editor’s interview
Strix looks to grow its
consumer brands business through independents
Harry Kyriacou is chief commercial officer of Strix, and managing director of the Isle of Man company’s consumer brands division. He tells Simon King about his career and the innovations the company is bringing to market
H
arry Kyriacou is well-known in the independent electrical retail sector,
since his first role in the electrical industry, when he joined Philips in 1997, from university. He worked at Philips for 13 years in consumer
electronics first, and latterly in the small domestic appliance category. “My first role was as a commercial assistant for the independent channel,” he says. “I started right at the beginning with independents, so I know a lot of the key businesses and owners. “I moved through Philips in marketing roles and then into sales. I was national account manager for 14 months, and was given the Comet, Powerhouse and CIH accounts– the independent channel is important, and it always will be in my opinion.” Mr Kyriacou moved to Whirlpool, as UK sales
director UK, where his role was managing the whole channel, including independents. “I then moved to the headquarters in Italy,
where I was head of e-commerce and head of digital for a couple of years,” he says. “My last role there was category director for dishwashing, responsible for launching a range of dishwashers within the EMEA region.” Mr Kyriacou and his family then moved back
to the UK, where he joined Glen Dimplex Home Appliances, as commercial excellence and
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I’m responsible for all sales and marketing and I’m also managing director for consumer goods,” he said. “We want to grow the consumer goods business – the category and ownership of the product roadmap sits with me.” Strix is best known for its kettle controls business and the company has a 75% market share in the regulated kettle controls market. “We have relationships with over 500 global
brands, local brands and retailers who use the Strix controls in their products,” Mr Kyriacou said. “When I was at Morphy Richards, I was at the
range review with a major retailer and we were showing them a cordless iron and talking about this new 360-degree charging point, which, of course, is a Strix control.” Strix recently acquired Laica, a brand established in Italy in 1974, which has a wide range of products of which some feature Strix technology. “We will continue to sell those products, but
the new innovative products that we bring will always have Strix technology inside, which is bringing features or products to the consumer that they don’t already have today,” Mr Kyriacou said. “A good example of that is the Dual Flo from Laica, which is a 2-in-1 kettle and hot water dispenser which features one cup technology from Strix.” On Dual Flo, if the flap is closed it’s a standard
Harry Kyriacou
strategy director, working under Andy Griffiths. He got the call from Strix just before Christmas
2018. “In January 2019, I met the Strix chief executive,
Mark Bartlett, and in February, I went across to the Isle of Man with my wife to meet him and the rest of the leadership team,” Mr Kyriacou said. “We hadn’t really settled back into the UK after
Italy and the Isle of Man appeared to be a safe and a lovely environment for the kids.” Mr Kyriacou said the role at Strix has given him an opportunity to lead a business more as a general leader rather than just a functional leader. “At Strix, I’m the chief commercial officer, so
kettle; if the flap is open, it becomes a one cup. It’s the only true combined one cup dispense and kettle on the market. “That has a sustainability message as well, because you’re only boiling the water that you need,” Mr Kyriacou said, “even if the kettle is full, you only boil one cup.” Aqua Optima is another key brand for Strix, specialising in water filtration technology and small appliances. Aqua Optima’s Aurora collection, is a range of water filter stations which deliver hot or cold filtered water on demand. Heading up the collection, is the 3-in-1 Aurora Instant Hot & Cold Water Filter Dispenser, again powered by Strix technology. It is a kettle, water cooler and water filter all in one and, as a first of its kind innovation, is the only plug and go water dispenser to deliver fast-flow filtered hot, boiling or chilled water at the touch of a button, using Strix patented TrueBoil technology Users can choose the volume, from 200ml up
to one litre and even set the temperature. “This conservation of water is important’, says
Mr Kyriacou, “as in the UK, we over boil 70 million litres of water per day, which equates to over 10,000 Olympic swimming pools worth of water every year.”
Another example of Strix brands innovating in an established category is the Visione by Laica the
March/April 2023
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