Working for the past three years as a business development consultant, largely with clients in the broadcast and media sector, he has also driven sales at post house Prime Focus in London, fixed-rig specialist Roll to Record, and Pinewood Studios Group where he was primarily responsible for the light entertainment television studios at Teddington.
"Production companies and their facilities are under tremendous pressure at the moment," said Coles. "On one side they need to produce more content on ever-tighter budgets and with ever-increasing audience expectations. And on the other, there is a continuous stream of new technologies, and judging when best to go for them is not easy.
"I see my role at Presteigne in being the bridge between the two," he explained. "We have the biggest inventory of rental equipment in the country, and we stay right on the cutting edge with the latest technologies like 4k capture, mesh grid wireless and high density radio microphone systems. Ensuring that our clients get the right equipment and services is going to be at the top of my priorities."
Mike Ransome, CEO of Presteigne, added, "Getting Neil for our team was an important part of our new moves in customer focus, following on from the appointment of David O'Carroll as head of technology. Together, the two will work on explaining and implementing new technologies and our systems and projects capabilities, as well as ensuring that every client gets precisely the equipment they need, when they need it."
(Jim Evans)