What can established businesses learn from a Yorkshire manufacturer that has spent nearly 50 years adapting to changing technologies, markets and customer expectations?
When a business has spent years building a successful product, reputation and customer base, how does it decide what needs to change — and what is worth protecting?
It’s a question that runs through the story of Sound Leisure, the Leeds-based family business best known for manufacturing high-quality, handcrafted jukeboxes.
Sound Leisure has experienced enormous changes since it was founded in 1978. Vinyl records gave way to CDs, digital music transformed the industry, and changing consumer habits have repeatedly challenged the markets in which the company operates.
Yet the business continues to develop new products, explore different markets and find new ways to use its existing capabilities.
Chris Black, Chairman of Sound Leisure, first shared the company’s story at Connect Over A Cuppa in November 2024. I recently caught up with him again to explore how the business is evolving and what drives his approach to innovation and leadership.
What struck me was not simply the number of changes Sound Leisure has made, but Chris’s determination to keep looking for opportunities, even when trading conditions are difficult.
There are some useful lessons here for any established business trying to balance today’s commercial pressures with the need to remain relevant tomorrow.
Innovation Isn’t Just About New Products
One of the stories I remembered from Chris’s original presentation involved the development of satellite technology to distribute music and video content to jukeboxes in pubs.
Today, downloading music or video is something we barely think about. But in the 1990s, the technology presented considerable challenges.
Computer storage was limited and expensive. Telephone connections were slow. Licensing arrangements were designed around physical records rather than digital files.
Sound Leisure had been developing digital technology alongside its CD jukeboxes, but distributing large video files to machines in pubs was a particular problem.
The solution involved installing satellite receivers at venues and transmitting new content overnight. Chris recalled how the company worked with telecommunications providers to distribute the latest music and video, allowing jukeboxes to be updated without someone physically delivering new recordings.
It was a remarkable solution for its time.
But what interests me most isn’t the technology itself.
Sound Leisure wasn’t simply improving its product. It was finding a different way to operate the business.
That distinction is important.
Innovation is often associated with developing new products or introducing the latest technology. Yet some of the most valuable opportunities may come from changing how an existing product or service is delivered, maintained, distributed or paid for.
Another Sound Leisure example illustrates this particularly well.
In 2012, the company introduced a jukebox incorporating contactless payment technology.
Chris explained that it has taken years for the full operational benefits to emerge. As customers increasingly use contactless payments, Sound Leisure can now collect revenue remotely from many of the jukeboxes it operates.
Previously, someone might have needed to visit a machine every week or ten days to collect cash. Some machines now only require a cash collection visit every three months.
That reduces travel, operating costs and the time involved in servicing machines.
An innovation introduced more than a decade ago is now making a significant difference to how the business operates.
There’s an important lesson in that experience.
The value of innovation isn’t always immediate, and its eventual benefits may be different from those originally anticipated.
For an established SME, this raises an interesting question: are we looking for opportunities only in what we sell, or also in how we run the business?
Finding New Opportunities in What You Already Have
Perhaps the most interesting example from my recent conversation with Chris had little to do with jukebox technology.
Sound Leisure has been welcoming visitors to its factory for some time, including schools, colleges and people interested in seeing how its products are made.
As demand for tours increased, the company began to recognise a commercial opportunity.
The company is now also exploring corporate events, live entertainment and a factory shop selling products and items made from manufacturing offcuts.
What started as an opportunity for people to see behind the scenes has the potential to develop into another part of the business.
Chris summed up the thinking with a straightforward question:
“What have you got as an asset, and what can you use it as?”
It’s a question worth asking in almost any established business.
Over time, companies accumulate far more than the products and services they sell. They develop specialist knowledge, equipment, facilities, processes, relationships and experience.
Much of that value is used to support the existing business. But could some of it also create opportunities elsewhere?
A manufacturer might have expertise that other businesses would value. A service company might have developed processes or tools that could be useful beyond its current customers. A business with specialist facilities might discover opportunities to use them differently.
Of course, not every asset can or should become a new revenue stream. There are costs, distractions and risks to consider.
But the Sound Leisure example demonstrates the value of occasionally looking at a familiar business from a different perspective.
