Martin Professional's loudspeaker division, Mach Speakers, has appointed a new R&D engineer to work at the company's Danish headquarters. Soren Viinberg has an extensive background in the pro audio industry, having spent 12 years at JBL Pro in Denmark, eight of them in the role of project manager for JBL's professional products in Europe. Viinberg will work closely with Mach's R&D engineer Michael Holmbo.

Cyril Griffiths died after a short illness on September 30th. He will be known to many in the industry having spent 42 years in the business, starting in 1948 at the Phoenix Theatre, later going on to work as group engineer and subsequently technical director for 13 Stoll Moss Theatres. He also established TSL - one of the key suppliers of lighting and sound equipment to the West End which was bought by the White Light Group in 1991. The funeral takes place on Friday 8th October at Putney Vale Crematorium, London.

The PRG Lighting Group has made three changes to its sales and marketing team. Bill Groener and Zoe Paine move to expanded roles at Production Arts, while Patrick Eagleton has new responsibilities with the PRG Lighting Group. Groener becomes vice president of system sales for Production Arts, whilst Paine has been appointed director of rentals and production sales for the company. Meanwhile, Eagleton has accepted the position of marketing support manager for the newly formed marketing group at the (PRG) Lighting Group. Most recently, he was product manager for the Robert Juliat product line.

High End Systems has promoted several key sales representatives. HES Canadian sales representative Patrick Bouchard, who has been involved in the Canadian lighting market for many years, has been named High End's Regional Manager in Canada. In another strategic move, the company promoted Charlie Hulme to a new position as sales manager for Lightwave Research Architectural Products. Hulme will oversee sales and distribution, as well as design support of these products through High End's worldwide network.

Expotus has taken on David Cole as technical sales manager. His eight years engineering tours and designing systems for installs provides him with a good grounding in pro-audio. Coles also brings with him an expert knowledge of product manufacture and technology, gained from his work in R&D and subsequently in technical support at Turbosound.

Paul Barretta isn't the only member of Shuttlesound's staff celebrating a recent promotion - his rise to general manager has opened up new opportunities for salesman Sean Maxwell and former customer care/sales administrator Debbie Jones who have now joined the management team as sales manager and office manager respectively. Nigel Meddemmen becomes technical services manager as a reflection of the enlarged scope of his job, which now includes overseeing quality control for EV's new Variplex cinema speakers, as well and service and technical. In addition Graeme Fisher, having joined the company less than a year ago, has made the move from in-house sales to take on a new role as a travelling rep with responsibility for all active accounts in the South East. As a result of these promotions, the company has taken on Martin Wales as its new sales administrator.

Neville Druce, founding director of Audio Engineering, the London-based manufacturer of Micron radio microphone and communication has died following a long illness. His expertise in broadcast research and development resulted in the original Micron radio microphone, produced in the early 1970s, and he was responsible for a major part of the company's subsequent product designs, including contributions to the recently-launched 100-channel 700 Series.

Multiform Electronics has enlisted Ian Rose as UK and Export sales manager. Rose has a degree in European Business Studies and is a member of the Institute of Export; his role will be to build closer relations not only with Multiform's UK distributors, but also with the company's distibutors throughout Europe.

Richard Castillo has joined the expanding Lightfactor Sales team as Southern Area sales executive. His assorted work experiences include grooving as a club light jockey for two years, working for a sales and rental company and two years as a freelance lighting designer.

Screenco has expanded its sales and operations team. Mike Walker, formerly at sister company Creative Technology, joins MD Dave Crump and sales manager Anita Page as business development manager at the sharp end of Screenco's rental business. On the operations front, Andy Bramley has joined the team with responsibility for managing Screenco's new Portable Production Unit (PPU). Like Walker, Bramley has also worked with CT, but more recently has been out touring with a number of bands.

Roger Boustead has Joined Amek as customer service manager, moving from nearby AMS Neve, where he has been field service manager for the last five years. Boustead will oversee all the Amek service engineers and spares provision and will also be responsible for customer training.

Sound Dept will benefit from the product experience of Steve Badham, who joins as EAW's new product manager. Based at the headquarters of EAW's UK distributors, Sound Dept in Abingdon, Badham's first challenge was the launch of Avalon, EAW's new club system; he will also be working with other pro ranges handled by Sound Dept, including Crest computerised control systems.

Bert de Haes has left Vari-Lite. In his place Vari-Lite has welcomed back Jimmy Barnett who is the new general manager for European operations for VLPS. Barnett, well known within the Vari-Lite community, will oversee the growing network of VLPS offices that he was instrumental in expanding during his earlier stint within the company (1984-1990). Working under Barnett will be the general managers of the regional VLPS offices: Ed Pagett (VLPS London), Jan Van Malder (VLPS Brussels/EML and VLPS Amsterdam), Jan Lambrecht (VLPS Paris) Adrian Bell (VLPS Dubai) and Sonia Sward (VLPS Stockholm and VLPS Madrid).

Derek Gilbert, former managing director of Glantre Engineering, is to join Northern Light as overseas sales manager. He will become responsible for Northern Light's overseas development. Other former members of Glantre are also transferring to Northern Light, including Graham Fisher who will join the Estimating and Proposals section, Richard Passman, senior AV project engineer and Graham Lawton who will be located in Riyadh.

Autograph Sales, has appointed Roger Harpum to the newly-created post of Meyer Sound product specialist. Harpum will be responsible for the sales and marketing of the Meyer Sound product range - distributed exclusively in the UK by Autograph Sales.