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Wentworth, S Yorkshire, 28 May 2010: CEO of leading sales skills improvement consultancy, Huthwaite International, Tony Hughes, took centre stage at last night’s British Excellence in Sales and Marketing (BESMA) Awards held at The Lancaster London Hotel, Hyde Park, as he received the inaugural Institute of Sales & Marketing Management (ISMM) Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Award recognised, "Tony's passion for sales excellence and his tireless commitment to raising the profile of the profession." Hughes, who became CEO of Huthwaite International in 1998, has more than 20 years’ experience in designing and delivering sales and negotiation skills improvement programmes.

Much of his company's focus has centred on delivering consistent high quality training across multiple geographies, culminating in Huthwaite International achieving the Queen's Award for Enterprise, International Trade in 2008 in recognition of the company's 138% growth over the previous three years.

"I am honoured to receive this prestigious award," said Hughes, "as the ISMM shares my absolute commitment to changing the way people think about sales. In today's tough, global markets, the companies that succeed will be those that put sales at the heart of their operation - with everyone throughout the organisation recognising their role in driving new sales opportunities and improving the bottom line."

Tony also recognises the continuing need for innovation in an environment of tight training budgets and rapidly-changing buyer-seller relationships. "Critically, our business success has been underpinned by our unrivalled 30+ year heritage of research into sales best practice, which resulted in the world renowned SPIN^® Selling methodology," he says.

"Equally importantly, in maintaining this powerful research programme we are able to continue developing practical, creative answers to our clients' new challenges," he believes. "Latest examples of this have included a unique study identifying best practice negotiations and the launch of our Virtual Training Campus, an exciting initiative which shows Huthwaite International once again leading the way in the delivery of effective remote training."