Our Partnership
Since 2016, Sherrington Associates have been the retained executive search partner for sustainable construction products leader DB Group. During that period, we are proud to have supported their growth through the recruitment of several key leadership positions and assembling a new sales team for their innovative eco-construction products arm Cemfree.
As the business expands, Sherrington are retained once again, this time to recruit a National Sales Manager to leader the UK sales force within Pudlo, the group's structural waterproofing arm.
Company Profile
Since it was founded in the early 1970s, DB Group has been a pioneer in the construction industry. It was originally established to provide specialist sands to industry for cement testing and fuse manufacturing and we are still exporting sands all over the world today.
Our boundless passion for innovation runs through the entire history of DB Group. In the early 1990s we brought the waterproofing product, PUDLO, into our range and spent many years advancing its formula to get it just right. But an exceptional product alone wasn’t enough for us, so we added an industry-leading service and warranty to it to make it unbeatable. PUDLO has since been used in various projects around the world, from the Royal Albert Hall to the Dubai Fountains, and we’ve broadened our range to provide a complete waterproofing envelope for our customers’ ever-growing needs.
Sustainability runs through our core and we know how important it is to reduce our environmental impact in everything we do. That’s why, in 2015 we introduced Cemfree ultra-low carbon binder – a complete game-changer for the construction industry that achieves dramatic carbon savings of up to 80% in concrete. This innovative technology was developed in-house to ensure every detail was exactly as it should be. It has since won multiple awards and continues to excite and impress the industry in equal measure.
Integrity and experience are vitally important to us, not just in product manufacturing, but also in our contracting division, MPS Concrete Solutions. It provides outstanding industry expertise in various applications, including concrete repair, jointing solutions and waterproofing installations. This industrious division of DB Group has grown significantly since it was founded in 2013 and continues to evolve and expand according to industry demands.
Progression and quality underpin everything we do at DB Group. We spend time listening to and working with our customers, pushing ourselves to continuously innovate and improve upon the products and services that we offer. This collaborative approach feeds our relentless ambition to stay at the top of our game and makes us the enduring, credible organisation that we are today.
Situational Overview
The last ten years have seen significant change across the business. As the company founder and previous Chairman neared his retirement, he began to seek investment for the business. For the business to grow it was imperative to partner with strategic investors whose values were aligned to the group’s values and future vision. On Feb 24th 2015 a deal was completed with an exciting new investor in the form of private equity investors Wheatsheaf Group (Grosvenor Estate’s private investment business) to join the long-term investment trade partner Altro Flooring. The group was seen as having huge potential by Wheatsheaf and complimentary to their interest in supporting businesses with a strong eco-agenda and sustainability focus. A new senior management team was established later that year and new CEO Wayne Zakers (formerly VP Europe at £200m construction chemicals manufacturer Fosroc) joined the business in June 2016 with a vision of growing the business significantly through new product development, geographic expansion (including international) and finally moving into lucrative new market sectors.
Leading a growing team of both Specification Managers and Key Account Managers across the Country, the National Sales Manager will drive the continued growth of DB Group through strategic team development and inspirational leadership. Managing both the sales team as well as directly managing a small number of prestige customer accounts, the successful candidate will be an effective player-manager, leading by example and inspiring others to elevate their performance, whilst fostering a sense of collective goal orientation and team spirit.
The business continues to make substantial improvements in several key areas in order to develop the platform for major growth over the next decade including investment in R&D, developing new waterproofing products, geographical expansion across the United Kingdom with the recruitment of several key roles and new market development - crucially capitalising on major opportunities in the UK infrastructure sector. This is an opportune time to join a well- backed, established and rapidly expanding player in the market right at the start of an exciting growth trajectory.
Role Profile
Purpose: The National Sales Manager is responsible for growing PUDLO’s market share within the structural waterproofing industry through the management of their own small number of allocated accounts and by maintaining an in-depth understanding of the industry, internal data and customer trends. They are accountable for leading the PUDLO Sales team to drive revenue and strategic growth, develop new business opportunities, and to ensure customer retention.
Key Performance Indicators
- Robustly manage a number of allocated accounts as well as identifying and onboarding new national accounts.
- Communicate with customers in a professional, credible manner at all times whilst resolving technical queries in a timely fashion.
- Hold frequent project tracking meetings with the team to evaluate and direct the pipeline content and accuracy in CRM, reviewing individual activity levels including key meetings, pipeline additions, projects won, projects lost, and lessons learnt.
- Report on KPIs to management on a frequent basis, including KPIs of the team members.
- Identifying projects and applications where PUDLO’s products can be specified utilising customer relationships and systems such as Barbour ABI.
- Monitoring key competitors by gathering current marketplace information on pricing, products etc.
- Resolving customer complaints by investigating problems, developing solutions, preparing reports, and making recommendations to management.
- Maintaining professional and technical knowledge by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional and internal publications, and attending networking events.
- Working cross-functionally to support all relevant company departments to deliver strategic objectives & performance.
Skills & Abilities
- Effective leadership skills with the ability to provide clarity of direction and a keen focus on coaching teams to develop both their technical and account management skills
- Strong communication, presentation, and negotiation skills
- Able to anticipate and adapt to customer needs and expectations
- Strong relationship building and interpersonal skills
- Professional, determined, and resilient
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Highly accountable, confident, and proactive
- Passionate, energetic, collaborative, and empathetic
- Open and honest in approach
- Continuous improvement mindset
- Highly organised with excellent attention to detail
- Able to establish clear, challenging and achievable objectives, regularly reviewing and communicating progress against said objectives, adjusting as needed.
To Apply...
To learn more about this opportunity please email your CV in confidence to the retained search partner quoting Job Ref RM343:
joe.onions@sherringtonassociates.co.uk