Rather than starting with the question, “What new product could we develop?”, it may be worth asking, “What do we already have that other people might value?”
Positivity Doesn’t Mean Ignoring the Difficulties
Chris is someone I’ve met on several occasions, and one of the things that has consistently struck me is his enthusiasm.
He clearly enjoys what he does and seems to approach challenges with a determination to find a way forward.
I wanted to understand where that positivity comes from, particularly after nearly 40 years working in a business that has experienced considerable change.
His answer was refreshingly grounded.
Sound Leisure has faced difficult trading conditions, including pressures in hospitality, changes in overseas markets and rising employment costs.
Chris was open about the fact that the business has had to work harder simply to maintain its position.
However, he also acknowledged the importance to recognise pressure, know you have a supportive team that can handle the business, and take time out for holidays, switching off his phone and emails.
This wasn’t a story about a leader who never experiences difficulties.
It was about recognising that difficult periods are part of running a business, while continuing to look for a way through them.
Chris also talked about the importance of the people around him.
Some employees have been with Sound Leisure for decades, while others have joined more recently as apprentices. He described a shared pride in the products they make and a determination not to let colleagues down.
But enthusiasm alone isn’t enough to keep people motivated when trading is difficult.
Chris explained that Sound Leisure holds monthly factory meetings to keep employees informed about what’s happening.
Rather than pretending everything is fine, the leadership team talks about the challenges the business faces and the opportunities it is pursuing.
When an anticipated order or opportunity materialises, employees can see how it connects to what they’ve previously been told.
Chris’s reasoning is straightforward: if people aren’t kept informed, rumours and uncertainty can take over.
This is a particularly relevant lesson for owners and managers of established SMEs.
When business conditions become difficult, leaders can become so absorbed in solving problems that they forget how little information other people may have.
Employees can usually see when a business is quieter than normal. They notice changes in workload, staffing and management behaviour.
Without an explanation, they may draw their own conclusions.
Keeping people informed doesn’t remove uncertainty, but it can help them understand the situation and remain part of the response.
There’s also an important distinction between being positive and making unrealistic promises.
Chris isn’t suggesting that every opportunity will succeed or that difficult conditions will disappear. His approach is to acknowledge the challenges while showing people what the business is doing about them.
That seems a more useful definition of positive leadership than simply telling everyone to remain optimistic.
You Can’t Be Good at Everything
Another aspect of our conversation concerned the people needed to keep an evolving business moving forward.
Chris was quite open about his own strengths and weaknesses.
He enjoys certain parts of running the business but recognises that other people are better equipped to handle some responsibilities.
His view is that a business needs people with different outlooks and complementary abilities, rather than expecting everyone to approach problems in the same way.
Sound Leisure has also brought in a new Managing Director, creating additional capacity to manage day-to-day operations and pursue improvements.
This matters because the business is exploring opportunities on several fronts, from new jukebox products and factory experiences to other markets.
No single person can realistically give every opportunity the attention it deserves.
For owner-managed SMEs, this can be a difficult transition.
Many founders and long-serving leaders have built their businesses through personal involvement, determination and a willingness to tackle almost anything.
Those qualities are valuable, particularly in the early years.
But as a business develops, relying too heavily on one person’s energy, knowledge and judgement can become a constraint.
The challenge is not simply to recruit more people. It’s to develop a team with the capability and confidence to take responsibility for different parts of the business.
That may involve bringing in new expertise, developing existing managers or changing responsibilities as the business evolves.
Chris described how Sound Leisure is reviewing roles and skills as employees retire and the nature of its activities changes.
Some areas need fewer people, while emerging activities may require different capabilities.
It’s a reminder that organisational development isn’t always about increasing headcount.
Sometimes it’s about making better use of the people and skills already available.
Not Every Opportunity Deserves Investment
Towards the end of our conversation, I asked Chris how Sound Leisure brings together its different ideas and decides what to pursue.
It’s a challenge I see in many businesses.
There are usually plenty of ideas. The difficulty is deciding which ones deserve attention, how much to invest and what should take priority.
