Industry Appointments

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

ADJ’s Laurent Paulussen; Allen & Heath’s Jamie Ward; KB Event’s Cliff Zenker

ADJ has recruited Laurent Paulussen as the new Director of Finance for the company’s European division.

“The new Director of Finance role at ADJ Europe is significant as we continue to develop our brands and extend our market share in this key territory,” commented Toby Velazquez, President of the ADJ Group of Companies.

Paulussen stated: “Having met Laurent, I am confident that he is the right person for the job and will very quickly become an important part of the ADJ team. He has a true wealth of commercial experience and is both a strategist and results-driven team motivator. He is also down to earth and a team player who I am sure will very quickly enhance our existing European management team which is already very strong.”

He continued: “I am excited and proud to start working as a member of the ADJ Europe team,” said Paulussen. “My first meeting with the company was informative, then when I met with the European management team I instantly warmed to them and my final meeting with Toby Velazquez was nothing short of inspiring. I feel honoured to step aboard, and want to get the best out of myself and also my co-workers.” Allen & Heath has appointed of Jamie Ward as Sales Director APAC. Having held key international sales positions with The Stanton Group, Harman and most recently, Community Professional, Ward also has extensive history with Allen & Heath, having previously been with the company from 2000-2007.

“I cut my teeth at Allen & Heath, so in many ways this feels like returning home,” said Ward. “Over recent years, I’ve watched the brand growing and growing and feel incredibly excited to be able to bring my experience back to the fold to help it reach new heights in the dynamic, fast evolving APAC market.”

Markus Sinsel, Sales Director at Allen & Heath, commented, “As our APAC business continues to grow, finding the right person for this role was critical. With his extensive international experience and solid history with Allen & Heath, Jamie proved to be the perfect fit. Jamie’s enthusiasm for the business of pro audio is infectious and I know that he is looking forward to working with all our partners to continue to build on the strong successes we have seen in the region to date.”

KB Event has brought Cliff Zenker into the position of General Manager. Having worked closely with KB Event over the years on and a wide variety of projects, Zenker is now delighted to be part of the KB Event team. “My plan is to blend my Management, Production and Technical skills in this new, General Manager position, to assist Stuart and Leanne and the rest of the KB Event team in furthering its growth and success.”

Stuart McPherson, KB Event Managing Director, commented: “Cliff’s previous experience, his can-do attitude, and his determination to see projects through to conclusion are attributes that made my decision in asking him to join us an absolute no-brainer.working closely with him as the business continues to thrive.”

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INDUSTRY APPOINTMENTS

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The team at PRG K.K. Ayrton’s new exclusive distributors in Japan; The TechPro team; d&b audiotechnik’s Christian Orcin.

Stuart McPherson, KB Event Managing Director commented. “Cliff’s previous experience, his can-do attitude, and his determination to see projects through to conclusion are attributes that made my decision in asking him to join us an absolute no-brainer. Leanne & I are extremely pleased that he accepted our offer, and we both look forward to working closely with him as the business continues to thrive.”

Arena Events Group has welcomed Chris Morris as Chief Executive of UK and Europe. Morris has over 20 years’ experience in the Sports, Leisure and Hospitality sectors and will join Arena on 19th March.

Morris was most recently Managing Director of the Events and Destinations Division of CH & Co, a leading catering and hospitality group and spent 9 years working with the Rugby Football Union as Managing Director of Twickenham Experience Ltd.

Greg Lawless, Chief Executive of Arena said: “We are delighted to welcome Chris to the Arena team. He has held a number of senior executive positions within the sports, leisure and hospitality sectors and is very well known in the industry. Chris brings a wealth of knowledge to his new position and I believe he will be a great asset to the Arena Group as we continue to grow the UK Division over the coming years”.

Ayrton has confirmed of PRG K.K. as its new, exclusive distributor for Japan with effect from 1 March 2019.

Ayrton’s full range of products will be promoted and supported on a day-to-day basis by PRG K.K.’s technical sales team.

“We chose to become an Ayrton distributor because their renewed focus on an innovative, lightweight and quality product line is an excellent

fit for the Japanese marketplace,” said PRG K.K.’s Yuji Tanaka. “We believe the new Ayrton product range offers unique advantages in terms of their high output, full set of features, and remarkably compact, light-weight housings.

