Advantia have announced a number of changes as they structure their group for the new decade. Steve Carter is appointed to the Advantia board and Clare Ffolkes to the Comgem board
The past year has been a time of development and change for Advantia in redefining their direction, goals and growth opportunities. During the year the board has been re-shaped with the appointment of new dealer directors. To ensure continuity and drive group momentum, two new executive director appointments have been made.
Steve Carter has been appointed a director to the Advantia Board. Carter brings a wealth of experience from all perspectives including as a dealer, working on the Truline transition and working for one of the major wholesalers and closely with another. Carter is an integral part of the key projects that are currently in progress and has made sure they deliver products and services to provide a distinctive advantage to members of the group. Carter’s appointment will enable him to continue in his current role whilst investigating other potential areas that provide diversification and growth for Advantia members. He will take forward many of the initiatives Steve McKeever has brought to the table this year whilst seeking other opportunities.
Steve Keen, who retired at the end of December after 25 years with Advantia, has been retained as a consultant.
Clare Ffolkes is appointed to the Comgem Board. Comgem is an innovative B2B e-Commerce solutions provider, 50% owned by Advantia. Ffolkes has broad experience in the Office Products sector having worked within Contract Stationery, Wholesale and Dealer entities in purchasing, integration, implementation, business development and project management roles. Ffolkes has been pivotal in delivering key areas of the Advantia/Spicer contract including providing a customer perspective to joint business improvement projects, including the newly released Spicervision2. Ffolke’s project management skills and business integration background make her the perfect candidate to help Comgem develop and deliver business solutions software.
McKeever has been approached to undertake a senior role with a PLC outside of the industry. He commented: “I am leaving Advantia when they are on the cusp of some major developments that will make them stand out from the crowd. Working with the team over the last 13 months has allowed us to put the foundations in place to move forward and reinforce Advantia’s position as a ground-breaking group. I look forward to watching the team grow and develop the group over the forthcoming months. The innovation is there, the tools are there, the people are there and now is the time for them to step forward positively into 2020 and beyond.” McKeever will be gradually reducing his involvement over the next three months.
Mike Heaps, chairman, commented: “Although we are really sad to see Steve go, we appreciate that he helped us to redefine our vision of what a great dealer group should be in the coming decade and provided us with both the foundations and systems to make it happen. With these and the new appointments in place we are in a strong position to take the group forward.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Steve for his invaluable support. I think it’s fair to say he came to us at the perfect time, when we were looking for someone who could think outside the box and deliver ways to make us innovative in the future. Mr McKeever, you have certainly delivered – thank you.”
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