PEOPLE PAUL WHITE 10 MINUTES WITH: Brett Landscaping, area sales manager


What is your current role and how long have you been doing it? I am the area sales manager for Brett Landscaping in the Southeast, I’ve been here since December 2022.


What does your role entail? I am part of external sales team looking after the merchant division, and developing relationships with contractors and installers.


How did you get started in this industry? I started more years than I care to remember, I came into the industry as an apprentice carpenter and had the pleasure of working on projects such as, Queens Gallery Buckingham Place and a project at St James Palace.


What roles were you doing before and how did they prepare you for this one? Before my current role I spent nearly eight years as a merchant area sales manger again based in the Southeast where I provided many projects with landscaping as part a of development package. This has given me a very good understanding of the process; from manufacturer all the way to the end user.


Baxi has announced that Karen Boswell OBE is to leave Baxi Heating UK & Ireland at the end of November, after three years as the company’s managing director - Jan Rijnen, former


CEO of insulation specialist De Isolatieshop B.V., will replace her.


Kudos Shower Products has appointed Mark Batley as Senior Business Development Manager, to focus on working with distributor partners and growing the number of Kudos


retailers and their displays.


Codelocks has appointed Paul Campbell as its new techni- cal, quality and sustainability manager, he has over 30 years’ experience in architectural iron- mongery and brings a wealth of knowledge to the role.


What would you like to achieve in your role?


The Brett strap line is “Built on relationships”, this industry relies on strong relationships. People buy from people, and I would like to develop a stronger trading relationship from the top of the chain to, the most important person, the end user.


What has been the highlight of your career so far?


In the short time I have been here, the team I currently work with.


What do you see as the main issues for builders’ merchants and for the construction industry at the moment? Without a doubt, the uncertainty of interest rates affecting people’s confidence in the housing market has a big effect. Job security is another big question that affects everyday living for all people, in all areas.


If you could go back to the start of your career, what piece of advice would you give yourself?


Remember to take a positive view to all


situations, focusing on the negative makes issues much bigger.


What keeps you busy at the weekends? My son and our fishing trips, when not losing fish, I like to have a very sociable round of golf and when possible, a bit of touring Europe on my motorcycle.


If you’re at the bar – what are you drinking?


A proper real ale or a nice Jamaican dark rum.


What’s your favourite book? Favourite film?


My favourite book is Peter Schrijvers “Those who hold Bastogne”, I like anything to do with military history. So, no surprises on the film, Saving Private Ryan or Band of Brothers.


If you could be a superhero, what super- power would you choose?


I think I would like the Silver Surfer, endless amounts of energy, traveling everywhere on a surfboard. Just think of the possibilities; not having to sit in traffic on the M25 would no longer be an issue! BMJ


ON THE MOVE


Burdens apprentice Jay Clarke has been nominated for Apprentice of the Year award at this year’s Lifetime Learner Achievement Awards in the Customer Support and Administration category, one of only three out of 280 across the UK who have been selected as an awards finalist.


PermaRoof - part of PermaGroup - has appointed Mick Coulson as area sales manager covering Yorkshire and the Northeast, and Tracy Bray as area sales manager for the South Wales and Southwest regions. Bray started her career at 19 as an apprentice roof tiler and slater, and has since held numerous roles within the construction industry over the course of 29 years, before making the switch to sales.


Grant UK’s new area sales managers are Jim Moody and Terry Townend, the former for


central and southern Scotland and the latter for the Midlands. Moody has a background in plumbing, and was technical sales manager for a heating manufacturer in Scotland. Townend has been assistant branch manager at a national merchant, before taking on an area sales role.


www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net November 2023


Minster has announced that colleague Sophie Jenkins- Downes has been awarded the IFE Level 3 Certificate in Passive Fire Protection. The qualification follows months of hard work and study, attending training delivered by the Institute of Fire Engineers and recognises specialist technical understanding of fire safety, fire science and passive fire protection, as well as its application throughout the built environment.


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