UK theatre sound design and rental company The Autograph Group has announced the departure of long-serving financial director Duncan Bell.
Bell joined the company straight from school aged 18 and worked his way up to the
position of group financial director. He had established himself during the 80’s and
90’s as a respected production sound engineer working on many high-profile theatre
productions in the UK and abroad.
Bell went from coiling microphone cables to running the financial fortunes of a group
of companies that have a combined annual turnover of over £10m.
“A month’s work experience in 1984 has led to a 35-year journey as part of an
incredible company and family” remarked Bell, “but I have decided that the time is
right to find a new challenge for the next chapter of my life. Whatever that turns out
to be, it will be defined in no small way by the experience gained as part of
Autograph.”
The departure of Autograph’s previous financial and business director Julian Beech, in
1999 due to ill-health, led to Bell’s promotion to group financial director in 2000.
Partnered by MD Terry Jardine, they oversaw the running and
development of the Autograph Group until last year, when Jardine became chairman
enabling Scott Arnold’s appointment as MD.
Bell worked especially closely with radio microphone manufacturers, primarily
Sennheiser and Shure, bringing Autograph’s theatre experience to bear on the
development of their modern radio systems. He also represented the theatre and the
wider audio fraternity on the BEIRG committee, a group formed to negotiate and liaise
with Ofcom due to the enforced spectrum changes over the last 10 years.
Bell’s considerable experience in business and theatre installations expertly guided
and uplifted Autograph Sales’ profile over the last 10 years during the transition from
distributor to dealer and installation specialists.
Autograph’s owner Andrew Bruce commented; “I have known and worked with
Duncan for almost 35 years and during that time trusted him with increasing levels of
responsibility in every aspect of our business. He has repaid that trust many times
over and whilst I’m really sorry to see him move on, I know that his future and ours
will never be very far apart.”
Bell will leave the Autograph companies in the spring of 2020.