Business - Appointments

Xaar, the world's leading independent supplier of industrial inkjet printheads has confirmed the appointment of Keith Nixon (BSc, MBA) to the role of European Sales Manager.

Keith joins Xaar after spending 12 years with Fujifilm Sericol, where his most recent role was Digital Business Manager. Prior to that, Keith spent some time working for both Domino Printing Sciences and Linx Printing Technologies.

Phil Eaves, Sales & Marketing Director at Xaar comments: 'We are delighted to be bringing Keith on board. His knowledge of inkjet applications and the printing industry is ideal for this role. This is a great appointment for Xaar; it strengthens our sales presence in Europe at a time when Xaar inkjet applications are developing into new market segments. I am extremely confident that he will be a valuable asset to the team.'

EskoArtwork (www.esko.com) has strengthened its presence in the sign and display market by appointing Bryan Stringer as Worldwide Business Development Manager Sign & Display.

Stringer will be based in the UK and report to Nicolai Gradman, Senior Vice President CAM & Supply Chain. In this new role, Stringer will be responsible for expanding EskoArtwork’s sign and display business by developing relationships with other vendors in the industry and identifying new business opportunities. Stringer will also support more than 30 EskoArtwork sales offices around the world.

Stringer brings to his new role years of expertise and experience in the sign and display market. In the UK, he founded B&P Light Brigade in 1982 and was Managing Director at the company until 2004. Stringer then set up and ran Planet Media Ltd and Planet Digital, acting as UK distributor for Zünd until 2007, and most recently for SwissQprint.

“The role presents an excellent opportunity for me to apply my experience in the sign and display sector, and help EskoArtwork expand its business,” says Stringer. “The company’s software is already a ‘must have’ for packaging and commercial printers. We anticipate that it will soon enjoy the same status in the sign and display market, driving tools for digital finishing in digital print bureaus. Plus EskoArtwork Kongsberg cutting tables have a very strong reputation for digital finishing in this industry.”

Nicolai Gradman comments: “Bryan has a comprehensive understanding of the sign, display and retail sector. His knowledge, global contacts and vision will prove invaluable as he spearheads our growth strategy in this growing market.”

New appointment at CWES cements their position as the UK's leading proofing system provider.

Rob Thurston, formerly of Xelix, has joined leading large format reseller and colour proofing specialist City and West End Solutions.

With more than 8 years experience with GMG proofing and colour management products, Rob Thurston is highly regarded in the industry. Rob comes to CWE Solutions from GMG reseller Xelix, bringing with him a loyal client base which includes Colour Systems/Fresh Media, Conde Nast Publishing, Bauer, Polestar and other similarly high profile clients.

Rob joins Simon Landau at CWE to bring together two of the UK’s foremost technical experts for GMG products.

Doug Gilbertson, Managing Director of CWE Solutions Ltd, said “This appointment underlines our commitment to keeping CWE at the leading edge of the GMG proofing and colour management sector. Without doubt we are now the number one supplier of large format GMG in the UK, a position we are proud to have achieved. Rob can only add further to the expertise that we can make available to CWE customers".

As testament to these claims, CWE recently provided the technical consultancy that saw AGI Media become the first ever UK print company to achieve FOGRA ISO12647-2 certification.

Colourgen has appointed Julie Mitchell as its new Internal Sales Manager. Julie will be responsible for recruiting, training and managing Colourgen’s internal sales team as well as maximising and measuring sales performance to meet the company’s sales objectives. Julie will also oversee and participate in the co-ordination of sales promotion activities.

Prior to joining Colourgen, Julie was Sales Director at Grace Electronics where she oversaw an increase in turnover from £1.2million to £5million within 5 years. Overall, Julie has more than 20 years experience of working in sales, particularly in the computer supplies market, where she has held major accounts such as Comet, Office World and Spicers.

Peter Davidson, General Manager – Print Solutions, for Colourgen, comments, “Julie has extensive experience of managing and working within fast moving and dynamic sales teams. We believe she be a real asset to our team as we look forward to an exciting period of time for Colourgen. Julie will mainly be working with our reseller accounts sales team to help them support and manage these important relationships.”

Julie Mitchell comments, “I am really looking forward to the challenge of working with Colourgen. While the company is already very well established in its marketplace, I believe I can help deliver further growth by developing new ideas and new strategies.”