Good Call Media is celebrating its tenth anniversary year and we would like to thank all our clients, some of whom have become personal friends, for all the fantastic work they have trusted us with over the years.

What started out as the germ of an idea to set up a small business making commercial video and hosting live events has developed into a multi-national operation which works alongside major companies and worldwide organisations in a variety of different sectors.

Our business was originally formed when former BBC business correspondent Nik Wood, set up Nik Wood Communications Ltd after working as marketing and communications director with several multi-national companies, latterly BNP Paribas Real Estate. Good Call Media is now co-owned by Nik and his partner, Fiona Molloy, who worked as a director and producer with a series of leading broadcast organisations including the BBC.
“I had been watching the development of online video and also the invention of a new idea called You Tube and had been writing articles in the marketing and communications trade press warning companies that a revolution was about to begin in video and what we now know as social media,” said Nik. “However I lacked the confidence to resign from a well paid City of London job and start my own operation. I remember thinking, no-one has to pay me once I start in business myself but people I respected at senior level in corporate life convinced me that I was capable of building a successful business – it was the best advice I ever had.”

Initial contracts included work with The Brookwood Partnership. A pioneer in its time, Brookwood put fresh food back on the menu and skilled chefs back in the kitchens of many of the UK’s independent schools and the fact that they are still an excellent client of our company is a testament to the strength of that relationship. Another contract, with the UK’s Department For International Development (DFID) involved regular work in over 15 African countries and resulted the setting up of a new project called Research Into Use, which pioneered the use of video filming in the field of agriculture and livestock management.

As the business grew bigger covering many different sectors including finance, manufacturing, leisure, hospitality, technology, healthcare and communications, it became more difficult to cope with the growing demands from clients. About this time, Fiona Molloy, who had worked with Nik Wood on flagship BBC business programmes such as ‘Working Lunch’ on BBC 2, “Business Breakfast’ on BBC 1, the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 and ‘Wake Up To Money’ on BBC Radio 5 Live joined the business to work on existing projects and also develop new business.

Those new clients have included Variety The Children’s Charity. We produce videos to kick off their major fund raising events such as the Yorkshire Property Awards, The Yorkshire Business Awards and also events in central London that raise hundreds of thousands of pounds for young people who face a variety of different challenges in life. Volition RX is another growing client which is quoted on the New York Stock Exchange and is developing a simple and affordable blood test to help diagnose a range of cancers at an early stage which can lead to successful treatment.

“It’s obviously great to partner with new clients but when those organisations are also helping to improve or even save lives, it makes our work even more rewarding,” said Fiona. “These companies really seem to value our heritage working in the BBC because we can tell their stories in a compelling way.”

In recent years we have started to work on a retained basis for clients such as Ceva Santé Animale the international animal health company which has offices in over 40 countries. We work all year round for Ceva and have helped to develop a world leading video platform for the business which is marketed as Ceva TV. Nik Wood also regularly appears on stage, leading professional debates, question and answer sessions and also interviewing key opinion leaders from some of the world’s most respected universities.

2017 was the most successful year yet in the history of the business.

“After such a year, it’s hard to think of further growth but demand is still increasing for what we do,” said Nik. “Our success is obviously down to hard work but we also thank those clients who have helped Good Call Media to get where it is today.”

“So a Happy New Year for all those people 2018 and if you need help or advice on developing innovative communications, don’t hesitate to give us a call!”

Congratulations to Variety The Children’s Charity for raising a massive  £111,200 at this year’s Yorkshire Business Awards, held in Leeds.

Our videos were used to kick off the main awards and also featured a video report on the special appeal held at the lunch to raise funds for a project at a children’s hospice in the region.

Click here to see the Awards video.

Click here to see the Variety Bluebell Wood appeal video.

Guest speaker Sir Chris Bonington, the UK’s most accomplished mountaineer, spoke about his inspirational 60 year career and Rosemary Shrager was named winner of the Yorkshire Legend

Variety Awards at Queens Hotel, Leeds. Pictured Rosemary Shrager who received a lifetime award and guest speaker Sir Chris Bonington, with the choir from Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield. 8th December 2017. Picture Jonathan Gawthorpe

Award, as well as being named an ambassador for the charity.

Dean Hoyle said: “It’s not about individuals, it’s about the team. “I had a wonderful team there (at the Card Factory). They really helped me deliver. I couldn’t have done it by myself. “Football is very similar. You can have the best players on the pitch, but if you don’t have the leadership, and we had the magnificent David Wagner, then I wouldn’t be standing here today.

Speaking of Huddersfield Town’s promotion to the Premier League he said: “It’s put the town on the map, it’s put Yorkshire on the map.”

