Crown Paints Limited, the largest independent decorative coatings manufacturer in the UK and Eire, has appointed Joe Devitt, formerly the company’s Retail Director, to the newly created position of Group Commercial Director.
Joe has now assumed additional, broader responsibilities for formulating and implementing commercial strategy across the Lancashire based group and will focus on top-line growth and margin generation for the business, which manufactures and markets high profile paint and woodcare brands including Sandtex, Sadolin, Berger and Macpherson in addition to the flagship Crown paint brand.
Since 1989, Joe has held successively senior sales and marketing roles within the company, gaining an ever deepening understanding of both the trade and consumer sectors of the market, in which Crown is one of the largest and most well established players.
Joe’s new directorship marks a further strengthening of the Crown Paints board which, in the past twelve months has seen the appointment of four new directors from within and outside the business. Building a high calibre management team has been a key part of the Group’s strategy since it gained its independence from Akzo Nobel in September 2008. The most recent appointments include Darryl Senior, appointed Purchasing Director in the autumn, and Crown’s new CEO Brian Davidson who took the helm in December 2009.
Brian Davidson commented: “Now that Crown Paints is free to chart its own course as in independent manufacturer in this intensely challenging and competitive market we need strong commercial management if we are to succeed in developing our sales volumes and margins. Joe has the depth and breadth of experience required to take a holistic view of the business and to work with the other members of our new forward-looking senior management team to design and implement a new distribution strategy across our retail, trade and export markets. He is supremely well qualified to take on this vital role in the business.”
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