Business - Appointments

Complete CNC Solutions, the UK’s exclusive distributor of Tekcel and Protek Production Routing and Print Finishing Systems is delighted to announce the appointment of Gillian Allen to the role of Consumables Sales Account Manager.

Gillian will be based in the Company’s headquarters and demonstration facilities in the South-West near Bristol, and will also be visiting customers to advise them how and what’s needed to extract optimal performance and quality from the production systems they employ.

Gillian has deep experience in the print, signing and display markets and comes to Complete CNC Solutions with the knowledge needed to make a positive difference to the customers she’ll advise. Gillian is an experienced world-traveller and now looks forward to adding more miles to her total as she gets to meet her new customers.

Gillian can be contacted on gallen@completecnc.co.uk.

Xaar plc, the inkjet printing technology group headquartered in Cambridge, UK, has announced the appointment of a Non-Executive Director.  Following the retirement of David Cheesman in May 2015, the Company is pleased to announce that Margaret Rice-Jones will join the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 1st August 2015.

Margaret has extensive experience of managing complex international technology businesses, with more than 25 years in senior leadership positions, including CEO of a $100 million turnover business and responsibility for a $1.25 billion turnover business as a Vice President at Motorola. Margaret has also had direct responsibility for operations and customer relationships in Asia, EMEA and North America and has led acquisitive growth strategies within multiple businesses.

Margaret has held Non-Executive Director roles with established PLCs and VC-backed e-commerce businesses since 2000, including Board positions on FTSE 100 and 250 companies. She is currently Chair of Skyscanner Ltd, where she also chairs the Remuneration and Audit committees, and is a Non-Executive Director of Openet Telecom Ltd.

Phil Lawler, Chairman commented: “Margaret brings a wealth of experience to the Board in both global business and leadership roles. We look forward to her help in guiding the Company at this important juncture.”

Doug Edwards, CEO commented: “I am pleased to welcome Margaret to Xaar. Her extensive international experience and M&A background will prove very useful as we seek to grow through external partnerships as well as internal developments.”

Margaret Rice-Jones commented: “I am incredibly excited to be joining Xaar at this important time in its 25 year history. Xaar is well positioned to take advantage of a number of growth opportunities in the digital print market in the coming years.”

Onyx Graphics has appointed Mr. Rigte Groenbroek to the position of Territory Sales Manager for Central and Eastern Europe, in the Onyx Graphics Europe-Middle East-Africa (EMEA) Region. In his new role, Rigte provides sales and business development to the Onyx Graphics channel in Benelux, Germany, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Russia.

Rigte brings to Onyx Graphics a long list of credentials as an account manager as well as extensive sales experience in large format and textile printing. He previously served as a Hardware Sales Executive at Spandex Benelux where he had direct experience consulting with clients on popular solvent and UV printer models from leading manufacturers including HP, Mimaki, Mutoh and Summa. Rigte was also an Account Manager for Antalis, a leading distributor of paper, packaging solutions and visual communication products.

“I am pleased to welcome Rigte to our team,” said Claes Jeppsson, EMEA General Manager for Onyx Graphics. “We recognised the need for a territory sales manager with his experience and dedication to the industry. I am confident he will only bring great things to Onyx Graphics.”

Rigte graduated cum laude in desktop publishing from Graphic Lyceum in Eindhoven. He is based in the Netherlands.

Premium large format out of home company blowUP media UK has promoted Head of Sales Simon Russell, to the post of Sales Director.

Katrin Robertson, CEO of blowUP media, comments: “This appointment is a natural progression. Simon has done a great job in strengthening and broadening our offering to advertisers in an extremely competitive marketplace and making sure we speak the language of the agencies and specialists. He is a fine team leader and displays real entrepreneurial thinking.”

Simon Russell comments: “This is a fantastic opportunity to help develop the future of blowUP media. My experience in the OOH industry will enable us to lead a fresh and innovative approach to the OOH market. Over the past 6 months we have started to look at the behaviour of the audiences in the locations where we dominate with Giant Posters. This will enable us to provide an insight to clients and agencies so they can have a better engagement with audiences in those locations where we deliver unrivalled scale, impact and brand presence.”

blowUP media has enjoyed a period of outstanding growth in recent years, with revenues up by 25 per cent last year and market share now almost 50 per cent of the UK Giant Posters market. As one of the biggest providers of the largest and most impactful opportunities in the premium OOH sector, blowUP media has a exceptional national portfolio and works with a multitude of brands, which include Samsung, Heineken, EE, Virgin Media, Microsoft and First Great Western.

