A Tribute to Argosy’s Founder Mike Purnell

On 6^th February, we heard the sad news that Argosy’s founder Mike Purnell had passed away after a short illness, whilst on holiday with his wife Pauline.  This is extremely sad news for the Argosy team and countless other individuals who had the pleasure of working with Mike for many years.

Mike was born and raised in Brighton in 1945 and spent some of his formative years in France…This may be where his love of travelling emerged. He started his working life in the electronics industry with ITT Cannon in the 60’s, where he established an interest in connectors and first encountered the XLR audio connectors; which was to be his introduction to Broadcast technology.

Mike was a family man and was the proud father of two sons Andrew and Nick. The family set up a home in Buckinghamshire and it was from here that Mike was to establish Argosy, alongside his business partner Doug Julley, where they were soon to be joined by long-term friend Ken Eckardt, specialising in serving the Broadcast Industry.

Their company started like many small firms, while one person quoted customers and processed orders, the other loaded the van and drove into London to deliver the products.  As their customer base grew, Mike and Ken were able to upsize into bigger premises in Stokenchurch and then latterly in Long Crendon with branch offices in Salford and Dubai.  Mike thrived on traveling overseas to work alongside people from different backgrounds and cultures, building close relationships with anyone he came into contact with.

Mike and his wife Pauline became fixtures of the Broadcast sector with Pauline would often accompany him on business trips to places as far flung as Las Vegas, Amsterdam and Dubai.

Mike’s  business acumen, intelligence, courteous nature, loyalty, generosity and humour were legendary across the Industry.  Mike also found time to make an active contribution with our trade association the IABM.

Outside of work, Mike enjoyed a game of golf and was a member of Round Table and 41 Club .  Good company, good food and a glass of good wine were definitely on the menu for a night out with Mike.

Our abiding memory of Mike will always be of a patriotic, family-orientated man, who loved his family and friends alike and treated his colleagues, friends and business associates with love, affection and support.

Many people the world over will miss Mike, especially his team at Argosy!