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Dave Mace was recently headhunted from The Hospital to manage GearBox North, a new operation opened by the company, which services the broadcast, post-production and creative media industries in the North of England.
Originally from Leeds, we asked Dave what prompted him to make the move from Europe’s premier High Definition production facility back home to head up the new GearBox North operation?
“GearBox are renowned for being the best at what they do, they have an excellent reputation they have clearly worked hard to achieve. They are very focused in my specific area of expertise - supplying solutions for High Definition production. This is an area they have enjoyed massive success in, I thought it would be a challenge to try to help them further develop that success in the North of England - plus the fish and chips are better up here,” Dave adds dryly.
We asked Dave to elaborate on what his role at The Hospital had involved?
“My job title at The Hospital was Technical Engineer, the studios and the kit there are absolutely amazing. Every day was completely different. One day we would be setting up for BBC programmes such as Strictly Dance Fever and Strictly Come Dancing, the next we would be doing a private event for Club GT where we had Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Ford GTs and a Zonda all lined up for a launch party.”
Dave continues, “I spent a lot of time knee deep in cables, making patch bays and doing essential installation and maintenance work on the equipment installed. That was all part of the learning curve and getting involved in the engineering side of things there really taught me a lot about what goes into making a ‘state-of-the-art’ production facility work on a day-to-day basis.”
GearBox North is based in Leeds, and will cover the whole of the North of England, including Scotland, but will concentrate on two main broadcast production areas – Manchester and Leeds, we asked Dave how he viewed the market in the North?
“There’s been a great tradition of production in the North for many years, with major broadcasters like the BBC, Granada, and Yorkshire TV being up here. There’s also a number of world-class post-production companies such as; 3sixty Media, 422, Editz, Elite TV, Film Lab, Mezzo, MGB, Sumners, The Sound House, and of course VTR North, to name only a few.”
If you’re wondering why Dave commented “and of course”, it’s because the new GearBox North offices are housed within the VTR Group’s facility in Leeds - what’s Dave’s view of his new neighbours?
“We couldn’t have picked a better location for GearBox North than within the VTR facility. We are smack bang in the middle of Leeds city centre, with the M62 and M1 only two minutes away; we can be in Manchester within an hour or so. The staff at VTR North are a great bunch of people, who bend over backwards to help you out in any way they can,” says Dave.
Danny Simmonds, GearBox Operations Manager explains why the company chose Dave: “We dealt with Dave when he was at The Hospital, and we were very impressed by his technical knowledge, and his enthusiasm. Once we decided to open the office in the North, Dave was the first person that sprang to mind for someone to manage the operation. Dave’s time at The Hospital means he’s uniquely qualified in the area of HD production, and we are always conscious of the fact our staff need a ‘real-life’ understanding of what makes a modern facility function.”
Danny adds: “Plus the fact he was originally a local lad, and knew the geography was another major bonus in appointing him to the position – we are very pleased to have him on-board, and have every confidence in Dave making an excellent job of helping us further develop our business in the North.”
Contact: dave@gearbox.com
More Info:
GearBox North
