Meet The Team
Martin Warden - managing director
Martin started the company in 1991 after taking voluntary redundancy from BT. His service at BT spanned some 15 years where he held a variety of positions in various departments including planning, design and engineering. Since founding the company, Martin has been directly involved in all aspects of the business and still enjoys the practical side of events from one day conferences to three week festivals. His skills and experience included rigging, qualified electrician, event planning, lighting design, sound engineering and AV specialist.
Contact Martin
Scott Rowland - general manager
Scott joined the company in April 2007 after making a career change from the hospitality industry. His experience of working as a hotel manager spanned 13 years and has seen him work in Newcastle, Darlington, Hertfordshire and New York. Despite working in hotels, Scott has always maintained an interest in technical theatre and gained experience by working part time as a stage technician at Darlington Civic Theatre.
Susan Quin - office manager
Sue started working for Hi-Lights in 1999 and takes responsibility for the administration side of the business, ensuring that invoices are sent promptly and, most importantly, that we all get paid on time. She has many other skills that she brings to the team; from her encyclopaedic knowledge of theatrical makeup to her extensive seamstress skills, she is always on hand to offer help and advice to anyone that needs it.
Richard Tiffany - events & installations
Rich is the latest addition to the events department and joined the company in September 2007. His job as an Events Technician is to organise, aid in planning and run staffed events including conferences, award dinners and outdoor events. He graduated from Durham University in July 2007 with a degree in Computer Science and gained technical experience in theatre lighting, sound and set design whilst at University by running a small theatre company.
James Hancocks - warehouse manager
James joined the team in summer 2007 after successfully completing a degree in Performance Design and Production at Leeds University. His role in the Events & Installations department sees him designing, planning and working on conferences, award dinners and outdoor events. During his time at Leeds, James worked for Hi-Lights on a freelance basis building on his existing skills gained whilst studying at Nottingham University where he obtained an Undergraduate Certificate in Electronic Engineering. James has a knowledge spread across many areas but focuses on Lighting. With his in depth understanding of WYSIWYG, James can produce 3D designs of proposed Lighting and set schemes, enabling Hi-Lights to demonstrate what an event will look like long before any lights are rigged.
Contact James
Ross Cartmell - office administrator
Ross is the latest member to join the Hi-Lights team and is also the youngest. After leaving school, he jumped straight into the IT sector, attending an IT academy in 2010. Here he completed an advanced apprenticeship and completed the course with valuable Microsoft and CompTIA qualifications. These included networking, server and domain management together with the new Windows 7 operating system. In his role as office administrator he keeps our stock levels, website and paperwork up to date.
Contact Ross
Laura Howes - hire & sales
Laura joined the team in November 2010 having worked for 1NG, the NewcastleGateshead City Development Company for 18 months as an Administrator. Prior to this Laura worked for NewcastleGateshead Initiative. Laura has considerable experience in events planning and has worked alongside Hi- Lights in her previous roles. Using the experience gained within past Customer Service roles, Laura will assist with the day to day bookings and enquiries at Hi Lights, ensuring that our customers' needs and requirements are always met.
Contact Laura
Ahmed Albasri - technician
Ham rejoined the team at Hi-Lights after a two year break working for Scottish and Southern Energy. Originally working for Hi-Lights whilst studying a Music Technology Diploma, he gained the knowledge and experience to work on our hire and sales desk. Currently Ham takes on the role as technician, working in both our hire and events departments and is able to draw on his experiences from Newcastle College, SSE and his previous time at Hi-Lights.
Jason Fisher - technician
Jason joined us in May 2010 with an established background is in distribution and installation services across the retail and home entertainment industries. Jason has a variety of skills that we put to excellent use here at Hi-Lights, both in our warehouse and when working on site. When he's not dedicating his time to his work he is a keen golfer and all round sports enthusiast.
Andrew Gordon - technician
Andrew joined us in April 2010. He previously worked in a busy Performing Arts School, helping stage large shows and help kids get excited about technical theatre, as well as maintaining and servicing the equipment. Andrew has also freelanced across the City for various companies and venues and has a good knowledge of sound, AV and moving lights. He brings to the team a passion for the industry and an enthusiastic ‘can-do' attitude.
Paul Nicholls - technician
Paul joined the team as a technician having graduated from the University of Durham with a degree in Software Engineering. In his time at University Paul worked on a wide range of shows and events around Durham which has given him a good all round experience of working events and in particular an in-depth understanding of sound engineering. More recently Paul has been freelancing with hi-lights and a variety of venues in Durham and now draws upon these experiences as a full-time technician.
Keith Allison - pat engineer
Keith is our PAT and electrical safety engineer and has worked for Hi-Lights since November 2006. He was educated in the old school system, pre comprehensive before spending seven years at college obtaining electrical engineering qualifications. During this time he also served his apprenticeship at the local electricity supply company before embarking on a lifetime career as an electrician.
When not working, or on holiday, he is involved with the local branch of a national charity and has been for some years. He is notorious throughout the charity and well known in one of the local establishments of incarceration, but not as an inmate!
Molly Warden - company cat
An integral part of the business, Molly provides comfort, support and a means of relaxation to our proprietor. Her photograph can regularly be found on Martin's desktop but she always remains at home awaiting the return of her owner.
