Business - Appointments

The Board of Directors of Mutoh Holdings, Ltd., Japan, has appointed Brian Phipps to the Board of Directors of its U.S. subsidiary Mutoh America Inc., located in Phoenix, Arizona.

Phipps will begin his new role as of June 1 st , 2011, and will keep assuming his current functions as General Manager of Mutoh America Inc.

Phipps' new assignment has three main goals: promote Mutoh America's leading role in the wide-format inkjet printer and professional sign making plotter markets, explore new niche markets and develop strategic plans to ensure Mutoh's continued growth in the Americas.

"I am honored and pleased to be appointed to the Board of Directors for Mutoh America," sharesPhipps. "I look forward to the new challenges ahead and working with a great team of employees that make my job very rewarding."

At age 46, Phipps has been active in the wide-format business for over 15 years. During this period, he has held positions in sales, marketing and business management. Since 2004, he has been involved with Mutoh's sales activities and was promoted to General Manager of Mutoh America in April of 2010.

Avery Dennison Graphics and Reflective Solutions has promoted Carlo Kölker to the position of Business Manager, Traffic and Safety, for Europe and the Middle East.   In this new strategic role, he will drive growth as part of the global Traffic and Safety team, co-ordinating customer responsiveness; supporting  the regional sales managers;  developing key customer relationships;  implementing new business programmes; streamlining and optimising business processes;  and managing the new product and project pipeline.

Carlo Kölker joined Avery Dennison in 1996 as a Customer Service Representative, and has progressed through a series of increasingly-senior sales and marketing positions – most recently as European Segment Manager, Traffic and Safety.   He is a graduate in international business administration.

Reporting directly to the global General Manager, Traffic and Safety, and with a dotted reporting line to the Sales Director, Avery Dennison Graphic and Reflective Solutions Europe, Mr Kölker will continue to be based at European divisional headquarters in Hazerswoude, The Netherlands.

Mike Spurr has become Project Development Manager for the Sign & Display Division at Robert Horne. With 17 years of experience with the company, Mike has outstanding knowledge of the industry and excellent relationships with customers.

Mike will spearhead Robert Horne’s involvement in supplying sign and display materials for the 2012 London Olympics. In addition he will take ownership of the UK Outdoor Advertising market as well as offering support on projects for both the retail and public sector businesses.

Adrian Dennis, Divisional Director, Sign & Display, Robert Horne comments: “Mike has had a highly successful career in Sales and Branch Management at Robert Horne and will bring valuable experience to his new role in the company. His knowledge and expertise will be instrumental in winning business for Robert Horne.”

 

The BPIF, the UK's principle printing, packaging and graphic communication business support organisation, has recently welcomed Darren Shepherd as Chairman of the North East region.

Darren moves from being Deputy Chairman of the North East region whilst James Buffoni, Head of Marketing at the Ryedale Group, now fills the Deputy position that Darren has left vacant.

The British Printing Industries Federation offers practical solutions and support to organisations in all areas of print; including Health and Safety, environmental and quality issues. They also offer a range of services such as insurance and financial alliance which provide healthcare and pensions advice. The BPIF organise regular learning seminars, events and networking, which is highly praised by its members.

Darren's main objectives as Chairman include representing the views of the North East region's members and providing feedback on both Regional and National BPIF policies. Last year the UK print sector generated a turnover of £14.3 billion from 10,500 companies, employing 140,000 people.

In his role as Jade's Managing Director, Darren boasts a wealth of knowledge, heritage and 27 years of experience in print. Darren's father, Dennis Shepherd, created Jade 40 years ago operating presses in his garage with the help of family and friends before obtaining the first company premises. Over time, the company has flourished into a full solution communications, print and new media organisation, with 52 staff generating £4 million a year in turnover. 

Darren has spent his entire life working in the print industry alongside his brother Barrie, who also works at Jade as Pre- Press Director. Darren has held a selection of roles at the company, starting out in production as a printer, then working in the estimating department and general management, before landing the role of Managing Director in 1996.