Accepting the award for board of the year Julian Bailey, PR director of Morrisons, said: “We’re really known for being a Yorkshire company, so it’s great to win an award in Yorkshire. “It’s a team effort; we’ve got 100,000 people working every single day to deliver customers brilliant food at a fair price.”

Pelsis CEO Peter Mangion said: “We’ve grown mainly by acquisition over the last seven years or so. We’ve done seven deals. That will continue to be the case going forward.”

Australia provides the backdrop for our latest international filming assignment.

As part of our partnership with world wide animal health company, Ceva, we are creating videos looking at a variety of subjects including products to improve sheep production and a successful campaign to help improve the health of Australia’s population of iconic koalas.

Ceva is recognized as an expert in the field of small ruminants reproduction. Innovation has been the driver for Ceva when developing products for small ruminant veterinarians and producers. The use of melatonin (Regulin®) as a reproductive tool was one of the latest contributions of Ceva in this field and we will be filming a video report in connection with the work being carried out in as part of this process in Australia.

Regulin® is designed to reduce the number of dry ewes.  This occurred in 96% of the trials conducted. Trials have shown that there is a reduction in the number of non-pregnant ewes by over 30%. In the absence of other identifiable fertility problems, the lower the lambing percentage, the more potential Regulin offers to reduce dry ewes.

A further benefit is there is less variability in lambing percentages.   Increased twining also is a result of Regulin.  These are from ewes that would have produced twins had they been joined in Autumn.

Australian koalas are being successfully cured of a life-threatening disease, chlamydia, and released back into the wild, thanks to the help of global animal health company, Ceva Santé Animale.

Between 30 and 50 per cent of the Australian koala population in the wild were suffering from chlamydia. There were fears that the sexually transmitted disease, which causes infertility, blindness and even death, could eventually wipe out the entire koala population.

Ceva Australia had stopped manufacture of chloramphenicol, an older type of antibiotic, when they learned that it was the primary drug used to treat chlamydia in koalas.  Dr. Finola McConaghy, Ceva’s Technical Services Manager, was in contact with fellow veterinarians at the world famous Australia Zoo in Brisbane and offered to manufacture a new batch of the medicine to help combat the problem. Now other animal centres in Australia are treating their own koalas affected by the disease.

We will be travelling to Brisbane to update the story of Ceva’s role in helping to combat a growing problem of chlamydia, which has been threatening the health of the famous marsupials.

Australia Zoo senior vet Amber Gillett says Ceva’s intervention had been vital in tackling the chlamydia problem:

“I can’t emphasise enough how vital this drug is for treating chlamydia in koalas. We’ve tried multiple different drugs, and there is simply nothing as effective as this is. We’re eternally grateful for Ceva coming on board and agreeing to manufacture a large batch of this drug for us.”

Martin Mitchell, Group Communication Director of Ceva Santé Animale says: “When we learned of this problem we were delighted to react and play our role in safeguarding this iconic marsupial. Ceva is committed to combatting disease in animals to protect their welfare, not only is this the right thing to do, in the end we also help protect ourselves and importantly our environment.” 

AnimalhealthEurope (formerly, IFAH) has gone live with our video roundup of their recent Congress in Brussels, which launched their new identity and strategy for the next five years and more video messages will be following on social media to tie in with today’s international One Health Day.

See the video by clicking here.

Good Call Media’s Nik Wood presents a comprehensive overview of the event and also interviews several key players, including the EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis, who addressed the organisation’s gala dinner.

AnimahealthEurope’s 2017 conference explored solutions to turn the One Health vision into action. A central platform for the animal medicines industry, the One Health approach prioritises quality of life for people and animals and recognises that healthy animals mean healthy people and a healthier planet. Entitled “One Health: more than a buzzword? Animal health for society from vision to action” the conference, held on 12 October at the Renaissance Hotel in Brussels, was solution-oriented. Speakers from industry, EU Institutions, academia and veterinary and public health bodies addressed an audience of some 120 stakeholders and looked to identify tangible steps that each must take in realising One Health improvements.

Setting the scene, the European Commission outlined the EU’s policy on One Health and its wide-reaching successes in terms of disease control. The World Organisation for Animal health (OIE) outlined the role of animal health within the One Health triad, highlighting the need for continued cooperation when it comes to disease preparedness at both European and global level. Several case studies presented served to illustrate the role of healthy animals beyond disease management, highlighting important societal impacts such as supporting food safety and sustainable food production, as well as the many social benefits of animal companionship. AranLIFE, a part EU-funded project, highlighted the role of healthy animals in maintaining biodiversity and the landscape, and how it supports the local economy. Two speakers from DG SANTE and DG AGRI detailed initiatives being taken by the European Commission to support the One Health vision.

The conference took place the day after AnimalhealthEurope revealed its new name and branding at a gala dinner in Brussels held to celebrate the organisation’s 30th anniversary.