HMG presents original painting to Sir Digby Jones

Sir Digby has done a wonderful job for the CBI during his term in office and HMG Paints wanted to mark his retirement in suitable fashion.

The HMG Paints factory in Collyhurst, Manchester was among the first sites Sir Digby Jones elected to visit when he became Director General of the CBI and was recently among the last he chose to revisit, prior to his forthcoming retirement from the role.

HMG, a long term supporter of the CBI, commemorated the occasion with two highly personalised presentations to Sir Digby, one an original painting created in the firm's own enamels, the other an 18th Century halfpenny coin originally minted in Birmingham for northern industrialist Charles Roe.

The artwork, by HMG's sometime artist-in-residence Max Hague, celebrated the links between business and creative arts that help to inspire both communities.

The coin marks the close ties between the Midlands, where Sir Digby hails from, and HMG's own North West base.

"Sir Digby has done an absolutely wonderful job for the CBI during his term in office and we wanted to mark his retirement in suitable fashion," says HMG Paints MD, John Falder.

"He was really touched by the presentation and, once again, his enthusiasm for British industry and his grasp of key issues really came across throughout his visit".

Sir Digby's two-hour site visit took in HMG Paints, a thriving SME employing around 200 people, and its sister company Byotrol, an anti-microbial technology specialist leading the fight against the spread of MRSA in hospitals.

John Falder took the opportunity to discuss a raft of EU legislation and other issues facing the UK surface coatings industry, in his roles as both head of a thriving independent paint manufacturer and Chairman of the Vehicle Refinish Group of the British Coatings Federation.

Byotrol was spun out of HMG Paints and listed on the London Stock Exchange AIM one year ago, with a view to developing a ground-breaking technology that is changing the landscape of microbial control in the healthcare and food process sectors.

Sir Digby spoke in depth with Business Development Director, Stephen Falder, also an HMG Paints main board director, who outlined how a traditional paintmaker acted as a catalyst for one of the region's newest and most innovative growth businesses.

The artwork presented to Sir Digby, part of a two-piece diptych depicting sea and sky, was created by Max Hague, who was HMG's experimental artist-in-residence during 1999 and who now works from his studio on the east coast of Scotland.

During his time with the Manchester firm, Max developed a whole new painting technique using pigmentation, flow control additives, enamels and acrylics, to create a 'sheet of colour' with none of the conventional artist's brush marks and no visual evidence of his handiwork.

Their business-art relationship continues to flourish, with HMG still supplying Max with complimentary paints and his work hanging in the offices and homes of HMG staff, while Max himself has drawn inspiration from the firm's environmental initiatives.

Max, who proclaims HMG paints as 'beautiful to work with', is delighted that one of his pictures was presented to Sir Digby, especially as moving beyond traditional galleries to the corporate sector should introduce his work to a larger audience.

He is keen to promote alliances with industry, pointing to the success of the government-funded Arts and Business creative network, which HRH Prince of Wales says has 'acted as the crucible where business and arts organisations come together to create partnerships to benefit themselves and the community at large'.

Max is looking to exhibit his work in Manchester soon, with the continued support of HMG, and hopes that this will help to raise his profile, in a city where he was born, raised and trained initially by his water-colourist draughtsman father.

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