CEO Today United Kingdom Awards

www.ceotodaymagazine.com 84 CEO Today United Kingdom Awards 2018 MANUFACTURING MARTIN WALKER CEO of Methven UK Ltd ABOUT MARTIN WALKER Martin Walker is CEO of Methven UK Ltd, the global designer and manufacturer of premium showers. Within his role Martin is responsible for overseeing business in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and North & South America. Methven is an NZX-listed market-leading designer and manufacturer of showers, taps and valves. The business is headquartered in Auckland where the products are designed, developed and manufactured. The international distribution network means products are shipped to Australia, China, the UK, the Middle East, USA and Europe. Since joining Methven in 2014, Martin has grown the revenue and returned the company to a long term profitable business, through increasing the brand distribution and improved brand awareness across the EMEA, North and South America regions. Over the last four years, Martin has brought in a brand new UK team who have helped to give the business a clear focus for the future. He has encouraged the team to embrace the company’s New Zealand heritage to ensure they feel part of the innovation and forward thinking approach that is taking place on the other side of the world. At the forefront of Methven’s commercial, marketing and sales objectives are its showering technologies and specifically the patents surrounding Satinjet® and Aurajet®. These unique shower sprays give the brand a commercial advantage in both trade and consumer markets and offer clear unique selling points (USP’s). It’s these USP’s against competitors that give their reseller partners a distinct competitive advantage while end users get the benefit of Methven’s contemporary design and an unrivalled showering experience. Due to the on-going investment in product innovation, Methven has won prestigious design awards worldwide including the Red Dot Best Design Award, German Design Award and Designer Kitchen and BathroomAward. Methven UK was also included in the CoolBrands list two years running and was featured alongside brands such as RayBan and Apple! Speaking of his role Martin said: “Over the last few years Methven has evolved from having low level brand awareness in the UK and Europe, to being one of the main players in the sector and this has been achieved through a strategy of ‘know, grow, biggest and best.’ Ultimately, as a team we have focused on knowing our competitors, looking into cohesive partnerships, pushing ourselves to drive more sales and excelling at customer service. “It is an incredibly exciting time to be part of the Methven brand. As a global company we have access to some of the best resources in the world – whether that be designers, sales teams or marketing support. We recently celebrated 130 years of heritage and with another new patented product about to be launched there is no sign of things slowing down!” Prior to joining Methven, Martin held roles in leading consumer goods companies including; Bryant & May, Brita Water Filters UK and Curver UK. Whilst at Curver UK, he implemented an intensive change management program to enhance manufacturing capability and improve cost structure. This change not only drove new product development but also turned Curver UK into a profit making enterprise after a number of years making a loss. Martin is a member of the Institute of Directors, is accredited with the Chartered Director, Certificate in Company Direction and partook in the Cranfield School of Management, High Performance Leadership & Organisational & Interpersonal Skills in Management course. “Due to the on-going investment in product innovation, Methven has won prestigious design awards worldwide including the Red Dot Best Design Award, German Design Award and Designer Kitchen and Bathroom Award.”