Alun Parry, awarded Newspress Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Western Group is delighted to report that one of its longest standing and biggest supporters, Alun Parry, has been selected for this year’s Newspress Lifetime Achievement Award.

Newspress has also been a backer for many WGMW events and is to be commended for its selection.

“Suzuki’s Samurai”, as Alun has become known, loves the cut and thrust of PR and with a small team around him has provided some of the industry’s most memorable events on land and sea, such as launching a model on a small landing-craft in the middle of The Solent or skimming across the Severn Estuary in a rib with Suzuki engine which collects plastic as it goes.

You just never forget such imaginative events, which put big-budget-banging PR to shame.

Announcing Alun’s selection by the hard-working team at Newspress, in a statement they said, “We might sound a few people out to establish a few names worthy of this prestigious award, but… we make the decision, and we make no apologies for that.

“This award goes to those in either automotive PR or motoring journalism who command genuine respect from peers, have shown unstinting commitment to service and an unswerving energy for the subject matter.”

Alun Parry, who heads the Suzuki UK PR department, has been around… for a while, and at the start of his career it was not a dead cert that he would end up behind a desk, more likely under a car bonnet.

“He spent eight years as senior technician at BMW before moving to its UK Press and PR department in 1988 as an executive. He spent a total of 19 years at BMW, before he made the switch to Toyota as PR Manager. Definitely not one to flit around, he stayed in that post for eight years before his move to Suzuki, where he has been for the past 16 years as Head of Press and PR.”

So that’s the CV, but not much about the man. It’s fair to say he is a bit of car nut.

“We speak to Alun regularly just to catch up with what’s going on in the industry, but then we get sidetracked and start talking about 1980s BMWs. The conversations tend to go on a bit, but they are enjoyable nonetheless.

“Alun is what you might call a good bloke. There’s no PR guff: he tends to tell you straight. He’s also very amiable, pleasant to chat to and always polite. He’ll always do his best to help and that’s why he is always in the running for PR of the Year. Kia’s PR machine tends to get the glory, but you can guarantee a number of votes for him and generous comments from journos who are effusive about the way he operates at Suzuki.

“So, congratulations to Alun who takes this year’s Newspress Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a worthy winner.”

And so say all of us in TheWesternGroup. Thank you Alun for, well, being you.