Berghaus restructures for global growth
27/01/2011
The company will put in place a series of changes to its business model, as it continues to build towards achieving global growth objectives. The new model, which will take full shape over the next few months, combines an international board that will oversee the direction of the brand, with dedicated regional business units delivering local solutions in markets around the world.
The international board will be led by brand president Richard Cotter and will include David Kennedy (finance director), Tina Payne (HR director), David Heath (in a new role outlined below), Michael Lockett (vice-president Asia) and Richard Leedham (in a new role outlined below) from the current executive team.
Another part of the restructuring will be to recruit a chief operating officer, who will be based at Berghaus headquarters in Sunderland in the north of England and will run the global operations and supply chain functions. The chief operating officer will also sit on the international board.
The global management of the brand will continue to be directed from the brand’s headquarters in Sunderland. However, Berghaus believes it can provide better local solutions for key markets by creating distinct regional business units managed by dedicated teams in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and in Asia. The EMEA unit will incorporate two individual units, for Europe and the UK.
The EMEA business unit will be directed by Richard Leedham, who has been appointed to the position of vice-president EMEA. Mr Leedham has worked for Berghaus for 15 years, most recently as UK sales director. He and his team will work closely with partners in the UK and across Europe. Meanwhile, Matt Kemp has been appointed to the position of UK country manager and will be responsible for the business in the UK while supporting Richard Leedham in his role.
“Europe is a large and complex region, where Berghaus operates with both a network of distributors and new models for the brand, such as a joint venture in the Nordic area and a subsidiary in Germany,” the company said on announcing the changes. EMEA sales director Simon Roberts will continue to be responsible for driving growth and revenue in the region, and will carry on strengthening his team to deliver the brand’s objectives across Europe, it added.
UK-specific marketing solutions will be developed and delivered by a dedicated team. Caroline Smith has been promoted to the new role of head of marketing EMEA and will manage all marketing in the UK and Europe. In the UK, Caroline will be supported by trade, consumer and digital marketing specialists. They will be responsible for ensuring that global brand initiatives are delivered in the UK, with local relevance and impact.
After five years with Berghaus, marketing director Sarah Sculpher will be returning to her home region in southern England to take up the position of international marketing director with Lacoste Chausseures, within the Pentland Group. With this change, Berghaus has taken the opportunity to restructure the marketing function in line with its wider strategic focus.
To provide integrated brand and product solutions on a global scale, David Heath has been appointed vice-president of global product and marketing. He will be supported by the existing product and design teams but Berghaus announced it will also be recruiting for several new roles, including head of apparel.
A newly formed brand team will be put in place to develop globally relevant marketing solutions. Leading that team, a new position of global brand manager has been created. Jo Scott will join Berghaus in February from automotive company Volvo and will be responsible for developing the lead stories and campaigns that will be used to promote the brand in the UK and around the world.
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