Chris acknowledged that this has been particularly difficult during a period when the business has been dealing with immediate commercial pressures.
Longer-term planning becomes harder when so much management time is devoted to keeping things moving.
As conditions allow, Sound Leisure is returning more attention to planning and improvement.
Chris described work on pricing, stock management and identifying future sales opportunities.
Reducing unnecessary stock, for example, can release cash tied up in the business. Improving pricing can strengthen margins without necessarily increasing the number of products sold.
These may not sound as exciting as developing a new jukebox, but they are important commercial improvements.
At the same time, the company has to decide where to direct its research and development resources.
Chris explained that there aren’t enough R&D engineers to pursue every idea immediately.
Some projects are driven by clear customer demand. Others are more speculative, with potential benefits that may not emerge for several years.
That creates a genuine management dilemma.
Concentrate entirely on immediate opportunities and you may neglect ideas that could shape the business’s future.
Invest too heavily in uncertain projects and you risk diverting resources from the work that pays the bills.
Chris recognises that not every idea will be successful, but also that some opportunities need time and freedom to develop.
For me, this is one of the most valuable lessons from the conversation.
Innovation needs both curiosity and commercial discipline.
A business must remain open to possibilities, but it also needs to make choices about where its limited resources will have the greatest impact.
Those decisions won’t always be obvious, and they won’t always be right.
What matters is having enough understanding of the business, its customers and its capabilities to make considered choices rather than simply reacting to whichever opportunity appears most exciting.
Keep Changing, Without Losing What Makes You Different
Despite all the technological and commercial changes Sound Leisure has experienced, one thing remains central to its identity: craftsmanship and quality.
Chris spoke with obvious pride about the materials, construction and durability of the company’s jukeboxes.
These are products designed to last, and customers are prepared to pay significant sums for them.
The business continues to look for better ways to manufacture its products, but Chris is clear that improvements must not come at the expense of the handcrafted quality and heritage on which its reputation depends.
This creates another important distinction.
Innovation doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning what has made a business successful.
Sometimes it means finding new ways to strengthen and protect those qualities.
For an established SME, understanding that distinction is essential.
A business may have spent decades building its reputation around reliability, personal service, specialist expertise or exceptional quality.
New technology and changing markets may create opportunities to improve how it operates, but those changes need to be considered alongside what customers genuinely value.
The challenge is to distinguish between the things that should evolve and the things that give the business its character and competitive strength.
Sound Leisure’s experience suggests that those two objectives don’t have to be in conflict.
What Could You Take Back to Your Business?
I came away from my conversation with Chris thinking about how easy it is for established businesses to become absorbed in the demands of the present.
There are customers to serve, employees to support, costs to manage and problems to solve.
Finding time to think about what comes next can be difficult, particularly when trading conditions are challenging.
Yet Sound Leisure’s story shows how opportunities can emerge in very different places.
Some come from technological developments. Others arise from changing customer behaviour, operational improvements or recognising new value in assets and capabilities that already exist.
The common thread is a willingness to keep questioning what the business could do differently.
That doesn’t mean every company needs to pursue rapid growth or constantly launch new products.
For some, the priority may be improving profitability, reducing operational complexity, developing managers or creating a more resilient and manageable business.
The principle is the same.
If you’re running or managing an established SME, three questions might be worth discussing with your team:
- Where might we be overlooking opportunities because we’re too familiar with how our business currently operates?
- Do we give people enough information, responsibility and encouragement to identify and pursue improvements?
- How do we balance investing in tomorrow’s opportunities with protecting the things that make us successful today?
There may not be straightforward answers.
But having those conversations regularly could be more valuable than waiting until circumstances force a change.
What I particularly admire about Chris and Sound Leisure isn’t simply their willingness to innovate. It’s the combination of curiosity, persistence, pride in their people and a recognition that businesses have to keep adapting.
Nearly 50 years after the company was founded, they’re still looking for what’s next.
And perhaps that’s the most useful lesson of all.
At Connect Over A Cuppa, we bring together business people to share experiences, explore different perspectives and challenge some of the assumptions that shape how we run our businesses. Chris’s story is a good example of why those conversations are worth having.