PRIVATE WORKING PLAN · 2 OCTOBER 2026
Plug&.
A player worth opening the gallery for.
Recommendation: validate a £279 direct kit and a £299 + VAT professional package with a small UK pilot. Keep the first product tightly focused on dependable local loops. Add measured sync when it earns the promise.
1. The opportunity and the brand
Plug& combines “folio” and “loop”: a portable edition of moving-image work. Position it as exhibition equipment with a simple daily routine. Brand line: Moving images. Simply shown. Use restrained typography, concrete-gallery imagery and a chartreuse signal colour. The website, copy and artwork are original; Lūpa informs the category and simplicity, not the identity or design.
[Unverified] A preliminary exact-name web search found no obvious media-player competitor. This is not trademark clearance. Before packaging or public launch, search UK IPO, EUIPO/TMview, WIPO, company registers, phonetic variants, classes 9/42 and relevant retail classes; check domains and social handles, then commission a clearance opinion. Do not use ® or claim a domain is owned. UK IPO search.
The defensible offer is an export-to-opening workflow: compatibility presets, resilient local playback, visible failures, quick replacement and someone who understands exhibition deadlines. The Raspberry Pi itself is neither differentiation nor a reliability claim. Avoid a broad signage CMS, rental fleet and cloud platform in V1.
2. Customers and positioning
| Segment | Job and purchase pattern | Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Independent artists / small galleries | 1-3 screens; limited budget; need an export guide and simple opening routine. Direct online kit. | First pilot |
| Gallery technicians / exhibition producers | 3-10 screens; purchase orders, deadline support, mounts and spare-player planning. | First commercial focus |
| Museums / AV integrators | Long service life, documentation, security, measured sync and repeatable commissioning. Dealer channel later. | After proof |
| Retail / temporary installations | Focused video loops; local updates. Poor fit when scheduling, analytics or estate management is essential. | Secondary |
[Inference] Start where a laptop or USB playback on a television creates setup and restart friction. Do not pitch as a replacement for every BrightSign workflow. Buyers needing mature signage authoring, proven fleet management, locked connectors or guaranteed frame alignment should compare established systems.
3. Live benchmark: the price gap is smaller than expected
| Offer | Verified listing | Practical comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Lūpa | A$329; H.264 MP4 up to 1920 × 1080; network-cable sync; Pi 2 platform. Discounts by enquiry at 5+. | Category reference for local art playback. Australian price is not UK landed cost; international taxes and duties are additional. Official offer. |
| BrightSign LS445 | Ballicom live page: £409.25 inc VAT / £341.04 ex VAT on 2 October 2026. | The earlier ~£530 observation is not the current anchor. Listing is player pricing: check storage, accessories, Wi-Fi and software needs for a like-for-like installed kit. Current reseller listing. |
| Plug& proposal | £279 inc VAT direct; £299 ex VAT professional (= £358.80 inc). | £130.25 below that BrightSign listing direct, only £50.45 below professionally. Hardware is unproven. Sell workflow and service; price alone is insufficient. |
No competitor checkout was attempted. Listed prices may change. Lūpa sync performance is its published claim, not independently measured here. Pi 5’s official specification includes a 4K60 HEVC decoder, dual-band 802.11ac and Gigabit Ethernet; it does not establish seamless loops or synchronized display output. Raspberry Pi specification.
4. Product: finish one-screen playback first
MVP: one player per screen; Pi 5 4GB-class platform; single 4K SDR 8-bit HEVC MP4 at 24/25/30 fps; HDMI stereo audio; media local to USB; automatic start and repeat; phone setup via protected temporary access point; optional connection to venue Wi-Fi or Ethernet; clear file errors; last-known-good recovery. Prototype maximum bitrate, container, frame-rate and storage limits before publishing them. Include 64GB media storage and an endurance OS card.
Test the simplest hardware-accelerated playback route before building a dashboard: direct display output using a maintained Linux playback stack, rather than assuming a browser video tag delivers reliable 4K. Stage uploads into a separate file, validate them, then switch atomically. Keep the playing file intact after a failed upload. Protect the OS from repeated power cuts; provide recoverable firmware updates, a watchdog, log export and a known-good rescue image.
Seamless means measurable: inspect the last-to-first decoded frames, visible black flashes, repeated/missing frames and audio gaps. A well-authored asset matters too. Target no visible black frame at 25/30 fps across 1,000 loops and publish the measured method and supported profile. This target is not yet achieved.
