By James Wells
SYDNEY: Hitachi will make 35 staff redundant, following the decision to close its consumer electronics business in Australia as “part of a global strategic refocus”.
According to Hitachi Australia’s sales and marketing general manager, Geoff Hannaford, the majority of the staff would be sales and marketing staff located in the company’s North Ryde office in Sydney. However, the impact will be felt nation-wide, as branch offices are located in Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne.
The company employed 93 staff prior to Friday’s announcement.
Among the staff leaving the business are national sales manager Michael Doyle, who was attracted to the business from Panasonic. Two former Narta channel managers – current Hitachi New South Wales state sales manager Steve Andrew and Mark Lawson, who joined in November last year to become LCD and plasma product manager, will also leave.
In addition to the North Ryde staff, three state sales offices will close, including the South Australian office headed by Tren Lewis, the Victorian office, headed by Scott Kinsman and Graham Wright’s Queensland office.
Other staff leaving the business are customer and technical service staff, as well as a proportion of the administration, finance and credit departments.
Two New South Wales based agencies and one Perth based agency will also lose the Hitachi distribution.