A Star of the Stage – Meet Mick Parker of Parker Communications

A Star of the Stage – Meet Mick Parker of Parker Communications

Mick Parker is no stranger to the stage, although you’ll rarely see him on one. A familiar face in Suffolk, Mick has forged a successful career organising, facilitating and dazzling through his corporate and private events across the UK and beyond, from his base in Kesgrave.

Mick is the owner of Parker Communications a communications and events company celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. He’s also the driving force and visionary behind Stars of Suffolk and Stars of Norfolk – annual awards that have been celebrating the unsung heroes of the region over the past decade.

From humble roots

Straight out of Chantry High School Mick joined Eastern Electricity where he worked his way up to Senior Marketing Manager in charge of a large budget, delivering events and campaigns that raised the profile and revenue of the business year on year.

During the Thatcherite furore around privatisation, Eastern Electricity underwent a sale and a series of reshuffles. After Eastern Electricity took the decision to cut the marketing department, Mick spent a few informative years in Quality Development before finally leaving Eastern Electricity, after an impressive 27 years, in 1997.

A passion for live events

Mick spent the next decade in charge of client liaison and sales generation for an audio-visual company. Having grown that business exponentially, Mick took the plunge and started up his own business.

Parker Communications was born in 2007, a business centred around live events and focused on helping clients to get their message across and communicate effectively with their audiences. Ten years on Parker Communications is booming, the corporate side continues to go from strength to strength and the private events, including bespoke events, weddings and funerals are accounting for an ever-increasing slice of the pie.

Reflecting on success

Looking back on how he got here, Mick explains, “To be honest, I hadn’t really considered having my own business until the opportunity presented itself. I owe a lot to Paul Clement at Ipswich Central. That man gave me the confidence and momentum to start up on my own and I’ve never looked back. I doubt he understands what a lasting impression he’s had on my career and my life – but it’s been profound and extremely positive.”

Looking ahead

Now Mick and his business partner Dave have built on their success, investing their profits in a lot of kit – from specialist staging to rigging and projection. They have an Aladdin’s cave of props and equipment that can make any event a crowd-pleasing wow-fest. Recognised and recommended by some of the finest venues in the UK, Mick Parker looks to be on course for a very bright future.

He humbly recognises: “We’re very lucky to have such a fabulous group of loyal customers and we’re extremely fortunate to be able to work on so many interesting and varied projects. We just want to keep doing what we love.”

A star is born

But it’s not all about Business for Mick, in the same year that he started Parker Communications, he also started Stars of Suffolk. An awards event that recognises the unsung heroes of the community.

He explains: “I wanted to give something back, to create an opportunity for very positive and poignant recognition of the individuals within our community who achieve so much and make such a difference.”

With the early backing of Archant, a lot of hard work and his little black book of business contacts, Mick has created something spectacular and heart-warming. His and his wife Ros’s tireless hard work and the generosity of the businesses of Suffolk have secured Stars of Suffolk, and the more recently launched Stars of Norfolk, as cornerstone events in the East Anglian calendar.

It’s a testament to the amount of goodwill that Mick Parker carries that, through his network, he can present the deserving winners with holidays that would otherwise not have been possible, bicycles that have been adapted for special needs and much, much more.

Stars of Suffolk has already expanded into Norfolk and the team has big plans to take it across the entire region and beyond.

Since the beginning, ‘Stars’ has recognised and rewarded over 600 of the bravest and most selfless people in the region. If you know of somebody who deserves recognition for their contribution and dedication to the community, why not enter them for ‘Stars’ 2017.

Follow the links to Stars of Suffolk & Stars of Norfolk 

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