Sync beta: preloaded equal-duration files, shared timebase, scheduled start, periodic drift observation and bounded correction. Wi-Fi and Ethernet both require clock, decoder, display-latency and recovery tests. Wi-Fi clock sync does not imply a precise presentation timestamp; Ethernet is not genlock. [Assumption] first useful target: ≤1 frame displayed offset on a validated wired 25/30 fps setup and ≤2 frames for a dedicated Wi-Fi setup, measured at the 95th percentile with maximum excursions also reported. Do not promise these figures until achieved. Use common display modes and test audio phase separately.
| Now / MVP | After proof | Later only if customers pay |
|---|---|---|
| Standalone 4K loop, protected setup, export presets, diagnostics, recovery, validated kit | Wired sync then Wi-Fi sync, reconnect behaviour, multi-player group view, commissioning reports | 4K50/60, 10-bit/HDR, playlists/schedules, fleet updates, additional audio hardware, certified custom board |
No mandatory subscription for local playback. Cloud management is not required for the art to run. Fan noise, mounting, cable retention and thermal headroom are installation requirements, not cosmetic details.
5. Price architecture: hypotheses with clear tax treatment
The requested £249-£299 B2C range is tested including VAT. The £299-£349 professional range must be tested both including and excluding VAT: these are very different margins. This proposal starts at £299 excluding VAT, visibly £358.80 to a UK consumer. Do not display an ex-VAT B2B price as the consumer price.
| Package | UK direct, inc 20% VAT | UK professional, ex VAT | EU direct, illustrative inc 20% VAT | EU professional, ex VAT |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo / 1 | £279 | £299 | €329 | €349 |
| Edition / 3 | £789 / £263 each | £849 / £283 each | €929 / €309.67 each | €989 / €329.67 each |
| Installation / 5 | £1,245 / £249 each | £1,345 / £269 each | €1,465 / €293 each | €1,565 / €313 each |
| 10+ | Quote; cost floor applies | Quote; no automatic discount stack | Country-specific landed quote | Country-specific landed quote |
Direct kit: player, cooler, case, PSU, HDMI cable, OS card, 64GB media drive and proposed 2-year hardware warranty. Professional kit: same playback hardware, mounting accessories, one 30-minute remote commissioning session per order, priority weekday support and commissioning checklist. Multipacks share a session; on-site labour, travel, content preparation, switches, routers and screens are extra.
EU figures are independent price hypotheses, not live currency conversions. Planning assumption €1 = £0.85, not a verified exchange rate. At an illustrative 20% VAT, €329 yields €274.17 net / £233.04. A destination rate of 23% reduces net to €267.48 before FX fees. Before EU sales, choose importer/fulfilment route, destination VAT, customs classification, landed shipping, EU returns address and country WEEE/packaging obligations. Obtain advice on OSS/IOSS eligibility; do not assume reverse charge or zero UK VAT alone settles the EU bill. Launch the UK and one EU country first.
6. BOM and unit economics: current Pi cost changes the answer
The Pi Hut product data currently reports a Pi 5 4GB at £105.60 including UK VAT, £88 net, and the 27W PSU at £11.50 including VAT, £9.58 net. These are retail anchors, not trade quotes. Pi 5 · PSU. Remaining costs below are [Assumptions], rounded and excluding recoverable VAT.
| Cost per direct kit | Planning GBP, ex VAT | Evidence / boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Pi 5 4GB | 88 | Current retail anchor |
| Regional 27W PSU | 10 | Rounded current retail anchor |
| Active cooler | 5 | Supplier quote needed |
| Enclosure | 14 | Prototype estimate; tooling excluded |
| Endurance OS card | 8 | Estimate |
| 64GB media drive | 8 | Estimate; write-speed validation needed |
| HDMI cable | 5 | Estimate |
| Packaging / labels | 5 | Estimate |
| Physical BOM subtotal | 143 | Low-volume planning baseline |
| Assembly, image loading, QA | 12 | 20 minutes at £36/hour |
| Inbound logistics | 4 | Estimate |
| Warranty / returns reserve | 9 | Initial assumption; review after pilot |
| Loaded direct COGS | 168 | Before selling and operating costs |
| Professional accessories / commissioning allocation | 26 | Mounting £8 + 30-minute session £18; shared sessions can lower multipack cost |
| Loaded professional COGS | 194 | Session length and repeat calls are a risk |
| UK single-kit test | Net revenue | Loaded COGS | Gross profit / margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| £249 inc VAT direct | £207.50 | £168 | £39.50 / 19.0% |
| £279 inc VAT direct | £232.50 | £168 | £64.50 / 27.7% |
| £299 inc VAT direct | £249.17 | £168 | £81.17 / 32.6% |
| £299 inc VAT professional | £249.17 | £194 | £55.17 / 22.1% |
| £349 inc VAT professional | £290.83 | £194 | £96.83 / 33.3% |
| £299 ex VAT professional | £299 | £194 | £105 / 35.1% |
Direct contribution at £279 after assumed card fees of 2% of gross (£5.58), £6 delivery, £12 support handling and £18 acquisition is only £22.92. This is why £249 is unsuitable as the everyday single-kit anchor on this BOM. Gross margin is not profit. The 5-pack at £249 each has 19.0% baseline hardware gross margin, but shared shipping, organic/referral sales and one support session can improve contribution. Do not promote it through expensive paid acquisition.
