Shotoku Broadcast Systems, a well-established international manufacturer of high-quality robotic, manual and VR/AR tracking camera support systems continues its global growth with the recruitment of Darren Webster as Technical Director in the UK. Webster, who brings extensive engineering, operational and managerial experience in a wide range of technical environments with him, began his new role with the company in May 2022. James Eddershaw, Managing Director at Shotoku UK made the announcement from headquarters in Sunbury, UK.
“We are so pleased to welcome Darren to the Shotoku family,” said Eddershaw. “Shotoku is growing, not simply geographically but in the depth and breadth of our collective expertise. Darren brings us a wealth of experience from a customer’s perspective, having worked for several years at the cutting edge of live production technology support at a major UK broadcaster. We are confident his contribution to Shotoku UK’s development will be invaluable, and our customers will benefit from his experience and insight into the real-world needs of broadcasters using advanced robotic systems on high-profile 24/7 live productions.”
Prior to joining Shotoku, Webster spent 15 years at SKY in the UK, where he held several key positions, the most recent of which was Head of Production Support. In this role, Webster provided leadership for SKY management ensuring critical internal production services were performed to the highest level. He was also responsible for managing relevant third-party vendor relationships, commercial agreements and commercial budgets. His career started at Sky in 2006 where he served as a Headend engineer working on critical compression and distribution systems before moving into the production side of the business where he served in various management roles. Before joining, Webster spent 2 years Arqiva where he worked in Technical operations, one of the UK’s leading national transmission and communications companies.
In his new position, Webster will be responsible for two teams at the heart of Shotoku’s success to date: R&D Engineering and Customer Support. He will manage the processes of product development, deployment, and lifetime support as well as uncovering areas of growth opportunities and continuing to promote Shotoku’s high standards of technical innovation and first-class support.
“I’m delighted to join the Shotoku team at this exciting time,” says Webster. “I’m looking forward to sharing my experience with a major news and sports broadcaster, and a happy Shotoku customer, to continue the company’s technical and commercial growth.”
Darren is based in the UK and can be reached at Dwebster@shotoku.co.uk
