A leading entrepreneur in Leicestershire, Mike Hester (stage name Mike Miller) has been at the forefront of music and speech recording, leading the field in the adaptation and development of audio technology.
His journey to becoming the Owner and Managing Director of Leicester's premier recording studio, WHITE HOUSE SOUND, began back in 1945, when at the age of six he taught himself to play the ukulele and then quickly advanced to both four and six string guitars. At the tender age of eleven he converted his own acoustic guitar to electric guitar and later built his very first guitar amplifier.
A career in music became inevitable and during the early fifties Mike played in and managed many professional bands and groups, eventually becoming the Musical Director of his own Band. He then became involved in broadcasting and recording for prestigious organisations such as the BBC and Phillips.
Mike's early recording studios were always based in Leicestershire and the move to the current location in Syston in 1990 began the latest and most exciting stage of Mike's career. Initially continuing with music recording, he quickly pursued the opportunity to diversify into a very different market. Thus, the first experience of recording speech for corporate ventures began.
Mike co-owns WHITE HOUSE SOUND Ltd., with his wife Kay. From the outset, Kay has contributed significantly to the success of the company, with her flair for design and her understanding of the necessity to provide a top quality working environment to attract premier clients. In the early days Kay dealt with the office management and she now oversees an administration team in the role of Director and Company Secretary.
It was in 1995 that the opportunity came about for Mike & Kay to begin recording audio books for an established publishing company. What began with a few ad hoc orders, quickly flourished into a burgeoning business and industry leaders quickly learnt that their sometimes inferior products could be sent to Mike for the Whitehouse 'treatment'; to be skillfully edited and for the sound quality to be enhanced using the latest technology available.
Mike & Kay are now the proud owners of one of the few independent studios in the country, specializing in speech recording that has an enviable reputation within the sound recording industry. Their dream that the family firm of WHITE HOUSE SOUND will go from strength to strength in the future is now being realised, with the development of four new digitally equipped studios, which are being managed by their son and fellow Director, Mark Anderson.