Former Sunbeam marketing manager, Damian Court will leave Hoover and return to the small kitchen appliance industry after accepting the job to become president of Breville USA.

Court will leave his position as director of Hoover Floorcare Asia Pacific next month and will relocate with his family to Los Angeles early in the New Year.

By joining Breville, Court will be re-united with his former boss at Sunbeam, Jonathan Lord as well as other former Sunbeam employees in the company’s industrial design department including Keith Hensel and Richard Hoare.

Court spent 10 years at Sunbeam focusing on kitchen appliances as marketing manager before leaving in January 2008. During his time at Sunbeam, Court was responsible for creating and launching the Café Series sub brand of appliances as well as launching Food Saver and the Cool Creations novelty range of products.

“I am joining a company at the forefront of design and innovation with an aggressive new product development program,” Court told Appliance Retailer.

“As a result of a lot of hard work in the USA, Breville is a strong business in the States and has further opportunities for significant expansion in the market. It is also an honour to be representing an Australian brand, in a market outside Australia,” he said.

Court will be responsible for the group’s USA business and will report directly to Breville CEO, Stephen Audsley.

“Damian’s deep experience in the small appliance category will further strengthen the US team,” said Audlsey. “As an experienced product based marketer, Damian will be able to make a strong contribution to our continued growth as we drive to establish Breville as a global brand.”

Court joined Hoover Floorcare in February 2008 as director as part of a team to re-launch the Hoover brand and broaden distribution with a new range of product that reached the number two position in the market.