At 40% target hardware gross margin, direct £279 inc VAT needs loaded COGS ≤£139.50; £249 needs ≤£124.50. A Pi price increase of £20 net drops direct £279 gross margin by 8.6 percentage points. Obtain trade quotes for 25/100/500 units and alternate RAM configurations before treating £139 as achievable. Do not reduce RAM or change suppliers without repeating playback, thermal and compatibility tests. Add patent royalties and country compliance fees if applicable; current reserves are not proof of coverage.
7. Dealer logic: protect a viable channel
First phase is direct sales. Proposed authorised dealer starter: 5 units prepaid at £219 ex VAT for the professional hardware kit; suggested reseller retail £299 ex VAT gives dealer £80 / 26.8% gross margin. Dealer handles first-line support and commissioning; Plug& handles escalation and warranty. Manufacturer dealer-kit COGS is £176 (£168 kit + £8 mount; dealer does commissioning). Gross profit is only £43 / 19.6%, before overhead. This is a restricted test tier, not a healthy scaled wholesale channel.
EU dealer test: €255 ex VAT against €349 ex VAT suggested professional retail gives €94 / 26.9% dealer margin. At assumed €1 = £0.85, manufacturer net is £216.75; against £176 dealer-kit cost margin is 18.8%, before FX and country-specific costs. EU 20+ tier €245 ex VAT needs the same proven cost floor and landed-cost review. These are euro price tests, not live FX-linked quotes.
Volume tier: 20+ at £209 ex VAT, only after loaded dealer-kit COGS is proven ≤£150. Manufacturer margin is then 28.2%; dealer margin at £299 is 30.1%. Below that cost threshold, hold £219 or renegotiate retail/package economics. A distributor buying at £189 with another reseller layer is deferred: margins are too thin on the low-volume build. Avoid stacking multipack discounts, referral fees and wholesale discounts.
Use non-binding recommended prices; dealers set their resale prices. No minimum resale-price enforcement. Agree territory, payment terms, damaged-on-arrival procedure, serial tracking, training and warranty reimbursement in writing. Require no exclusive territory before demonstrated sell-through. Channel conflict is real because the cheaper direct kit uses identical playback hardware: articulate services and accessories, not artificial software restrictions.
8. Three-year scenarios: editable assumptions, not a forecast
Years are the first three 12-month periods after commercial launch, not calendar-year promises. Net revenue excludes VAT. Units count players, including multipacks. ASP is blended realised selling price after discounts/channel mix. Base starting mix assumption: 55% direct, 30% professional, 15% dealer gives £250.43 before mix/discount adjustments; model starts at £245. Blended first-year loaded COGS is £177 (55% × £168 + 30% × £194 + 15% × £176); later reductions are unquoted targets. No recurring revenue, grant or service revenue is assumed.
| Year | Units | Net revenue | Gross profit | Gross margin | Operating result |
|---|
All starting scenarios
| Scenario | Year | Units | Net revenue | Gross profit | Gross margin | Operating result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cautious | 1 | 150 | £34,500 | £7,950 | 23.04% | £-67,050 |
| Cautious | 2 | 450 | £101,700 | £30,600 | 30.09% | £-34,400 |
| Cautious | 3 | 900 | £201,600 | £63,900 | 31.7% | £-16,100 |
| Base | 1 | 300 | £73,500 | £20,400 | 27.76% | £-59,600 |
| Base | 2 | 900 | £216,000 | £81,900 | 37.92% | £-3,100 |
| Base | 3 | 1800 | £424,800 | £174,600 | 41.1% | £44,600 |
| Upside | 1 | 500 | £125,000 | £36,500 | 29.2% | £-68,500 |
| Upside | 2 | 1500 | £367,500 | £150,000 | 40.82% | £10,000 |
| Upside | 3 | 3500 | £833,000 | £360,500 | 43.28% | £110,500 |
Formula: revenue = units × net ASP; COGS = units × loaded unit cost; gross profit = revenue − COGS; operating result = gross profit − operating costs − launch expense. The model is before tax, finance and depreciation; launch development is expensed for this simplified decision model. It is not audited accounting or a cash-flow forecast.
