Saville Audio Visual to sponsor Business Personality category of Press Business Awards 2009 (From York Press)

Saville Audio Visual to sponsor Business Personality category of Press Business Awards 2009

10:06am Wednesday 16th September 2009 in Business news By Ron Godfrey

SAVILLE Audio Visual, one of York’s leading technology-based companies, announced today it is to be a major sponsor of The Press Business Awards 2009.

The firm, which has regularly provided audio-visual facilities for the 19-year-old event, is backing the Business Personality Of The Year category.

Saville was founded as a pharmacy in Goodramgate in 1876. From humble beginnings, it grew to be the UK’s most successful audio-visual specialist, with a nationwide network of regional offices and a £33 million turnover.

And it knows what gongs are about. The firm itself has collected 24 national awards over the past ten years, something that could only be achieved with top personalities at the helm.

It has won the AV Rental Company Of The Year three times and Best Conference Equipment Supplier five times in the last six years at the Meetings & Incentive Travel Industry Awards. Last year, it was also voted Hire Company Of The Year by the Hire Association Europe.

Ed Everard, Saville sales and marketing director, joined the then photographic firm straight from York Minster School in 1966. Now, with a staff of about 300 to motivate and manage, his view of the value of people is clear.

He said: “We are very conscious of the part our key people play in keeping the company in its market leading position. Product knowledge, sales ability and technical skills are all vital for success in a hi-tech electronic world, but there’s no mistaking the rare, inspirational quality of the person whose love for their job drives them to always be the best.

“A major part of our business is providing solutions which enable businesses and trainers in all walks of life to present information effectively – and what a difference it makes when the presenter has the passion and personality to put their message across with conviction.

“A lot of it is simply about being liked, but there are definitely those who don’t even need audio-visual aids to make an impact.

“They are the people who give their company a head start – people who command attention and respect from the moment they walk into a room. They are like gold dust.”

This year, there is a strong line-up of Business Personality Of The Year category finalists for the event at York Racecourse on November 26.

They are Michael Hjort, of Meltons and Meltons Too Café Bar Bistro in York; Ruth Snowden, of Easingwold Bathrooms & Interiors, Easingwold; and Stephen Kennedy, the UK managing director of CPP Plc, York.