The latest industry movers & shakers

03 May 2013: Key personnel movements and announcements from around the appliance and CE channel. The latest movers & shakers are from Haier, Sunbeam, Bosch and Samsung.

The very latest movers & shakers are at the top... Move your cursor over the photos to see who's who!

Jacqui Christopher has joined Haier Appliances as a Product Manager. She will be responsible for the management, selection, pricing and development of all Haier products in New Zealand. With 10+ years’ experience as a Product Manager, working for various companies such as Sharp and 3M, Jacqui will bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the growing Haier business.

Sue Greig retired at the end of last year after no less than 28 years as Sunbeam’s BOP representative. We know Sue will be sadly missed by all of her customers. After 28 years Sue certainly has seen many changes in the appliances industry, as retailers and distributors have come and gone. Perhaps Sue could write her memoires in her retirement?

Verdon Kelliher is Samsung New Zealand’s new B2B Sales Director. In the newly-created position, Kelliher’s primary focus will be on Samsung’s Hand Held Products (HHP) and IT product categories. He joins Samsung from software integration business SIMPL Group (New Zealand) where he was country CEO. He previously held senior sales management positions with Optimation NZ, IBM, Logical Networks, Krone Communications and Telecom.

Ann Mander is Bosch’s new South Island rep. Back after 18 months’ OE in England, Christchurch-based Mander was DéLonghi’s South Island sales rep. No doubt her old South Island customers will be pleased to see her again.

Kenny Yeon is the new Country Manager at Samsung New Zealand. Ms Yeon has had a distinguished career with Samsung since 1994 and has extensive experience in sales, particularly in the IT division. She worked in Samsung Asia PTE Ltd. from 2004 to 2009 and has since been part of Samsung’s Global Marketing Office Retail Excellence Team.

Chang Kim, Samsung New Zealand’s previous Country Manager, has been promoted to Vice President of  the SEA region. Working within the Samsung Group, Kim will be involved in a project to develop a new energy source for electric cars.

Nicholas Cavanagh has filed the newly established role of Haier’s upper North Island Area Manager, effective 10 December 2012. Cavanagh previously worked at Masport and Nylex NZ and has a keen understanding of sales, marketing and account management. He will report directly to New Zealand Brand Manager, Troy Scragg, and will work closely with key Haier customers to drive the upper North Island area business from Fisher & Paykel’s office in East Tamaki.

Adam Dodds is new to IDC New Zealand in the role of Research Manager IT Services. Dodds is responsible for driving IDC’s IT Services research agenda into the fundamental market transformation that’s being driven by cloud computing, big data analytics, social business and mobility. He joins IDC from Telecom New Zealand where he managed the Strategic Alliances Team.

Brent Malone, armed with 29 years’ consumer experience in management, sales and marketing at Direct Imports, is now Group Brand Manager Australasia at Amber Technology. Malone’s CV includes senior roles with primary responsibility for product development, sales and marketing in New Zealand. Malone has joined Amber Technology to strengthen its position in consumer products and develop a brand presence across appliance and hardware markets.

Michael Cornwell is Samsung New Zealand’s Marketing Director. He will be responsible for the strategic leadership and execution of marketing and comms initiatives across all Samsung product categories in New Zealand. A New Zealander, Michael graduated with a B.Com majoring in Marketing from the University of Otago. In a career spanning 16 years he has held senior sales & marketing roles at HP and Lion in NZ and Red Bull and Invivo Wines in Canada.

Kevin Craig is the new Service Manager at Sunbeam NZ; he will be working closely with all of Sunbeam’s service agents, dealers and customers and is familiar with many in the appliance service sector in his role as a Board Member of the ETA. Craig’s previous position was as Service Manager at Sony NZ.

Jan Honnan has joined Sunbeam Appliances as a Sales Representative. Having been a rep for about 14 years, working for various companies such as DB Breweries, Carter Holt Harvey (now SCA), Frucor Beverages, Constellation NZ in the grocery channel and Dulux in the hardware industry, Honnan’s “other” career was in pub management in the UK running pubs for major breweries Bass Taverns and Scottish & Newcastle.

Andrew Simpson has joined The Warranty Group in the newly created role of General Manager of Sales & Marketing for Australia and New Zealand. With 20+ years’ experience in insurance and 8 years in retail, Simpson’s appointment is a key addition to the executive management team and the company’s planned growth strategies. 

David Smol is the inaugural Chief Executive of the new Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MBIE). Smol comes to the role from the Ministry of Economic Development (MED, now MBIE’s Economic Development Group) where he was Chief Executive. Smol joined MED in April 2003 as Deputy Secretary responsible for the Energy & Communications Branch having been in energy consulting in the UK and in New Zealand when he was involved in the establishment of Trans Power and part of the team that set up Contact Energy.

Mark White is Haier’s new Wellington Area Manager. He joins Haier from Teacher Direct, a leading direct marketing company that supplies Educational Resources to New Zealand’s Schools and Early Childhood Centres, in the position of National Sales and Marketing Manager. Prior to Teacher Direct, Mark has worked in various retail sales and account management roles. Mark will work closely with key Haier customers to drive the Wellington area business.

Amanda Heuvel is a recent addition to Sunbeam’s team as Customer Services Manager. With substantial experience in customer services / quality assurance, Heuvel has worked in South Africa, Namibia and New Zealand across a wide variety of industries but she is particularly enjoying the appliance industry with its constantly changing possibilities / opportunities. “It is exciting and new challenges can only increase our customer services and product supply to our valued customers!” she says.

Ray Gillenwater is RIM's Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand. Gillenwater has held various positions at RIM in North America and in South East Asia, where he was most recently Country Director of RIM’s operations in The Philippines. He was also involved in RIM’s distribution model for BlackBerry across South East Asia, making the region one of the fastest growing and best performing in the industry.

Sara Beaumont is Breville's new Sales Representative for the South Island. Beaumont will be known to many of her customer base from her previous role with Telecom Mobile. "I am looking forward to continuing the momentum Breville and our retail partners are enjoying well into the future," she says.