Industry 'founding fathers' honoured

Two giants of the Australian photo industry, Les Brener and John Paxton, were honoured by PMA on Thursday, June 25, at the PMA Imaging Technology show in Sydney, Australia.

Retailer John Paxton and PMA Australia's founding executive director, Les Brener were central figures in establishing PMA in Australia.

John Paxton was presented with a PMA Australia Distinguished Service Award by PMA Australia chairman, Richard Robertson, while Les Brener was made a Lifetime Member of PMA by PMA CEO, Ted Fox.

There has been a groundswell of support for further recognition of Les Brener for his many years at the helm of PMA in Australia, during which time he built the association from a handful of members in 1978 to an organisation which truly represents photo retailers across the country.

Among highlights of his time at PMA Les Brener nominated establishing the Young Achiever program, work campaigning for a better sales tax deal for Australian retailers, and developing the annual convention into a compulsory event in the photo retailing calendar.

He said that accepting the award was among his proudest and happiest moments. Les Brener has also been recognised by his country, receiving the Order of Australia Medal for services to the photo industry from the Australian Federal Government.

Brener reflected on his years at the helm of PMA, observing, "I could write a book - and now with speech recognition software I might even do so!"

He singled out his wife Jessica and the PMA staff who worked with him over the years as being critical to what he was able to achieve.

John Paxton, a third generation retailer whose company celebrated its centenary anniversary last year, has been a tireless campaigner for PMA and photo retailers for three decades. He has also built the Paxton group of stores into one of the leading photo retailers in the country, with seven outlets in prime Sydney locations.

Les Brener and John Paxton worked closely in the early years of PMA as it migrated from a Sydney-based retailers group to a national association, and, along with Queenland colleague Ken Peters were instrumental in getting the first annual trade shows off the ground in Australia.

Last year John Paxton received a PMA Dealer of the Year award. He has played a variety of roles at PMA over the years, including several "tours of duty" as Australian chairman.