Base assumptions: ASP £245/£240/£236; loaded unit cost £177/£149/£139; operating costs £55k/£85k/£130k plus £25k launch cost in Year 1. Year 1 opex includes founder £30k, ongoing support £5k (commissioning labour is already in COGS), sales/acquisition £10k, administration/insurance/tools £7k and ongoing compliance/security £3k. Year 2: £40k/£10k/£20k/£10k/£5k. Year 3: £55k/£25k/£30k/£15k/£5k. Acquisition is inside operating costs, not deducted twice. Cautious opex £50k/£65k/£80k; upside £70k/£140k/£250k allows more staff and sales spend. Operating cost totals are assumptions, not staffing quotes.
Base results are −£59,600 / −£3,100 / +£44,600; cumulative −£18,100 after three years. Year 3 break-even ≈1,341 players at £97 gross profit each. Cautious remains loss-making; upside reaches +£110,500 in Year 3 but depends on cost reductions and genuine demand. This is potentially a focused product business, not automatically a highly profitable company.
Funding envelope [Assumption]: £92k-£107k before founder distributions: base Year 1 loss £59.6k + next year loss £3.1k + 100 units of stock at ~£159 cash build cost (£15.9k) + ~£5k receivable allowance + ~£8k-£23k contingency. Do not add the £25k launch cost again; it is already in Year 1 loss. VAT timing, EU registration costs, customs, customer deposits and payment terms need a monthly cash-flow model before committing inventory. Each extra £10 COGS reduces base Year 3 result by £18k. Inventory purchased ahead of sales can make cash pressure worse than profit suggests.
9. Go-to-market: earn five opening nights
- Weeks 1-2: interview 15 artists/technicians and 5 integrators about the last failed opening, current player, budget and timing tolerance. Show the working website and a real loop demonstration. Compare £249/£279/£299 inclusive direct and £299/£329/£349 professional with explicit VAT basis. Record willingness to pay, not compliments.
- Weeks 3-6: build 3-5 loan prototypes; UK-only supervised pilots, without sales or deposits. Five venues, representative projectors/TVs, daily startup and 72-hour playback proof. Three independent users must load an approved film unaided in under 10 minutes. Confirm the lawful prototype/test arrangement before supply.
- Weeks 6-10: supplier quotes, compliance lab review, enclosure/cooling revision and measured wired sync trial. Publish real test clips and error/recovery behaviour. If compliance or loop continuity fails, keep sales closed.
- First sale gate: completed compliance file, stable release, manufacturing QA, support/returns process, insured supplier, real checkout and genuine contact details. Manufacture the first 25 units against validated demand; avoid 500-unit speculative inventory.
- Next 90 days: target 50 direct players plus 3 commissioning orders through technician referrals, artist studios, art-school technicians and small AV partners. Source and document case studies only with permission. Goal: <3% RMA, <30 minutes average support/order, acquisition ≤£18/direct player and contribution ≥£25 at chosen mix. These are operating gates, not achieved metrics.
Channels: concise export/setup videos, search pages for “4K gallery loop player”, direct demonstrations to exhibition technicians, loan kits for selected AV partners, and practical launch-day checklists. Outreach is proposed; nobody has been contacted. Avoid broad paid ads until conversion, return rate and support costs are measured. International expansion starts with one EU importer/dealer and one country compliance route.
10. Warranty, support and operational reliability
Proposed commercial warranty: 2 years hardware repair/replacement for UK/EU, with terms that preserve statutory rights. Initial support target: acknowledgement within two UK business days; professional within one; weekday UK hours, no 24/7 SLA. Fault triage: approved test file, serial/firmware, display mode and diagnostic export. Dispatch replacement only after a documented RMA decision; avoid promising same-day delivery. Keep 3-5% finished spare stock and trace component lots.
Offer a published five-year security-maintenance period from the last sale of a model, budgeted and deliverable before promising it. Offline use does not eliminate update responsibilities. Have a vulnerability contact, signed release process, rollback, dependency inventory and end-of-support notice. Professional warranty does not cover exhibition downtime; confirm insurance and reasonable commercial terms.
