Crestron was celebrating in style on Friday night – the control & automation specialist picked up two hotly contested awards at the AV industry’s premier awards night – Manufacturer of the Year and the evening’s highlight award – The Grand Prix. Picking up the awards, Creston’s MD, Robin van Meeuwen said, “To win the Grand Prix – the evening’s major award - came as a total surprise! It really put the icing on the cake of a fantastic evening. I have to say a very big thank you to everyone at Crestron and in the industry who have helped make this dream a reality, and which illustrates our consistent, long-term and on-going dedication to the AV world.
The Grand Prix is chosen from the winners of the company product innovation and project categories and is awarded on the basis of four strict criteria:
· Innovation and business practices of benefit to the sector as a whole
· Market development and industry leadership
· Technical and creative innovation
· Documented business objectives and results
This year, Crestron ticked all these boxes. Having doubled its UK turnover in the past three years, Crestron UM expects 4% growth this year, despite the current climate, and it has invested £500,000 on new training course and demonstration facilities during the past 19 months. The judges felt that Crestron has nurtured its own business by providing more and more training for its staff and also for the industry.
Also, enjoying the great night out at London’s Hilton, Park Lane, Crestron’s Marketing Manager, Petra van Meeuwen, adds, “We are absolutely delighted to win Manufacturer of the Year. It means a great deal to be recognised by the industry for all the effort and dedication our team puts in to everything from product innovation and delivery to sales support and training. We had our fingers crossed, as when you look at the competition we were up against, it was a nail-biting evening – we are so proud to have won this prestigious award.”
Crestron beat off stiff competition to win the coveted Manufacturer of the Year 2009. Speaking for the judges for this award, Graham Naylor-Smith of Arup Communications commented, “Crestron’s record of product innovation scores highly. It has clearly thought through the issues around digital distribution and Ethernet control.”
The company’s programme of product development resulted in Crestron launching 22 new products at ISE in January 2009, and 90-plus at InfoComm International in June, putting particular emphasis on new technology areas such as ND distribution and Ethernet-based systems such as its e-Control product, which can manage audio, video, the building environment, security and lighting. Other specific introductions in the future technologies area included Crestron Digital Media which manages, controls and distributes uncompressed HD digital signals; Ethernet-based Isys touch panels’ and enhancements to its RoomView remote management software.