 12 months and walks away with your barbers.
01
DJ + sound kit (per event-grade rig)
Pioneer DJM-A9 mixer + 2× CDJ-3000 + DJ booth
£8,400–£14,000
Funktion-One F-101 OR L-Acoustics SYVA — 2× speakers + 2× sub
£14,000–£42,000 per rig
QSC K12.2 + KS118 sub backup rig
£4,400–£8,400
Powered monitor wedge × 2 (RCF NX10-SMA)
£900–£2,400
Sennheiser EW-DX + DPA wireless mic kit (×4 channels)
£3,400–£8,400
Allen & Heath dLive + SQ-6 digital console
£4,400–£14,000
02
Lighting + effects + photo-booth
Robe Robin Pointe / Chauvet Rogue R2 movers × 8
£18,000–£42,000
Chauvet COLORado batten + Astera Titan tube uplighters × 12
£3,400–£12,000
Antari W-715 wireless smoke + low-fog Tiny FX × 2
£1,400–£3,400
Avolites Quartz lighting console + truss + clamps
£8,400–£22,000
Photo-booth (mirror + 360 video booth) DSLR + printer + iPad
£3,400–£8,400 per booth
03
Transport + warehouse
Mercedes Sprinter Luton + tail-lift × 2
£18,000–£32,000 each used
Industrial warehouse (140–280 m²) with racking + flight cases
£3,400–£10,000/month rent
Current RMS / Rentman inventory management
£140–£420/month
PAT testing rig + RCD inspection + Anton flue (gas haze)
£640–£1,400 + £900/year retest
04
Compliance + accreditation
PLASA member + Production Services Association (PSA)
£480–£900/year
PRS for Music + PPL (DJ playback licence)
£280–£640/year + per-event
Public + product + £5m liability + electrical-cover + working-at-height + sub-hire
£1,800–£4,400/year + per-event rider
PAT test all equipment annually + electrical inspection
£900–£2,400/year
Working at Height + rigging IRATA + manual handling per crew
£280 per cert per crew
№ 02 / Where to set up
Location is half the business.
Warehouse / depot
Park Royal / Hackney Wick / Bermondsey / Croydon industrial
24/7 access + Luton parking + flight-case dry storage.
Venue + agency proximity
≤45 min from 14 wedding venues + 8 production agencies + 4 club residencies
Late-night load-out + same-day swap-out.
Catchment
All 32 boroughs + Home Counties (weddings); Zones 1–2 club + corporate
Mixed-revenue stability.
Loading + access
24/7 access + 7.5t turning circle + ground-floor roller
After-party de-rig + festival turnaround.
ULEZ + LEZ
Euro 6 fleet only
Daily £12.50 ULEZ + £100 LEZ avoided × 2 vans.
Area tier
Rent / month
Notes
Park Royal / Hackney Wick
£6,400–£14,000
Production-agency cluster + venue proximity.
Bermondsey / Vauxhall
£5,400–£10,000
Sweet spot: Zone 1 wedding + club access.
Croydon / Romford / Enfield
£3,400–£6,400
Lower rent, suburban wedding base, larger storage.
№ 03 / Licences & registrations
Get the paperwork done before you sign a lease.
UK figures for 2026. Lead times assume you submit complete applications — councils will pause the clock if you miss documents.
Requirement
Who issues
Cost
Lead time
ReqCompanies House Ltd
Companies House
£12
Same day
OptPLASA + PSA membership
PLASA + PSA
£480–£900/year
6 weeks
ReqPRS for Music + PPL (DJ Playback Licence)
PRS + PPL
£280–£640/year + per-event
2 weeks
ReqPublic + product + £5m liability + electrical + sub-hire
Hiscox / Insure4Music / Allen
£1,800–£4,400/year + per-event
1 week
OptProfessional indemnity (production design)
Hiscox
£640–£1,400/year
1 week
ReqEmployer's liability + crew + freelance cover
Broker
£640–£1,400/year
1 day
ReqVehicle (commercial) + ULEZ-compliant × 2 vans
AXA / NIG
£640–£1,400 per van
1 day
ReqPAT test all equipment annually + RCD inspection
PAT engineer
£900–£2,400/year
Annual
ReqWorking at Height + IPAF + PASMA + rigging per crew
PASMA / IPAF / NRC
£280–£640 per cert per crew
4 weeks
ReqTemporary Event Notice (per non-licensed venue, per event)
Borough council
£21
10 days
ReqICO data protection
ICO
£40–£60/year
1 day
№ 04 / Build-out timeline
From decision to open in 12 weeks.
