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ASSA ABLOY: DEDICATED SUPPORT
FOR TRADE CUSTOMERS
ASSA ABLOY Security
Solutions has announced
it will focus solely on its
trade customers and has
appointed Eryl Jones as new
Managing Director to lead the
way. Having spent his early
career working in national
sales, moving on to senior
management within the
construction industry, we find
out how Eryl plans to apply
his wealth of experience to his
new role.
From the age of 14 I spent my
summers between school and
university working at a slate
mine in North Wales, which
gave me an understanding
of what is relevant to our
construction industry
customers. Being able to absorb
the construction industry from
a young age and at its grass
roots encouraged me to pursue
a career in the industry. I then
became sales manager at
Jewson, my first real taste of a
corporate environment where I
gained an insight into providing
customer relevant solutions
and how get the best out of our
supply chain.
I joined ASSA ABLOY in
2008, and was appointed
as Commercial Manager
for Wholesale for UNION
and ASSA. I then became
responsible for Trimec® and
when ASSA ABLOY Security
Solutions was formed, creating
more collaboration between
the brands, extending my role.
My career at ASSA ABLOY has
enabled me to broaden my skills
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THE JUL/AUG 2014 ISSUE
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within operations, purchasing,
logistics and rounded my
knowledge of the business – I
plan to use this insight into the
wider business to develop ASSA
ABLOY Security Solutions.
One of my biggest successes so
far has been my part in offering
solution-driven business
support for customers, with the
launch of ASSA ABLOY Security
Solutions in 2011. UNION,
Adams Rite, ASSA, Trimec® and
Pemko are no longer brands
managed in isolation and can
be reached by a single point
of contact. So our customers
benefit from a wealth of skills
and a more streamlined service
for projects. Those individual
brands have heritage, however,
and I am proud to continue to
maintain and invest in them
including our oldest heritage
brand, UNION. We continue to
manufacture many products
from our Willenhall factory and
this is something we should be
proud of in such a competitive
market.
The construction industry was
hit hard by the recession and
although there a positive signs
of recovery I don’t think this will
come in a “big bang” but with
steady growth.. Investment in
infrastructure and commercial
projects is encouraging. London
is seeing a boom in construction
and I’m hopeful that the rest
of the country will catch up
with this prosperity providing
a positive effect on business.
I’m confident that with the
investment in the ASSA ABLOY
brands over the last few years,
we are in a very good position
to take advantage of this upturn
and support our customers in
developing their sales.
I’m keen to ensure that
we continue to create new
and diverse products to
help locksmiths adapt to
the changing markets. The
UNION Codehandle is a good
example of this, offering the
latest innovative technology to
provide locksmiths with new
revenue streams, supporting
the evolution in the way we lock
doors.
I also want to ensure our
products are relevant to our
customers, making life as easy
as possible for installers and
offering some of our latest
product innovations such as
shineTM, a digital lock that
we are launching soon. The
lock can be clamped on to
glass doors, without any need
for drilling – a benefit that will
save installers and locksmith’s
time; shineTM is also batterypowered, eliminating the
need for complicated wiring,
offering instant access control
that can be in place within half
an hour. With some products
we have made ‘how-to’ videos,
offering installers step-bystep instructions to make
their jobs easier. This can be
seen with our EximoR panic
device video, illustrating that
the EximoR range also has a
number of features that can save
locksmiths time on construction
sites.
We need to support our trade
customers and are continuously
looking for ways to make
information about our products
more accessible. We have been
improving our IT systems,
soon to improve our telephone
system and have launched
e-catalogues – to give better
customer service and making
information on products and
orders easily accessible.
My goal as new MD for ASSA
ABLOY Security Solutions is
to place a greater focus into
our trade market and to be
relevant and important to our
customers. We are working hard
to develop product innovation
to support our customers in a
fast moving market and we need
to challenge ourselves to ensure
we deliver this.
www.assaabloy.co.uk/
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To read more, visit www.locksmithjournal.co.uk