North of England Excellence Business Awards

When I first started at Comtec, I was a Project Manager and the North of England Excellence Business Awards was my first event. The event was held in the Hilton Hotel in Manchester and it was a very exciting few hours for me – but it was also extremely tiring! I vividly remember, at 3am perching on the edge of the stage during the de-rig, coiling cables and wishing I was at home, in bed!

Fast forward two years and I was in a very different position. I was sat on the other side of the set, dining in style (foie gras to start, garlic and herb chicken with some sort of wonderful potato side dish for the main course and finally a raspberry mousse type thing for dessert).

The set looked incredible. It was lit in the NOEE brand colours, lots of purples and pinks with two 42-inch plasma lecterns at the front. Star cloth behind the set twinkled as the awards were handed out and it was such a different feeling to two years ago. I had time to take it all in and be proud of what the Comtec staff had achieved. From the first moment we are handed a contract, the teams work hard to design and build the perfect set, put together a slick presentation, and of course, to deliver to the clients expectations.

The Leeds Armouries was the back drop for the North of England Business Excellence Awards and what an incredible venue that is! The evening began with a drinks reception and we were treated to a demonstration by some of the staff dressed in replica armour from centuries ago and armed with some pretty heavy-looking swords! The demonstration was a lovely touch and was a very original way of kicking an event off. The host for the evening was BBC North West’s Dave Guest and swept through the presentation with his usual wit and charm!

Unfortunately for me, the night ended in a very similar way to the way it did two years ago. Perched on the edge of my seat at the table (which was sporting a lovely red wine stain thanks to not-so-steady hand), I nursed a glass of water and looked forward to going home to bed. Sadly, it was only 10:30pm – I think I’m getting old!

Rach