Mr Huw Eurig Davies

Cyflwyno Prif Weithredwr cwmni cynhyrchu teledu Boomerang, Huw Eurig Davies yn Gymrawd er Anrhydedd gan Dr John Harries.

Cyflwyniad Dr Harries.

Barchus Lywydd, mae'n hyfrydwch gennyf gyflwyno Huw Eurig Davies.

Mr President, Huw Eurig Davies stands before you as the Chief Executive of the independent television production company Boomerang, one of the largest organisations of its kind outside London, and Welsh to its roots. Boomerang's national and international output includes entertainment, factual, extreme sports, music, drama and children’s programmes for television, radio and the web.

Huw co-founded the company in 1994. With remarkably astute business skills, he has grown Boomerang into a highly successful organisation employing over 120 people and with an annual turnover of some twenty million pounds.

Mae’r cwmni yn arbennig o nodedig am y cyfleoedd y mae’n eu darparu i gymaint o’n doniau creadigol i aros yng Nghymru, gweithio’n ddwyieithog a gallu cystadlu’n rhyngwladol. Mae nifer ohonynt yn raddedigion o’r Brifysgol hon.

Ganwyd Huw yn fab i feddyg ym Mhontiago, ger Abergwaun yng ngogledd Sir Benfro. Er bod cysylltiadau clòs ganddo o hyd â’r ardal ogoneddus hon o Gymru, symudodd y teulu i Gaerdydd pan oedd yn ddwyflwydd oed. Y mae ef a’i wraig Emma, ac mae’n bleser gennym ei chroesawu hithau i’r seremoni hon heddiw, bellach yn byw yn y Bont-faen gyda’i tri phlentyn.

Addysgwyd Huw yn Ysgol Gynradd Bryntaf ac Ysgol Gyfun Llanhari ac yna fe gymerodd flwyddyn allan, a gweithio mewn amryw swyddi rhan-amser, cyn mynd ymlaen i Goleg Prifysgol Caerdydd i astudio am radd yn y Gymraeg. Ym 1987, fe raddiodd ag Anrhydedd ar ôl yr hyn y mae’n ei ddisgrifio fel tair blynedd bleserus o waith a chymdeithasu, gan gynnwys cyfnod yn Llywydd Undeb Myfyrwyr Cymraeg Caerdydd. 

Following his first appointment as a development officer with Urdd Gobaith Cymru in Cardiff he joined the public relations department of S4C where he became its deputy head. Leaving the world of television he worked for two years for the Welsh Development Agency, managing marketing initiatives.

Then followed experience in the private sector, working for a planning company, Best Design, which provided Huw with the opportunity to learn more about business and risk management, skills which were soon to prove invaluable.

Another career change saw Huw return to television, this time on the production side as a researcher with HTV where he learnt more about production technology for television.

And so, in 1994, armed with these experiences and an impressive range of skills, considerable courage, and supported by a grant of £38 a week for three months from the Cardiff and Wales Enterprise scheme, Huw founded Boomerang.
       
The early nineties may have been a period of change and challenge for the UK communications industries, but it also presented opportunities for the creative industries to make a significant contribution to economic development. The regulatory body Ofcom was established in 1992 and, under the Communications Act of 1993, was required to ‘further the interests of consumers in relevant markets, where appropriate by promoting competition’.

Yr oedd felly yn gyfnod amserol i lansio cwmni cynhyrchu, nid yn unig oherwydd y newid yn amgylchiadau’r diwydiant, ond hefyd oherwydd bod deddfwriaeth newydd, ar ffurf Deddf yr Iaith Gymraeg, yn mynd i gael dylanwad sylweddol. Roedd angen ymestyn i gyrraedd cynulleidfaoedd newydd yng Nghymru, ffactor bwysig fel y gwyddai Huw.  

Through organic growth and acquisition Boomerang+ plc now comprises a group of companies whose activities include award winning programme productions, post-production services, television facilities and talent management.

The company is best known in the UK for its network show Freesports on Channel 4 which specialises in extreme sports. 360° Surfing is Boomerang’s other sporting TV brand which is distributed worldwide, including to the USA, Brazil and Italy.   

Closer to home, the company is responsible for a wide range of productions for S4C , ITV Wales and other channels. It also produces live outside broadcast multi-platform coverage from some of Wales’ leading events such as the Royal Welsh Show and the Urdd Eisteddfod.

There are local connections here is Ceredigion with a facility in Aberaeron which produces the drama series ‘Teulu’.

Y mae cysylltiadau cryf wedi eu ffurfio rhwng cwmni Boomerang ac Adran Astudiaethau Theatr Ffilm a Theledu’r Brifysgol hon. Sefydlwyd partneriaeth i ddatblygu dulliau o gydweithredu a rhannu gwybodaeth. Mae manteision yn hyn i fyfyrwyr ac i staff ymchwil, ac mae’n rhoi i’r cwmni gyfleoedd i ryngweithio â’r doniau a’r ymchwil sy’n bodoli yn yr adran.

Mr President, it is entirely fitting that Huw’s outstanding contribution to the creative industries and the employment opportunities that his company provides to many talented people to work bilingually in Wales are recognised by this institution; it therefore gives me great pleasure to present Huw Eurig Davies as an Honorary Fellow.

Barchus Lywydd, mae’n fraint ac yn bleser gennyf gyflwyno i ti Huw Eurig Davies i’w urddo’n Gymrawd Prifysgol Aberystwyth.