Inside Majik House: Unveiling Their Passion for Together for Cinema

In May 2024, Majik House founder Tim Burrow and Sales Director Jit Mistry were invited to the Together For Cinema Million Pound Dinner, an evening where some of the leading lights in the UK custom install industry came together to celebrate reaching the milestone of £1m worth of donated cinema room installations.

The key focus of Together for Cinema is on designing and installing home cinema rooms in children’s hospices and other suitable locations across the UK. These installed entertainment rooms not only benefit children and young adults, but also their families, carers, staff and volunteers. Majik House have themselves been involved in two such projects – the Jigsaw Children’s Hospice in Carlisle and the Creative Space Centre in Preston.

In a recent Q&A session, Together for Cinema caught up with Jit to discover the motivations behind their commitment to Together for Cinema – here’s how the conversation went:

Q: What initially inspired your involvement with Together for Cinema?

A: Majik House work with clients across the North West providing the design and installation of their smart home systems – dynamic audio, high definition TV, lighting design and control, with bespoke home cinema suites being a large part of our work.

Majik House is very much a values-led company; along with putting our customers at the heart of everything we do, over the years our company has supported numerous worthwhile causes with either fundraising or in-kind donations.

We had heard about Ian Morrish setting-up Together For Cinema and really liked the concept. When he got in touch in the autumn of 2021 about a project at the Jigsaw Children’s Hospice in Carlisle, we were delighted to get involved and be part of their team.

This proved to be a very rewarding and fulfilling experience for everyone at Majik House, especially our installation guys, and we were incredibly proud to have helped create a really lovely cinema that those children and their families can enjoy.

Q: Can you tell us about your experience in AV installation, give an overview of Majik House’s background and evolution, and outline your typical daily responsibilities?

A: Majik House was founded in 1998 by Tim Burrow, our MD, and we’re one of the longest established smart home companies in the UK. Tim was – and, I guess, still is – an engineer and also a hi-fi enthusiast.

Majik House grew out of Tim helping people get better performance from their audio systems, something of a passion project operating from the garage at his own house. As demand for Tim’s expertise grew the company moved into a proper business unit, and it wasn’t long before a number installation staff needed to be recruited.

Over the past 26 years, Majik House has evolved into a successful, multi award-winning business with clients across the UK. Business growth has never been the sole objective and, despite our modest size, we will always pride ourselves on providing a tailored service for every client and every project.

It’s an approach which runs through everyone at Majik House – I’ve been with the company now for 18 years, and I’m still as passionate about it as I was the day I joined.

My job title is that of sales director, but I never really see what I do as ‘sales’. It’s more about understanding clients, getting an appreciation of their lifestyle, and designing the systems and solutions which will enhance their homes.

Q: Can you tell us about any particularly memorable experiences or moments from your time working on the Creative Space Centre project last year?

A: I visited the Creative Space Centre shortly after Ian had mentioned this project to me. Obviously, I wanted to see the space we’d be working with, but I also wanted to meet some of the team there and get a feel for how they and their visitors wanted to use the new cinema.

I was back there perhaps three or four times during construction, and every time was memorable. My final visit was after completion, and witnessing the sheer excitement from both the centre’s users and staff was truly remarkable.

Some of these people may have never had the opportunity to access and experience a traditional cinema because of their disabilities. It was incredibly moving to see the joy on their faces, it absolutely spoke volumes and was a testament to the impact of the project.

Q: How does your involvement with Together for Cinema align with your personal or professional principles?

A: In terms of our professional ethos, Majik House always prioritise up-front transparency with our clients, ensuring that we deliver the best possible value within their budget and desired outcomes. Our work primarily focuses on residential projects, ranging from single room installations to whole home systems, and we’ll always go the extra mile to exceed expectations.

Personally, I get immense satisfaction from seeing people enjoy the results of our work, particularly families, and the delighted expressions on our clients’ faces when we hand-over a project is something I’ll never tire of.

As mentioned earlier, Majik House is a values-led organisation and opportunities to ‘pay it back’ through projects like Together for Cinema align perfectly with our company’s and our personal values.

Q: How do you believe the partnership between installers and Together for Cinema helps with the overall experience for the recipients of the installations?

A: I believe organisations like the Creative Space Centre benefit from the expertise of professional installers like us and others that have partnered with Together for Cinema.

Majik House are experts in custom installation of smart home technology, a specialist area of work that requires in-depth knowledge and experience covering AV, lighting design, control systems and the networks that support these. With all respect, a project like this isn’t something that you could just call on an electrician to undertake.

The design and installation of the Together for Cinema projects we have completed is to the same standard as the work we undertake for all our clients. The partnership approach from Ian Morrish means that recipients are able to access the experts, like Majik House, in our highly specialised field and the outcomes speak for themselves.

Q: What advice or encouragement would you offer to other installers considering participating in Together for Cinema installations?

A: The greatest reward is definitely the feel-good factor – knowing you can use your experiences, resources and skills to give something back to provide cinema spaces for people who normally would never get to experience something like this. We also know that these experiences can have therapeutic benefits, as well as providing an opportunity to spend quality time with friends, families and loved ones.

Majik House carried out the cinema room installation at the Creative Space Centre in November 2023 and it is already being put to good use, as Jane Robinson, Manager of the Creative Space Centre explains:

“After experiencing a fantastic cinema already installed by Together for Cinema, I contacted Ian Morrish to see if the Creative Space Centre would be eligible to go on the waiting list for one. I was thrilled when he came to see us and agreed, and then to find it was going to be this year was amazing!”

“After a lot of planning and meetings, the work started in October and, unbelievably, finished the following month ready for a December launch.”

“The cinema is going to be so beneficial to so many of our service users who cannot access a mainstream cinema for a variety of reasons. We have a range of different seating, and all can be moved in and out as needed. We can also hoist if necessary.

“Having our own cinema means our visitors can walk about in there, make noises, pause the film if necessary – anything they like to make their experience the best it can be. The bookings are flooding in, and everybody loves it. Thank you all so much.”