IER Interview:BEKO T


hough we have briefly met a few times at various events over the past 12


months, there has never been the mutual opportunity to sit down and chat with, to now, the first female ever to win the coveted ‘Contribution to the Industry Award’ in the 34 years this accolade has been presented. Welcomed into one of several meeting


rooms within the amazing array of product displays featuring all the BEKO brands, this was a privilege and fantastic opportunity to know more about and raise constructive questions regarding Teresa’s success in leading BEKO on its track record of profitable growth. But more about those questions later. It’s always interesting to first know more


about, Who’s Who and why they are a successful business leader. Teresa began her journey with BEKO in 2011


appointed as Marketing Director for the UK & Ireland, then appointed to the role of Managing Director for the UK & Ireland in 2015. Ultimately, Teresa played a key role in the transformation of the business through the merger and acquisition that created a new multi-brand proposition for the UK market. This significantly expanded the company’s portfolio with the addition of iconic brands including Hotpoint, Whirlpool and Indesit, alongside the existing Beko, Leisure, Flavel and Blomberg brands Being passionate about sustainability, Teresa continues working to champion carbon literacy and carbon reducing programmes within the company and with key trade partners. Teresa was hence the ideal person to be


voted as Chair for the AMDEA trade association from 2018 until this year, inspiring a dynamic,


IER Editor meets with BEKO MD


Accepting an invite in summer, Stuart Hopwood, IER’s Managing Editor, visited the offices of BEKO in Watford to meet up with this years’ IER Awards deserving winner of the CONTRIBUTION TO THE INDUSTRY AWARD, Teresa Arbuckle, Regional Managing Director and Vice President for the UK and Ireland for BEKO.


more impactful trade association focused on sustainability stronger government and stakeholder relations and improved consumer knowledge about white goods with award- wining programmes like ‘Register My Appliance’ and ‘Know What’s What’. Delving into her interesting background prior


to joining BEKO, Teresa held significant roles in well-known companies such as Premier Foods, LeapFrog Toys, H.J. Heinz, Danone and Kimberly-Clark. Not surprisingly, holding an MBA from the


‘Thunderbird School of Global Management’, based in Phoenix, Arizona and ‘Bachelor of Business Administration’ from the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, Washington DC., Teresa is more than qualified to hold her senior role and guide BEKO and its


brands to further success. Teresa and I sat around the table to ask and answer a variety of what you may find, interesting questions with even more interesting answers.


Stuart Hopwood (SH): Rapidly approaching 15 years as a Director within Beko, we have all seen many differing challenges in the White Goods industry. Without going back all that way, what did you view as opportunities and threats, especially since Covid? Teresa Arbuckle (TA): For decades, the market has been replacement driven, bearing in mind MDA units are usually kept for 10-15 years or until they require repair. Therefore, sales volumes and opportunities were reasonably predictable. During Covid, this completely changed business for us all though we had to challenge the many commercial threats as did our customers. The resilience of the independent retailers’ support to the public in general, allowed us to also support them where possible. Since especially more recently raising the


profile of HOTPOINT, with substantial investment over the past two years, the brand has a much broader and more competitive proposition across all major appliance categories. Whilst the HOTPOINT brand continues to enjoy strong recognition and trust amongst consumers, the focus is now on rebuilding visibility within the independent channel and introducing a new generation of consumers to the brand.


SH: Those who know you both within BEKO and throughout the industry, respect you as an individual and a highly successful team leader. Also knowing you identify, ‘people


18 | www.ierdaily.co.uk PEOPLE MAKE THE DIFFERENCE Autumn 2026


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