Jonathan Bowers describes the highlights of an award winning director's busy schedule
Well it’s been a busy week for Lawrence Jones managing director of UKFast the UK’s number one hosting provider for 3 years running. On Monday he was grilled by a panel of judges for the MEN business of the year award for which UKFast is on the shortlist.
On Wednesday the BBC contacted our press office to see if he was able to answer questions on the Northern Rock affair where a business programme needed the low-down on why the building societies’ online systems failed to deliver. UKFast don’t host Northern Rock, the programme just needed an expert in the hosting field to discuss the difficulties of delivering high traffic sites under pressure. (Click on the link to see Lawrence in action!)
This was by far the highlight of our week in the PR department so far. We’d been telephoned by the London branch of the Beeb and asked if he could contribute. When he accepted they said “great the programme goes out in a couple of hours, can he make it to the BBC on Oxford road in 55 minutes?”
“With literally no time to prepare, I was sat down by a young ‘runner’ who passed me my ear piece. Simon in London introduced himself whilst I clipped my microphone to my suit. I was told to look straight ahead and off we went.” commented Lawrence when I asked him about the experience later.
”It is strange the first time you see yourself on a monitor. It is tempting to look at yourself, however if you do, you will appear with your eyes looking far left of right of the camera! There is also the potential distraction of the time delay in the sound where you can hear a very pronounced echo as the sound bounces back up from London!”
It is not the first time Lawrence has been on the TV. He appeared playing the piano as an extra on a few programmes in the 1990’s and was also guest at Granada Tonight in 2001 after surviving his avalanche. We really thought nothing could cap his first dedicated business interview. However the IOD awards were this week and even though he felt it was a massive long shot, being short listed to the last 4 meant he had a glimmer of hope.
When we arrived at the dinner Sir Trevor MacDonald was the host and you can see why he has been such a well respected broadcaster. He has a warmth that emanates from his persona that is captured on camera; he introduced the awards and Lawrence was convinced after being sat on the furthest table from the stage, that he had absolutely no chance of wining.
”When the category for Best Young Director of the Year was announced I suddenly felt the adrenalin.” Grinned Lawrence “I reminded myself of where I was sat and I clapped the other gentlemen listed, confident it could not possibly be me.”
“When Trevor MacDonald announced my name as the winner, I could not have been more proud. Proud of the team that makes it all possible. The guys in the office that work tirelessly day in day out; they are the reason we appear in the radar for these awards.”
Lawrence commended his directors Neil Lathwood and cofounder wife and finance director Gail Jones for their part in the success of UKFast describing them as the “back bone of the enterprise.”
It has been a busy week. It is a fascinating job managing the press for such a dynamic company as UKFast. You never know what is coming next and that in itself brings challenges that keep us on our toes and make the job so exciting.
By Jonathan Bowers, Communication Director
