PEOPLE
10 MINUTES WITH: ANDY PHILLIPS
Sales Director, IRSAP UK Ltd
What is your current role?
I am Sales Director for IRSAP UK Ltd, and have been in the role for two and a half years. This role entails having responsibility for all sales functions, including customer service and order processing. The National Sales Manager - who looks after the field sales force - and the Key Accounts Manager both report to me.
How did you get started in this industry? By accident! I started as a rep in the bathroom industry 20 years ago, calling on showrooms and merchants, and then I moved into the related field of radiators and towel rails.
What roles were you doing before and how did they prepare you for this one? All roles prepare you for the one you do currently - I am old enough to have sold fax machines. A horrible job in the late 80’s. But one which taught me some valuable lessons in customer relationships, and their importance. I was a sales representative for four different manufacturers, selling into merchants and showrooms for a while. Then, for IRSAP, I was Business Development Manager, National Sales Manager, and Business Development Director, before my current role. I also had 10 years selling in the clothing trade, dealing with major accounts such as Next, Tesco, Asda etc.
What would you like to achieve in your role? Sales! It’s simple really, but actually, being head of the front end of a business that is respected for its service levels and professionalism is important. I’d like to think those people working for me are enjoying their roles, and the personal development of those talented people who work for me is a major goal.
What has been the highlight of your career so far? Becoming a Director of a business in the UK. It sounds a bit embarrassing, but joining a business as what was effectively a glorified rep, and becoming Sales Director six years later is something I am secretly proud of. But don’t tell anybody!
What are the main issues for builders merchants and the industry? For merchants, the market is changing significantly, and they have to adapt quickly. Certainly, on the light side, there is a huge threat to the industry from online. The market has been slow to react, believing the customer base of tradesmen will always like the idea of
8
visiting a trade counter. However, we have seen from the massive success of Screwfix, this is not necessarily the case. Look at what is happening on the high street and it is not that difficult to see some replication of this in the merchant market.
Logistics are getting faster and better, and it is only a matter of time before same day site deliveries take place efficiently, without the trade needing a merchant. As a manufacturer, we have steadfastly stuck to our principles of showroom and merchant only, however, it is a difficult path to stick to in the changing world. In our little world of radiators, there are too many suppliers, and resellers, who are either ignorant of the legislation, or who choose to willingly ignore it (in our case BS- EN442, designed to ensure all products are independently tested and certified for heat outputs, and data published at a specific temperature setting – called delta t 50). Selling a product that has overstated outputs is not a victimless crime, with the consumer and the environment losing out. We are members of MARC (the manufacturers association), and are working hard with Trading Standards to raise the profile of this issue, and to educate all sellers of radiators, as well as merchants and installers alike.
If you could go back to the start of your career, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
Be self confident. You are good enough. I spent too long thinking that others were better.
Football, rugby, cycling, golf, gardening – what keeps you busy at the weekends? I used to play rugby and cricket (and football, badminton, golf and tennis). So every Saturday was a sport (and drinking!) fest. These days, it’s family, with me spending most of my time ferrying the two boys to their various activities. cricket, swimming, rugby, guitar lessons, cubs, golf etc. I coach the rugby kids. U9’s next year. Having run sales teams, it’s very similar. I try to get on the golf course, but I fail almost every year at playing any more than about six times. When the kids get older, it will be a goal to play every week with them. They’re eight and ten now, so we’re nearly there.
If you could be a superhero, what super-power would you choose? X Ray vision! No, seriously, who doesn’t want to be able to fly? BMJ
ON THE MOVE
• David Moore joins Dunlop as area sales manager for the North West and North Wales respectively. Moore is
previously from N&C Nicholls and Clarke where he worked as a Branch Manager.
• Kathryn Hyde has joined Dunlop as marketing manager bringing communications and customer engagement
experience from a variety of sectors.
• David Gledhill, formerly managing director of Graham the Plumbers’ Merchant, has taken up the same post at bathroom distributor
Ideal Bathrooms. Gledhill brings over 35 years’ experience in the merchant and distribution sector.
• Kudos has appointed Simon Donnelly as New Product Development Manager, a new position for the business. Donnelly joined the business almost
a year ago as a Mechanical Designer.
• Jeremy English, Great Britain and Ireland Manufacturing Sales Director for Södra, has been appointed to the board of the Structural Timber Association (STA).
• Quinn Building Products have appointed Ryan Tabb as their new Rooftiles GB Business Development Manager. The appointment comes after a very successful
four years for Ryan as Quinn’s Area Sales Manager for the North West region. Ryan has worked in the construction sales sector for 17 years and will be responsible for the growth and development of Quinn’s Rooftiles business nationally.
• Elliotts Living Spaces, the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom showrooms arm of Elliotts Builders Merchants, has a new manager. Victoria
Anderson. Anderson has been designing kitchens for 15 years and has worked as a designer for the brand for the past five years.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net August 2019
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
