Cheers to 80 Years!

As we celebrate our 80^th anniversary, we hear from some of our long service employees on how the company has grown and evolved over the years, and also how the team is everything to both an individual’s personal growth and the success of the business in achieving its long term vision:

Chalene Chandrasiri – National Sales Manager UK & EIRE

“I can’t really believe I’ve been with Peerless-AV for 18 years! LinkedIn kindly reminded me earlier this month. In the time I’ve been here everything has changed; we’ve gone from distributor, with a team I could count on one hand, to award-winning global manufacturer with a thriving UK and EMEA team. We’re constantly developing – from company vision and strategy, to personnel, to product innovation, to operations and beyond. What we still do really well is our family mentality and that’s never changed. We also know how to throw a great party. Traits that are both admired and envied in the AV industry.”

Sarah Strowger – HR Manager

 “In my 22 years of working for Peerless-AV, the company has been through such a transformation, and it’s amazing to look back and see how the company has grown and developed. I started out in sales admin, moving into a supervisor role, to PA to the MD and then to my current position as HR Manager. I’ve grown with the company, seen so many changes, but what hasn’t changed over the years is the close knit team we are very lucky to have – my “security blanket’ and place of refuge through difficult times. Happy 80^th anniversary! I’m excited to see where we go in the future.”

Craig Slough – Director of Operations & IT

 “I received my 15 year long service award last month. I started out in IT, implementing global systems with the US, and my role now is looking after stock, manufacturing, managing the back office team and working closely with US operations to align the corporate vision and implement in the UK and EMEA. My main observation is that the business has never stood still; always innovating, adding headcount and adapting to different markets and challenges. I love working with the EMEA territories and ensuring our European and Middle East warehouses operate efficiently, through Brexit and the pandemic. Where we excel is our strong, hardworking and success-driven team spirit, which resonates throughout the whole company.”

Gwenaelle Villette, Director of Sales France

“My time with Peerless-AV has flown by. I first started as sales manager for France in January 2014, the first in the EMEA sales team, and am now Director of France working as a team with Cedric Leoture. Our team is the best in the industry, in my opinion, and we are very much like a family. All new staff that have come on board share the same ethos and spirit so the company is a fun place to work, as well as progress and win business. We are all learning and growing together; quick to adapt and face the challenges and changes in the AV market. We’ve had the best growth year ever in EMEA this year and that’s down to the investment from the business in additional headcount in new regions, as well as the European warehouse in the Netherlands and our brand becoming more widely recognised and implemented globally.”

Paul Dawes – Director of Marketing 

“My 13 years with the business have been both challenging and rewarding, as we made the transition from a mostly consumer products distributor to being primarily focussed on the professional AV sector.  It’s been a learning curve to adapt to the needs of that market and communicate our product benefits to installers and integrators rather than consumers. One of my first projects was to fit out a van as a mini mobile showroom that travelled the UK visiting consumer electronics dealers.  Now 10 years later we have just delivered a 10,000 sqft industry showcase in central London for 20 of the biggest and most influential brands in the AV industry.”

Peerless-AV Celebrates 80 years of Innovation – read the press release here.