Consumer rights are separate from the voluntary warranty: EU goods carry a minimum two-year legal guarantee and distance purchases generally a 14-day withdrawal right; national rules can be stronger. UK online cancellation and faulty-goods rights must be reflected in terms. Do not copy Lūpa’s 7-day policy into UK/EU sales. EU consumer rights · UK returns rules.
11. Compliance before sale: the assembled product is yours
A certified Raspberry Pi is useful evidence, not approval for the Plug& end product. The finished enclosure, PSU, cables, radios, firmware and intended use require a documented assessment. Appoint a competent compliance lead and obtain a written lab scope before freezing the design. [Planning estimate] reserve £15k-£30k for initial assessment/testing/rework/documentation; £25k total launch budget is tight if development also needs contractors. Obtain actual quotes; repeated testing, royalties and EU representation can exceed it.
| Workstream | Required evidence / action | Release owner |
|---|---|---|
| EU RED / GB radio rules | Wi-Fi makes radio-equipment assessment central. Confirm end-product safety/health, EMC and radio spectrum requirements, antenna/enclosure effects, band restrictions and applicable standards. Choose permitted conformity-assessment route; notified/approved-body involvement may be needed where relevant standards are not fully applied. | Compliance lead + lab |
| Electrical / product safety | Risk assessment for thermal limits, fan failure, fire, touch/access, mechanical enclosure, power supply and foreseeable misuse. RED incorporates safety objectives without the LVD voltage threshold; do not assume a low-voltage DC player is exempt. Assess supplied mains adapter obligations separately. Lab selects relevant AV/ICT and radio standards. | Hardware lead |
| EMC | Emissions/immunity on final configured product, realistic PSU/cables, HDMI/USB and network activity. For radio equipment EMC is covered through RED; assess any separately supplied non-radio equipment without double-counting directives blindly. | Lab |
| RoHS / materials | Supplier declarations, BOM substances evidence, production controls and technical documentation. Include enclosure, solder, cables and accessories. Confirm EU RoHS and GB/NI routes and assess REACH/SVHC duties. | Supply chain lead |
| Marking and documents | EU CE required; GB currently recognises CE for covered radio products, with UKCA an available route. NI follows distinct rules; UKNI where applicable is not an EU market-access mark. Prepare relevant DoCs, manufacturer/importer identity, model, serial/batch, markings, local-language safety instructions and controlled technical file. Retain radio technical documents/DoC for 10 years. | Compliance lead |
| WEEE and packaging | UK producer registration; compliance scheme where applicable, crossed-out bin marking, reporting and distributor take-back arrangements. EU registration in each country sold into, local scheme and authorised representative where required. Packaging EPR is a separate country-specific check. | Operations lead |
| EU/NI economic operator | Confirm importer/responsible-person arrangement and applicable GPSR obligations, online identification/safety information, traceability, incident/recall processes, translations and territorial liability cover. | Commercial lead |
| UK PSTI | Assess consumer-connectable-product scope/exemptions for this finished appliance. Do not assume Pi/general-purpose-computer status carries over. If in scope: unique or user-defined passwords, vulnerability reporting information, published minimum update period and accompanying Statement of Compliance; manufacturer/importer duties. | Software security lead |
| EU RED cybersecurity | EU 2022/30 applies since August 2025 to specified categories. Determine scope of network protection, privacy and fraud requirements for actual features; select relevant harmonised standards and assessment route. Internet-capable design requires more than disabling cloud marketing. | Compliance + security |
| EU Cyber Resilience Act | Reporting obligations began 11 September 2026; main obligations apply 11 December 2027. Assess classification, build vulnerability/incident reporting now, document support period, secure update and dependency practices. Do not postpone all work to 2027. | Software security lead |
| Licensing / IP | Audit open-source licences, notices and source-offer obligations; review HEVC/other codec patent licensing and any upstream coverage/exhaustion. Raspberry Pi decoding hardware and open-source playback do not establish that all end-product royalties are settled. | Legal + software lead |
Primary references: GB radio rules and marking; EU RED; GB RoHS; UK WEEE; EU WEEE; UK product security; CRA reporting; CRA dates; Product safety / NI; HEVC licensing scope.
12. Decide whether to ship
Proceed to a bounded pilot. The concept has a coherent buyer and the website is ready to support a demonstration. It is not ready to take hardware orders. Stop or change course if dependable seamless looping cannot be measured, compliant cost cannot support contribution, or buyers choose established players at the proposed professional price.
Do not spend another month renaming it. The next useful result is an actual film looping on an actual screen, restarted by an independent gallery technician. Keep Plug& as a provisional identity while that test happens.