By Paul Connelly

Very early in my ‘selling’ career I became involved with mainly Asian shopkeepers who were required by their insurers to fit an alarm system to their business premises, but were not aufait with alarm technology.

I felt responsible to explain the details and workings of an alarm system to them, and had many a laugh with them during the explanation process.

My sales personnel get frustrated at times as my ethnic customers will only deal with myself and that can sometimes cause a problem.

I must have got something right, because today Connelly Security Systems has hundreds of Asian, Chinese, Turkish and Italian subscribers to name but a few and now second and third generation ethnic businessmen have become our customers too, but they don’t need explanations on how an alarm systems works!

This makes me particularly happy to sponsor this award having had this long successful association with many ethnic groups both socially and commercially.

It is so important in the current climate that we as indigenous Scots hold out the hand of friendship to all ethnic groups. We must praise and encourage the organisations who work so hard to integrate ethnic communities into our own, and that is the purpose of this gathering tonight.

I do hope that publicity follows us from this event and a better appreciation of each others’ cultures results from what we have seen and heard.