“PRG is very excited to be a part of this next level in our relationship with Ayrton,” said John Swain, PRG’s CEO of Asia and Australia. “We recognised the innovative solutions that Ayrton lighting products offer clients across a broad range of professional environments. The ingenuity of Ayrton’s product solutions is ideally suited to PRG K.K.’s client base in Japan.”

TechPro has opened its first site in Continental Europe, with the opening of a newly built 2,000sq ft warehouse and office unit in Ridderkerk, close to the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Although long in the planning, the potential for logistical disruption following Brexit helped TechPro’s management team with their decision to open up in the Netherlands and mitigate any impact on the company’s ability to meet the growing demand for European-based live events. TechPro Director Rob Stokes, commented: “UK-based event agencies rely on TechPro to deliver truckloads of AV equipment throughout Europe with smooth efficiency.

“With over 60% of our work now taking place at event venues throughout the EU and beyond, our new branch in the Netherlands will allow us to continually meet our client’s expectations, whilst removing any future concerns for logistical disruption or potentially costly import/export legislation.”

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EM Acoustics’ Greg Clarke; Solotech’s Stéphane Laverdure.

Clear-Com has confirmed the appointment of ABSIS as its local partner for Belgium and Luxembourg.

ABSIS is a new company formed by two audio engineers, Frédéric Jakus and Gaëtan Crenier, who bring a combined 50+ years of hands-on industry expertise working with companies including NEP Belgium (formerly Outside Broadcast), VTM, Videohouse, Alfacam, RTL and Canal +.

Frédéric Jakus, Founder and Co-Owner, ABSIS, said, “ABSIS is pleased to be working with Clear-Com because it is a very strong brand with a reputation for manufacturing excellence and a mature product line that offers a wide range of communications options.”

Nicki Fisher, EMEA Sales Director, Clear-Com, said: “The combination of local market knowledge and hands-on, real-world experience means that ABSIS is ideally placed to support our new and existing customers in this region.” d&b audiotechnik has appointed Christian Orcin to drive strategic growth at d&b Spain.

Orcin said: “My role will be to maintain the leadership d&b has established in the Spanish mobile/rental market. The brand’s potential for growth in the fixed installation market is huge so developing our install partner network will also be a major focus. I’m inspired by the opportunity to implement this ambitious growth strategy and I’m eager to work with the team in Spain and around the world.”

Phill Coe, d&b EMEA Territory Manager added: “Spain has always been an important market for d&b, which is why we established a subsidiary there in 2011. Today, not only is our mobile and installation business growing in Spain, the influence of local specifiers and integrators is also increasing internationally, and this is something we intend to take full advantage of. We have great confidence that Christian is the right person to lead d&b Spain into this significant period of growth.”

EM Acoustics confirmed the appointment of well-known British sound designer, Greg Clarke, to the team. Clarke will be responsible for system

design and client liaison on behalf of EM Acoustics. Clarke regularly designs Broadway and West End shows in addition to his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and many others.

“I’ve been an advocate of EM Acoustics for years; I believe fundamentally in their products, their attitude and their philosophy,” declared Clarke. “As we continue to expand, I’m thrilled to be able to put my relationship with the company on a formal basis and share my experience of this exceptional equipment. I’m also really looking forwards to getting to know EM’s broad and diverse customer base.”

EM Acoustics operations director, Mike Wheeler said; “Having Greg on board is a huge asset for us,” he said. “As a both a highly respected sound designer and a key user of our systems in the theatre market, it’s an incalculable benefit for us to be able to make his expertise available to our customers. In addition to offering help and advice on system design, Greg will also be taking on the role of client liaison and after-sales service.”

Rent-All, with its head office in Bemmel, has taken over Phlippo Group, based in Lier, Belgium. This concerns Phlippo Productions, Phlippo Showlights and its branches in Germany and the Netherlands, including the total rental stock.

With this acquisition, Rent-All is taking a further step in its strategic policy of being “Your equipment supplier in Europe”.

Solotech’s Philip Giffard, President of its Sales and Systems Integration Division, has announced the appointment of Stéphane Laverdure as Director of Operations for the Division’s Quebec City office, effective immediately.

Directly under Giffard’s direction, Laverdure will be responsible for the planning, enhancement and management of the operations to ensure the overall performance of the Division in Quebec City.

“His vision, leadership and analytic skills make him a considerable asset for our company”, commented Giffard. disguise has assigned WorldStage as its certified solution provider in

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