Over 200 representatives from across the marine industry gathered at the British Marine Trades Association awards dinner last night – 12 January 2016 – at restaurant Gauchos to recognise the top achievements within the marine industry.
At this year’s dinner, the David Coleman Export Award was presented for the first time in memory of David Coleman, a very well-known personality within the marine industry and an active member of British Marine.
In 1986, David Coleman purchased Barton Marine and transformed the company into a global brand. He inspired and encouraged many industry leaders to join him on the British Marine Export Committee.
Active Research Ltd was awarded the David Coleman Excellence in Exporting Award for its marine electronics brand Actisense®. The award was received by Suzanne Blaustone, Chief Executive of Barton Marine, on behalf of Active Research Ltd.
The judging panel, made up of members of the British Marine International Committee, were impressed by the way Actisense® has expanded into new global markets and established trade links with marine electronics distributors in four new countries.
David Barrow, British Marine Board Member and Director of Barrow International, comments, “The David Coleman Excellence in Exporting Award was created to recognise exceptional export marketing and sales development. Dorset based Actisense, demonstrated how its structured and coordinated approach to exporting has led to a significant increase in sales performance and increased export turnover.”
As well as focusing on relationships with its network of 70 distributors in 34 countries, the team at Actisense® has invested in marketing, PR and HR strategies to help shape its sales and export approach and the team has grown from 11 to 16 in the last two years.