After my serious bout of covid that I told you about last month, I finally returned to work.
My first day back was at our ST Manchester show. What a treat that was and it was great to see so many faces and to receive the warm welcome back. I even got back to doing the selfies with the man himself Scott Douglas from Suprema, pictured. The show went really well and it’s great to have now pulled off three events since coming out of lockdown (see also page 40 of the September print edition, and the gallery of photos on the website). We have managed to keep everyone safe and secure while meeting in the flesh, something we have all missed, and can I thank my team for working so hard and delivering these shows safely. If you missed us then don’t worry we are coming to a place near you; have a look at page 89 for dates and venues.
Now I have often said it’s a small world we live in these days. Not being a sportsman, my attention was drawn to the Olympics this month and in particular Tom Dean who won two gold medals. Well done to all the Olympic Team GB by the way. Why was my attention drawn to Tom – it was his parents actually. I noticed that the guy jumping around for joy when BBC TV showed his parents celebrating at home was the Marketing Director of CloudView, Nick Paterson-Jones. I had met Nick just a few days earlier at ST Manchester and he never mentioned that his stepson was going to Tokyo. How proud must he be, and congratulations to everyone at home. You will need a trophy cabinet but I understand Gareth Southgate might have one of those for sale? Oh that’s controversial and me not being a sportsman! Talking of CloudView they have just taken on George Georghiou from Tyco. George, a good guy, left Tyco after being head-hunted by somebody else. However that fell through, and it’s a bit of a proverbial long story, but suffice to say that he is now with the cloud company as marketing manager. Sorry George, that means all my competitors will now be banging on your door!?
In case you missed it, Texecom management led by MD Jim Ludwig have done a management buyout (MBO) from FTSE 100-listed Halma plc. LDC investment (a venture capital company) will back Texecom to develop new products, enhance digital services and explore complementary acquisitions. LDC’s money will support Texecom’s management, led by Ludwig, to build on its international presence. I am told it went for $65m but I have not had that confirmed. Good luck Jim and the team.
Ian Moore has moved after 23 years working for QSG-Synectics (the installer Quadrant as we know them) and joined Reliance High Tech as business development manager. Wow, you were just two years away from your gold watch! Good luck Ian.
Secure Logiq (that’s right, they spell it with a Q, not a C) have taken on three new guys: Ivan Sval, Ben Pavesi and Andy Major. Sval joins as Regional Sales Manager for the EU. Based in Slovenia, he has worked for a variety of surveillance manufacturers: the likes of Arecont Vision and Avigilon. Pavesi has signed on as Production Engineer, his first role in the security sector. Major becomes a pre-sales engineer. Major is a familiar face to many in the industry with 16 years of industry experience at Veracity, Baydale Control Systems and Mayfair Security Group.
Trade sales
Yale UK has appointed Nick Harrison as National Trade Sales Agent. He takes on responsibility for the electrical wholesale channel. Nick brings 20 years of experience in the electrical and smart sectors, which includes roles at Edmundson Electrical, Honeywell and as part of the National Sales team at Google. Nick will work through wholesalers, on a national and independent level.
Charity
On Sunday, August 1, Joe Sheppard, CSL Brand and Marketing Manager, and Max Stevens, their Key Accounts Manager M2M, completed the London Landmarks Half Marathon and raised £2,000 for Footprints Conductive Education Centre. The pair were accompanied by their dads who also ran the 13 miles! I take it that their fathers accompanied them to raise extra for charity, not because they thought Joe and Max would get up to mischief. West Midlands based home security provider, ERA, was taking part in a 100 mile bicycle ride, the ‘GMF 100’ Challenge, last month to fund-raise for its 2021 nominated charity, Hope House Children’s Hospices. That included Helen Downer, President of ERA’s parent company Tyman UK and Ireland.
Last but not least the consultant Angus Darroch-Warren on October 2 is taking on a one-day 40km hiking challenge to raise money for cancer research. As he says and so many of us say, it is quite scary how many people he knows that have also been affected. “Whether parents, brothers, sisters or friends, cancer attacks us in many forms and indiscriminately. I understand that we all receive requests of this nature, but please consider donating to my Giving Page and help me support the research that will one day, hopefully, find a cure for cancer!” We all second that.
