Oxford-based Airdri Group, an engineering business best known to date for the design and manufacture of highly reliable, energy efficient hand dryers, has laid down ambitious growth targets for 2021, bolstered by a string of new hires to its commercial, marketing and sales teams.
The 46-year-old company has invested heavily in recruitment to start next year off on a strong foot – ready to achieve exponential growth in 2021.
The new team now responsible for driving forward the strategy across key markets and countries for Airdri’s existing range, as well as its promising plans for new products includes:
Mike Smith, who joins the company from Bose as the new head of commercial. Mike will lead the commercial team to drive forward Airdri’s commercial strategy and accelerate growth in key sectors.
Lauren McCabe, also from Bose, has been brought on board as group marketing manager to develop a global marketing strategy, kicking off with the launch of a brand-new website early in 2021. Lauren brings with her a wealth of experience from her previous role as marketing specialist.
Steve Whittall, group director of R&D and operations at Airdri said: “It’s been a difficult year for many businesses but at Airdri we’ve tried to use the time we’ve been given to assess and re-evaluate our position. As a company with a strong heritage built on the cornerstones of design and innovation, we will never rest on our laurels. We are confident that our engineering expertise is second to none, and our constantly evolving product range continues to push boundaries, yet we know that to stay ahead of the competition we must push forward with new ways to engage both existing and new customers.
“The new team has been brought on board to digitalise our offering, strengthening our presence across all platforms, starting with a new website that will fully showcase the breadth of our portfolio as well as developing relationships with clients both nationally and internationally.”
Further appointments include James Partington who takes the role of National Sales Account Manager to develop and grow relationships with key accounts within target industries and providing sales and marketing support to new and existing teams, Emma Gibbard joins as office and marketing administrator.
Lauren added: “It’s exciting to join a business that not only has such strong foundations built over almost half a century, but that also realises the importance of embracing the digital age in order to move forward. Together with my new colleagues, I look forward to kicking off a fully encompassing global marketing strategy. We have big goals and ambitions and I’m very excited to be on board with what will be a huge team effort to drive the business forward in 2021.”
The Airdri Group was founded in Oxfordshire (UK) in 1974 by business partners Peter Philipps and Peter Allen; both experienced and entrepreneurial engineers.
At a time of significant advancement in the hand drying industry they identified that there was a gap in the market for highly reliable, energy efficient and beautifully designed hand dryers to suit every washroom. This initial spark of imagination is realised in the brand’s ever-growing hand dryer range.
Over time, the Airdri Group has evolved and in the new year the company has exciting plans to branch out into new markets.
Steve ended: “I am confident we have the right people in place working in the right roles to enable the business to move forward as it needs to. Although hand dryers will always be our core business, our in-house engineering expertise has led us to explore new areas of growth and we look forward to bringing some exciting new products to bring to market in the coming months.”
