A MEDIA company has been shortlisted in the Northern Powerhouse Export Awards.

X-Cel Broadcast which specialises in live broadcast and media sport production has been shortlisted for ‘Most Entrepreneurial Exporter of the Year’ in the annual business awards that cover the northern region from Stoke across to Grimsby and up to the Scottish borders.

The company exports more than 90 per cent of its media services to a list of clients including several of the world’s largest TV networks such as, US sports ESPN, Fox TV, Eurosport TV as well as motor racing specialists SRO Motorsports.

 

Sepang Malaysia race broadcast by the firm

The Middlesbrough-based business also installs live TV and digital media facilities across Asian Formula 1 motor racing mecca’s such as Suzuka, Sepang and Shanghai.

Managing director Dave Roberts said: “The pride attached to this recognition is enormous. There are hugely impressive exporting businesses from Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool selected for these awards and to think a Teesside business can be identified as an equal is testament to our region’s creativity and ingenuity.”

In 2018 alone XCel was on-site for its foreign clients to see Italian Francesco Molinari win golf’s Open Championship, bring home to ESPN viewers the disappointment of Team USA being sent packing from Paris at the Ryder Cup as well as build full outside broadcast facilities at the Asian based Formula 1 tracks at Sepang, Suzuka, Fuji and Shanghai where its live motor racing broadcasts were transmitted across Asia, Europe and North America.

“We hugely value the relationships we have with our partners around the world and worked incredibly hard for over a year to secure the Asia motor racing contract," he added.

 

Business managing director Dave Roberts

"This meant having to significantly change the way we do business in that part of the world, a new approach we have now adopted for all regions and the award recognition makes it all worth it.”

The Teesside operator will continue to export its services into the new year as it sends cameramen to the Special Olympics in Abu Dhabi in March as well as undertaking its second year of the Asia motor racing contract with SRO Motorsports of Hong Kong.