Before joining blowUP media last November, Russell was with Kinetic for ten years, after four years with Carat Business. He worked closely with MEC, Maxus, AKA, and TeamUK and as Group Head took charge of the MEC team in 2009. He has played an instrumental role in overseeing innovative campaigns that have raised the profile of his clients’ brands and products.

Spandex has appointed Camiel Bosma to the dual roles of Group Vice President, and General Manager, Netherlands, with immediate effect. He will be based from the Spandex Netherlands offices in Veenendaal.

Bosma brings over 30 years' experience in the signage and graphics industries to the new roles with Spandex. Most recently, he occupied the position of Divisional Director for VTS Europe within Paperlinx, which followed 13 years as Divisional Director with Bührman Ubbens, where he held responsibility for the Netherlands and Germany.

The move to Spandex brings Camiel Bosma full circle, having begun his industry career with Spandex in 1984, at a time when Spandex Netherlands was a recent addition to the organisation. He remained with Spandex for 16 years until 2000, culminating in the position of Managing Director for Benelux.

Bosma comments: "I'm delighted to be invited to return to Spandex, at a time when we have such exciting opportunities to accelerate our progress as an organisation. I'm looking forward to playing a part in a business that is dedicated to the sign, display and graphics industries, and to be working for the only truly global player supplying these sectors."

He continues: "Sign professionals and graphics producers are finding exciting new ways to diversify their service offering, and as the one-stop shop for leading brands, we are focused on developing our product range to meet their needs. The recent acquisition of Proga Plastics in the Netherlands is a perfect example of how Spandex can make strategic moves that help the business to grow by extending our offering to customers - in this case in the areas of rigid materials and bespoke cut-to-size service, both of which are significant growth areas."

Bosma has plans to expand the Spandex Netherlands team to meet the growth opportunity in the region, while also working closely with suppliers to optimise the product portfolio to the evolving requirements of customers.

Spandex CEO, Rod Larson, comments: "I am very pleased to welcome Camiel back to Spandex. He will be an asset to the Spandex leadership team, and to the Netherlands operation, complementing a team of highly engaged and energised general managers across our operations throughout Europe. Our key suppliers know Camiel well and have confidence in his ability to provide outstanding service to our customers. Spandex customers in the Netherlands will undoubtedly benefit from his commitment and depth of industry expertise, together with his well-informed insights into the opportunities for them to grow and develop their businesses."

Print and visual communications specialist Callprint has announced the appointment of David Snaith, who will join the new team at Jupiter Visual Communications, part of the Callprint group, as its Managing Director, where he will head up the stand-alone business.

This latest appointment follows Callprint’s recent recruitment of Andy Phillips at Jupiter earlier this year, along with Jupiter’s new Retail and Commercial Team at the end of last year.

David will head up the Jupiter Visual Communications team, having previously worked with Jupiter Director, Ben Moss, whilst both were at branding and graphics specialist, McKenzie Clark and event branding company, Icon, where David was instrumental in spearheading the sales growth of both of the companies. Previously David was also Head of Retail Sales at another of Ben’s former companies, Service Graphics, having joined them from leading major designer department store, Selfridges & Co., where he was Head of Creative Services for five years. David is also an expert in the Retail sector, which is an important area of business and growth for Jupiter.

In his latter role as Group Sales Director at Icon, David worked on some of the highest profile and major culture and sporting occasions including; the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, UEFA Euro 2012 and the FIFA World Cup, as well as dressing cities and public spaces, corporate and retail environments.

Speaking about his new role at Jupiter, David comments: “Marketing efficiency is a huge challenge for today’s brands even more so as they venture into new markets, geographies, channels and develop new products. Add to this the ever-increasing pace of technology and it becomes a struggle to maintain effective, coherent and aesthetically consistent brand messages. I believe Jupiter’s strength in aiding them in combating this is to analyse and create solutions that will support some key business drivers.”

He adds: “So why should clients choose Jupiter?  Several reasons really. Our people – we have an array of creative services experts; Our locations, (national & international reach); Our technology – we have incredible access to anything/anywhere; Our Heritage – we operate across the Retail, Corporate branding, Property, Architecture and Events sectors; Our approach – Together we make it happen; and finally our scale and range of capability.”

The appointment of David as Jupiter’s Managing Director further enhances Callprint’s statement of intention to grow and develop its business operations, (following the addition of Jupiter Visual Communications as a stand -alone business) through organic acquisitions and the addition of new personnel.