PEOPLE
10 MINUTES WITH: CHRIS BROADBENT
Senior Sales Manager (North) at Fernox
What is your current role and how long have you been doing it?
I have been the Senior Sales Manager (North) at Fernox for the past year.
What does your role entail?
As a Senior Sales Manager (North), my primary responsibility is to manage all sales operations in Yorkshire and the North East. I oversee the activities of the wider sales team working across a large client base – which includes merchants, installers, contractors, social housing providers and new build developers. I also work to identify new business opportunities and drive sales.
How did you get started in this industry? I have made quite the journey on my way to working at Fernox. I started out in banking, before changing my focus to work in the building trade. As well as getting hands on experience on-site, I have also worked at a number of builders’ merchants, taking on roles such as Sales Office Clerk, Estimator, Sales Representative and Branch Manager. I later joined the Fernox team as Area Sales Manager (North) – and after four years I was promoted into my current role of Senior Sales Manager (North).
What roles were you doing before and how did they prepare you for this one? I spent over 20 years working for builders’ merchants and during this time, I was able to develop my knowledge of the industry and hone my sales technique. Working merchant side also meant that I had to deal with a number of supplier representatives – and this has influenced how I now build business relationships. In my experience, honesty is always the best policy and is appreciated by my customers.
What would you like to achieve in the role? I am constantly striving to do the best job that I can, by furthering my skills and adapting my approach to suit each individual customer and their needs.
What has been the highlight of your career so far?
A real stand out moment for me was being named BMJ Supplier Account Manager of the Year 2020 at The BMJ Awards. Receiving recognition like this is a fantastic feeling. My previous Sales Director always used to call me
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“The Perfect Rep” and receiving this award has made me think that maybe he wasn’t being so sarcastic after all.
What do you see as the main issues for builders’ merchants and for the construction industry at the moment? Covid-19 has put a huge strain on the industry. With construction work placed on hold during the lockdown period, businesses were forced to close their doors and press pause on projects. Whilst I think builders’ merchants on the whole have adapted well to the new way of working - to ensure the safety of their staff and customers and accommodate social distancing measures – there is a long road ahead to get back to normal business levels.
If you could go back to the start of your career, what piece of advice would you give yourself?
I would tell myself to make the most of every opportunity. Throughout my career, I have worked with some wonderful people that have all influenced me and my approach to my current role. I wish I had recognised this more at the time and maximised the chance to learn from those around me and absorb their valuable knowledge.
Football, rugby, cycling, golf or gardening – what keeps you busy at the weekends? I play rugby and am a season ticket holder for Leeds Rhinos. However, due to the coronavirus lockdown, I haven’t been able to train, play or be a spectator. Instead, I’ve taken up cycling and am about to embark on a huge challenge - 100 miles a week, split over just three rides.
If you’re at the bar – what are you drinking?
Always a Guinness to start, before moving onto a gin (I tend to opt for Hendricks or a rhubarb gin).
What’s your favourite book? Favourite film? I am not a big reader, however when I do pick up a book it has to be something by the crime writer Simon Kernick. My favourite films are The Shawshank Redemption and Mad Max 2.
If you could be a superhero, what super-power would you choose?
Invisibility – imagine the fun you could have! BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net September 2020
ON THE MOVE • AG (Acheson &
Glover), has appointed Ross Telford as its new Head of Marketing. Telford has more than 15 years of experience
in marketing management roles, 10 of them leading the marketing department in a builders merchant and a construction manufacturing company.
• Russell Roof Tiles has promoted Jamie Wilds to the role of Commercial Services Coordinator, based at the business’s Wetmore Lane, Burton
site. Wilds began working at the roof tile manufacturer when she was 18.
• SCA Wood UK have expanded their customer services team in Welshpool, Powys. Harriet Wallsgrove has been appointed as commercial support manager, and Michael Wall and Zoe Evans, as customer services and sales assistants.
• Carl Kammerling International (CKI) has announced the appointment of Mark Raines as Head of Marketing. Raines joins from Bosch Power Tool Accessories where he was a Head of Product Management in
Switzerland.
• UK manufacturer Baxi Heating has appointed Karen Boswell OBE as Managing Director of Baxi Heating UK and Ireland. Boswell joins
from Hitachi Rail.
• SR Timber has appointed Rachael Williams to the role of Business Support. Williams brings 25 years’ experience of working
for merchants, as well as in the wider construction industry.
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