BUSINESS NEWS
Shaftesbury wedding videographer declared Best in South West Not quite a year after launching his business, Dan Pitman has been declared the South West regional winner - and awaits news on the National award at the end of the month. The Wedding Industry Awards are well-respected in the wedding industry, judged by a panel of experts rather then a popularity contest. Dan Pitman, a roofer from Shaftesbury, entered the 2022 awards, just a year after launching his wedding videography business in May 2020, feeling that even a little recognition would add some credibility to his fledgeling brand. He was excited and surprised to learn he was a finalist, and attended the ceremony in Cheltenham on the 26th January with little expectation. His response when he won was an emotional one: “I’m still on such a high from winning. I feel incredibly lucky that my work has been recognised and regarded as the
highest standard in the south west after less than a year of filming weddings. The amount of time I have invested in learning the skills required to film weddings, the money invested in equipment, facing fears of huge responsibilities... all worth it!” “I am so grateful to everyone who has hired me - especially the first few. Booking a videographer who had never filmed a wedding before is a huge risk - I certainly wouldn’t have done it! But to give me the opportunity to do that means so much. It is going to be a very busy year for me” he added “I’m transitioning from roofing to full time weddings, and 2023 bookings are busy. The national finals are next month, and I am up against some amazing filmmakers. If everyone can
keep their fingers crossed for me I’d really appreciate it! The Regional Winners now go through to the National Final. The National Winners will be announced at a spectacular National Awards Event in London on February 23rd.
Top dog status for eat:Festivals
Local food and drink festival organisers eat:Festivals are Finalists in the Dog Friendly Business of the Year category at the Bristol, Bath & Somerset Tourism Awards Organiser Sarah Milner Simonds said “We think this is a ‘paw-fect’ start to the new year and really wag-ficient news. We work really hard to make our one-day food and drink festivals welcoming for the whole family and that includes four-legged members too.” Co-organiser Bev Milner Simonds continued “We have always made sure we are dog friendly but this year we enhanced experience by having a Dog Concierge on hand to welcome pets, publishing local dog walks, working in partnership with local dog businesses to increase our number of water bowl spots and having Pooch Paws-Points dotted throughout the festival with seating for owners to take a breather.” working hard on the plans for the 2022 season of eat:Festivals find out if they have won Gold, Silver events - including enhancements for everyone and or Bronze on 17 February and until then they are their dog! 100
