PROFILE
I WOKE UP
Chris Fearn goes through his busy schedule involving Far Eastern connections, trade shows, traveling and juggling the development of a number of major audio brands…
’ll usually rise at about 6:30 in the morning and get straight on Skype and talk to the PR and product managers over in China, where the International Audio Group, of which Wharfedale is a wholly owned subsidiary, has its own factory.
I
Both of them used to work for Sound Control in the UK.
I’ll normally do this between 7:00 and 8:30 and we’ll talk about a variety of topics and recently we’ve been discussing matters relating to the BPM show. I also often chat with the guys from Surgex over in the States, but this would happen later in the day.
“ 40 miPRO OCOTBER 2010
loved music and sound. I’m a very bad guitar player.
I enjoy all kinds of music – what I have on my
iPod is very varied. I don’t really watch films or TV that much and I also have two children, aged three and seven and I have encouraged one of them to start playing the violin. I go to a lot of trade shows such as Frankfurt and NAMM and I will soon be making the annual trip to China along with a group of dealers. I’ll always make an appearance at the other
large shows, like PLASA, too. However, that show seems to have grown a bit too much for the people and brands I deal with, although the
I love the way that everyone seems to stay in the industry and refrains from becoming hard-nosed businessmen – we should all be a bit more like this.
I’ll then check my emails, which is when I
regularly receive a lot of requests from dealers about products. Our biggest customer is PMT, but we also help out a lot of the bricks and mortar stores. Our office opens at 8am, which is quite early for this industry, but there are 25 employees currently working with us and there will almost always be someone in communication with those over in China, hence the early start. I sometimes get a lot of enquiries from end users asking me about products and then it’s my job to direct them on to a dealer. I live near Nottingham, just off the M1, which means I can get to a lot of places quickly. I’ll spend at least one night a week away from home, travelling all over the country. As for what I do in my spare time, I’ve always
regional event in Leeds (PLASA Focus) is much more suitable. We’re looking to launch the new Alvion range of amps in the UK soon. These have been designed by Steve Grindrod, the director of Wharfedale’s Musical Instruments Division. I’ve been here for nine years. Before that, I
was working for a Canadian installation company and before that a hi-fi company and I was selling Wharfedale products in each of these roles. I’ve made a lot of friends in this time and I love the way that everyone seems to stay in the industry and refrains from becoming hard-nosed businessmen. Maybe we should all be a bit more like this. In
the end, I just enjoy getting out there and meeting people.
WWW.MI-PRO.CO.UK
THIS MORNING
National sales manager – Wharfedale Pro/Surgex CHRIS FEARN
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