ON THE MOVE
• Andy Williamson has joined Digby Trading as a director alongside owners and founders Darren and Claire Digby. Williamson has previously worked for Henkel, Yale Security
Products and more recently as managing director of IKO. He is also a Trustee of the Rainy Day Trust and a Liveryman of the WCOBM and winner of the BMJ Industry Personality of the Year 2018.
• Pavestone UK
Limited has appointed Tom Parker as a non- executive director with effect from 5 November 2018. In 1984 Parker set up Parker Building Supplies. He sold it in
March to Cairngorm Capital, when it has grown to be the 18th largest builders merchant in the UK
• Elliotts Living Spaces in
Ringwood has welcomed two new designers to the showroom.
Jemma Collins and Bryony Downs have joined existing designer Lawrence Morgan at the kitchen and bathroom showroom on Pullman Way.
• Adam Turk, managing director of Baxi Heating, Commercial, has been appointed chairman of the CPA Marketing Integrity Group,
spearheading the design of a code of practice for the provision of product information.
• Saniflo has appointed Fahim Karim as specification sales manager for the South focusing mainly on the Kinedo range of cubicles, enclosure and trays.
• Rachael Mackman has joined the Wirquin UK sales team as buying group manager. Most recently she has been working in the KBB sector supporting the buying groups and national merchants, key developers and housing associations.
PEOPLE
10 MINUTES WITH: SCOTT BEATTIE
Managing Director, Fibo UK Ltd
What is your current role? Since July 2016. I’ve been MD of Fibo UK, the European market leader in bathroom, kitchen and wetroom laminate wall panels. We manufacture and supply panels throughout Europe from our HQ in Norway. Since then we have doubled our UK business to £10m.
What does your role entail?
My role is to drive further growth by expanding our network of distributors and building long standing relationships with our merchant customers. I’ve driven the implementation of a strategic marketing programme to raise awareness of our brand among merchants and specifiers, and promote the benefits of wall panels over traditional tiles. I’ve also been actively recruiting and expanding our UK sales and marketing teams. We now have national sales coverage so customers across the country have a key contact in their respective areas. And we’ve been working hard to build relationships with public sector specifiers so that we win sales for our distributor network. It’s an exciting time.
How did you get started in this industry? I came into this industry when I joined Fibo two years ago. Before that I was in the fast moving consumer goods business.
What roles were you doing before? I started my career in marketing and sales working for large branded companies. I’ve had significant involvement with launching new products into the market where it’s vital to select and build relationships with the right partners. My sales and marketing background has given me valuable experience in the importance of communicating and building trust in a brand. The attraction to Fibo was that it manufactures a top quality product that comes with leading benefits and a truly unique proposition, but awareness of both the brand and product category was low.
What would you like to achieve? I would like to transform the market’s understanding of wall panels and firmly position Fibo as a market leader. This sector has come a long way and awareness and perceptions of panels are changing, but there is still more to do in promoting the sales benefits to stockists, and in demonstrating to specifiers and contractors how panels can make a difference to their projects. Panels offer a modern and unique alternative to ceramic tiling and are perfect for both refurbishment and new build. They are
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net December 2018
quick and easy to install and developments in product ranges means there is a growing choice in colours, styles and textures too.
What has been the highlight of your career? I took the plunge about 15 years ago to start my own business building a brand from scratch bespoke 3D greetings cards. Customers varied from football clubs to The Natural History Museum. I built up a small team and while the business only lasted for four years it taught me a huge amount about general business acumen.
What are the main issues for the industry at the moment?
Depending on what market you are in, some businesses are more affected than others with the lack of infrastructure projects, price rises, currency fluctuations and Brexit! However, a growing issue for merchants is the threat of online. So it’s important stockists look at how they sell and make it easy for their customers to buy. Showrooms play a big part in that. Having researched the product online, customers then want to see and touch the product before they make a final decision. Completing that loop in the buying and selling process is essential.
What piece of advice would you give yourself as te start of your career? Never ‘assume’ and ask enough questions of the right people so you fully understand the business.
What keeps you busy at the weekends? I used to play Rugby a long time ago so more of a rugby than football fan, but I enjoy supporting both, and living near Birmingham I’m an Aston Villa supporter. I’ve recently moved house so that’s keeping me very busy and of course I need to rip all the tiles and mouldy grouting off the walls and replace with Fibo panels!
At the bar – what are you drinking? I would normally go for an IPA or a Guinness.
What’s your favourite book? Film? I’ve just finished reading ‘Done’ by Jacques Peretti which is a fascinating read about the world of secret deals! I like a good action film.
If you could be a superhero, what super- power would you choose?
It would be flying powers - not to have to spend hours on motorways would be very nice and visiting our head office in Norway each month would be a doddle!
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