Darren said: "I am utterly thrilled to take on the role of Chairman of the BPIF North East region. The Federation do such a wonderful job in supporting the UK printing industry and it's fantastic to be involved in something that I have known all of my life, growing up as part of a family owned printing company. Jade have gone from strength to strength over 40 years and we now offer full solution marketing communications and new media products, such as QR coding and data collection, as well as print. I'm very much looking forward to working as a sounding board to help the BPIF in every way that I can."

 

Xaar, the world's leading independent supplier of industrial inkjet printheads, is pleased to announce the appointment of Bob Bobertz as General Manager Asia Pacific, and Duncan Gellatly as Ink Sales Manager.

These newly-created roles are part of Xaar's expansion plans and ensure that the company has the best structure in place to deliver rapid growth over the next few years.

Bob Bobertz brings 12 years' experience as General Manager Asia Pacific with Linx Printing Technologies, an industrial inkjet manufacturer and a global leader in the product identification market. Based in Hong Kong, Bob now has operational responsibility for all Xaar's activities in the Asia Pacific region, encompassing China, Japan, Korea, India, Australasia and the Asian rim countries.

Xaar works in partnership with the world's leading ink manufacturers to develop and approve the widest range of inks that are compatible with its range of printheads. Duncan Gellatly joins Xaar as Ink Sales Manager from Avecia, a leading supplier of pigment and colourants to the printing industry. He has extensive commercial and technical inkjet experience and now has global responsibility for Xaar's ink sales strategy which includes managing ink partner relationships to ensure that Xaar meets the needs of the graphics and ceramics markets.

Phil Eaves, Sales and Marketing Director, Xaar, says: 'These new senior management appointments add top level skills and experience to the company at a time when we are undergoing substantial growth in a number of market sectors. Bob and Duncan bring considerable inkjet knowledge and commercial expertise and will help drive significant further success in 2011 and beyond."

[Photo shows Duncan Gellatly, Ink Sales Manager, & Bob Bobertz, General Manager Asia Pacific]

FESPA has appointed Neil Felton to the position of Managing Director, Exhibitions & Events, reporting to CEO Nigel Steffens.

Neil will direct FESPA’s international portfolio of exhibitions, which includes the flagship FESPA 2013 event (London), FESPA Digital 2012 (Barcelona), FESPA Asia 2011 (Singapore), FESPA Mexico (2011, 2012, Mexico City) and FESPA Americas 2012 (Miami).   FESPA’s exhibition sales, operations, marketing and events teams will report to Neil.

Neil is a highly experienced exhibitions director, having most recently held the position of executive director for exhibitions at William Reed Business Media, an organisation with a portfolio of business-to-business events in the food and drink sectors.  This included the UK’s largest food-led event, attracting in excess of 40000 visitors.  In that role, Neil managed a team of 21 personnel including four individual show directors, with responsibilities embracing sales, marketing, operations and administration.  His team received the Team of the Year award in the coveted Exhibition News Awards in 2010.

During his six-year tenure with William Reed Business Media, Neil presided over a three-fold growth in event revenues from his division.  He directed the launch of the Food and Drink Logistics Show, and devised several other business growth initiatives.  Prior to that, Neil spent eight years at Penton Media Europe in charge of the company’s two top shows, having gained sales experience in a series of media roles following his graduation from Thames Valley University, where he gained a degree in Modern European Studies.  Neil speaks fluent German.

Neil Felton comments; “I’m delighted to be joining FESPA at such an exciting time in the organisation’s history.  I have always relished directing exhibitions that serve specific business sectors and their stakeholders, and I’m enthusiastic about getting to know and understand the global wide-format print community that FESPA serves. 

“FESPA’s growth in the last six years has been phenomenal, yet in several regions and market segments this is only the tip of the iceberg.  Undoubtedly there are still untold opportunities for FESPA to bring together print service providers and their suppliers, and to create environments where the community can share its collective technical and commercial knowledge and expertise.  I look forward to meeting with exhibitors and visitors in the coming months to find out how FESPA can continue to meet their evolving expectations.”

Neil Felton’s appointment is effective from May 11th 2011.  He replaces Frazer Chesterman, who is leaving FESPA to pursue a career opportunity in a non-competitive event organisation.