ON THE MOVE • Dave Poole has
been appointed as branch manager at TG Builders’ Merchants in Bridgnorth, leading a team of 20. He has worked for several merchants supplying
the construction sector across the region before joining TG Group, and will now play a key role in building on the strong start the Bridgnorth branch has made.
• Ideal Standard International, has announced the
appointment of David Barber as UK and Ireland managing director. Barber first joined the company
in 2006 and most recently served as UK finance director. He takes over from Stephen Ewer who is leaving the business after more than two years.
• Philip Johns has been appointed SIG UK managing director by specialist building materials group SIG. He previously worked at SIG for over 28 years in a number of
senior leadership roles. More recently he was CEO at MKM Building Suppliers and chief commercial officer with IBMG Group.
•
W.Howard Group has welcomed James Leader as sales executive. Leader joined the MDF profile manufacturer in early April 2020, covering London and the area
inside the M25. He will be working closely with builders’ merchants, timber merchants and all
W.Howard stockists.
• Euramax has appointed Kevan Flanagan as its new key account manager for the DIY and merchant sector. Flanagan joins the team with an established history in
construction, working in sales, account management and marketing.
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net
PEOPLE
10 MINUTES WITH: JAMES LEADER
London Sales Executive
W.Howard Group
What is your current role and how long have you been doing it?
I’m the new London Sales Executive for
W.Howard Group. I joined the company in April 2020, so I’m pretty new to the business and looking forward to really getting to know the company and everyone in the industry that we work with.
What does your role entail? I am responsible for covering London and the inner M25 area, and for looking after all of
W.Howard Group’s builders merchant customers and stockists. Most of my time will be spent working with our existing merchants to make sure they have everything they need to grow their sales of our MDF profiles, skirting and architrave products, including the very latest point-of-sale and technical information. I’ll also be working closely with any potential new stockists who are interested in finding out more about our products, and the benefits they can reap by working with us.
What roles were you doing before and how did they prepare you for this one? Although I’m fairly new to the
W.Howard Group, I’ve spent more than six years in the merchant sector, working with companies including City Plumbing Supplies, Buildbase, and Benchmarx Kitchens & Joinery. That means I have a broad knowledge of the merchant sector, and I know what is important to them and what support manufacturers can provide that will really make a difference to their bottom line and help them maximise their sales.
What would you like to achieve in your role?
The current coronavirus pandemic means it’s been an unusual start to my time at
W.Howard Group, but I love meeting new people and I couldn’t wait to really get started, meeting new people and getting to know everyone in the company. Everyone from
W.Howard Group has been very welcoming and I think it’s incredible how nice everyone is and how close they are. Really, once things in the industry get fully back to normal I just want to do the very best I can to the best of my ability.
May 2020
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
That was definitely being asked to do a presentation for more than 400 people! We covered the Travis Perkins cornerstones in front of the new management apprentices at Silverstone. It went really well, and after completing the presentation our team was invited to Cardiff to do the presentation again a month later in front of Travis Perkins’ board of directors.
What do you see as the main issues for builders’ merchants and for the timber industry at the moment?
I think the main challenges are the general push for the industry to go online, and for everyone to stay on top of the constant technological updates. The pace of change is getting faster all the time – and the advances are a really good thing – but it’s challenging for people to keep up with the very latest versions of equipment and software so they can make the most of all the opportunities that are out there.
What keeps you busy at weekends? Mostly family, as we have a two month-old baby girl at home. We’re a very family- centred household, so we see our family most weekends if we’re not out doing our own thing.
And what about hobbies? Do you have a particular hobby or sort of interest?Not so much these days since our daughter was born! But I used to play ice hockey quite a lot when I was younger, so I would travel around the country going to different ice rinks to play. I quite enjoy cooking as well, and really, just travelling as much as I can, and getting out and exploring.
Where’s the favourite place you’ve been? That has to be Thailand – it’s a brilliant place and I really love it there.
If you could be a superhero, what superpower would you choose? I think I would probably choose to be The Flash and run really fast, to so I can get to places really quickly and know I’d never be late getting to anywhere.
BMJ 11
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