A GLOBETROTTING music technician from Bewdley is rubbing shoulders with gospel greats - after helping organise the BBC-backed international Gospel Entertainment Music Awards.

Marcus Miller, who set up the Simplesounds record label with business partner Simon Taylor, sponsored and presented the GEM award for "best choir" to London Community Gospel Choir at the glittering ceremony on November 1.

And the former Kidderminster College student, who was also a judge at the prestigious event, is now set to help the award-winning artists record a compilation CD at his studios in Brierley Hill.

He added he was "very proud" to have worked on the groundbreaking ceremony at the Bethel Convention Centre in West Bromwich.

And said the evening - which was presented by Doctors star Aryion Bakare and London DJ Jumoke Fashola and recorded for broadcast on local BBC radio stations and television - was a "great success".

"It actually turned out to be bigger than we expected and the evening went really well," he said, adding they were due to start planning next year's ceremony today.

"They're talking about making it bigger and better and moving it to London."

The 26-year-old, who has worked as a sound engineer in the UK and Caribbean for the last nine years, was one of the judges on the coveted BBC-backed best newcomer award.

The prestigious accolade - which was divided into four categories - was narrowed down to three contenders in each group before being decided by public vote.

BBC Best Female Newcomer went to Charmain, while singer Steve Jones won BBC Best Male Newcomer, Mowglee won BBC Best Newcomer Group, and Dream Choir won the Best Newcomer Choir Award.

And hot on the heels of their award ceremony success, Mr Miller and Mr Taylor are hoping to achieve funding from the West Midland Arts Council to enable young people to learn to play musical instruments in their studio. "We want to get a music library so young people can come in and use instruments and we can help them," he said.