01
Phase 0 — Setup
Weeks 1–4- Companies House + PLASA + PSA + PRS + PPL
- First Pioneer DJ rig + Funktion-One F-101 + lighting starter
- First van + sign-writing
02
Phase 1 — Pre-marketing
Weeks 4–12- Hitched + Bridebook + GBP profiles + showreel
- 8 wedding-venue + 6 corporate-agency preferred-supplier meetings
- First 4 weddings booked at intro pricing
03
Phase 2 — Inventory + roster
Weeks 8–20- Second sound + lighting rig added
- 5-DJ roster signed (genre coverage: house + funk-soul + R&B + Indian / Persian / Nigerian)
- Current RMS go-live
04
Phase 3 — Club + dry-hire
Weeks 18–28- First club residency signed (Zone 1)
- Dry-hire offering live for production agencies
- Photo-booth + 360 video booth added
05
Phase 4 — Open
Week 28+- 44 events/month sustained
- Rack utilisation > 60%
- 62% repeat-client rate
№ 05 / Budget
Realistic startup and monthly cost ranges.
One-off · Startup
Setting up the shop
Warehouse lease + deposit + racking + flight cases
£14,000 → £42,000
Van fleet (2 Luton + tail-lift)
£36,000 → £64,000
Sound rig (Pioneer DJM-A9 + Funktion-One + QSC + wireless)
£32,000 → £72,000
Lighting + effects + photo-booth + console + truss
£28,000 → £68,000
PAT + inspection + electrical safety kit
£900 → £2,400
Software (Current RMS + Calendly + Mixcloud)
£640 → £1,800
Branding + Hitched + Bridebook + showreel
£2,400 → £6,400
Insurance + PLASA + PSA + PRS + PPL + licences
£3,400 → £8,400
Pre-launch marketing (Hitched + Bridebook + venue co-marketing)
£2,400 → £8,400
Working capital (3 months)
£18,000 → £44,000
Typical total
£138.1k–£317.8k
Recurring · Monthly
Keeping the lights on
Warehouse rent + business rates + utilities
£4,400 → £12,000
Van fleet (lease + fuel + insurance + ULEZ × 2)
£1,800 → £4,400
DJ + crew fees (per event, freelance roster)
£18,000 → £42,000
PA / staff wages (warehouse + tech manager + admin)
£8,400 → £18,000
Sub-hire + consumables + cable repair
£2,400 → £8,400
Software + PLASA + PSA + PRS + PPL + insurance
£640 → £1,800
Marketing + Hitched + Bridebook + Mixcloud + showreel update
£900 → £3,400
Typical total
£36.5k–£90k
№ 06 / Numbers that compound
How a dj & sound actually looks on a chart.
Interactive projections rebuilt from real UK operating data — toggle the views to see ramp, mix and weekly load.
12-month revenue ramp
Low vs high scenario (£ monthly)
High Low
Source · NAVIZIX 2026 London PLASA + PSA DJ + AV hire cohort (n=14 firms, 2–8 staff + roster)
№ 07 / First 90 days
Dates that actually matter after opening.
01Day 1
Soft open: first wedding DJ + sound + lighting bundle (£1,800). Showreel uploaded to Vimeo.
02Day 30
Steady: 8 events delivered (5 weddings + 2 corporate + 1 club). £14k revenue.
03Day 90
Full ramp: 28 events/month, first club residency, photo-booth attach at 42%. £56k revenue.
04Day 180
44 events/month, dry-hire pipeline live, 5-DJ roster active. £98k revenue.
05Year 1
Mature: £105k+/month, rack utilisation 62%, 62% repeat-client rate, 3-DJ resident club nights.
№ 08 / What's inside
DNA, route, automations, integrations, benchmarks, advisors — tuned for a dj & sound.
02Move
Suggested route
Build a 4–6 person DJ roster + sound + lighting inventory (Pioneer DJM-A9 + Funktion-One F-101 + Robe / Chauvet movers), join PLASA + PSA, partner with 8–14 wedding venues + 6 corporate event agencies for preferred-supplier rotation, layer photo-booth + 360 video booth as £480–£900 attach, secure 1–2 club residencies as brand spine + DJ talent pipeline.
03Move
Automations
Online booking + DJ-match by genre, song-request portal pre-event, pre-event run-sheet PDF, post-event MP3 mix delivery + review request, equipment availability calendar (Current RMS), Stripe deposit + balance + DD club residency.
04Move
Integrations
Current RMS / Rentman (hire inventory), Calendly / Acuity, Stripe + GoCardless, Hitched + Bridebook (wedding listings), Mixcloud + SoundCloud (DJ portfolio), Xero.
05Move
Benchmarks
Events/month, rack utilisation and repeat-client % vs PSA London cohort.
06Move
Advisors
Encore advisors from PLASA, ex-Funktion-One demo team + Pioneer DJ regional reps and venue + production-agency AV heads.
№ 09 / Stack
Modules used in this playbook.
01DNA Engine02Route Map03Launch Twin04Automation05Verified06Encore
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