Beko has welcomed former Smeg Australia managing director, Jimmy Kalotheos as sales and marketing director. Kalotheos was with Smeg for over 10 years and was managing director for four of those years.
When asked why he has joined Beko, Kalotheos identified a number of attractions – a strong European manufacturer and branded appliance company with an established track record in Australia and now poised for further growth with a portfolio of new products to be launched over the next couple of years.
“You only have to look at the customer reviews online to see that Beko is doing a lot of good things with great products, and to see a manufacturer that backs itself with a five-year warranty gives me as much confidence to join Beko as it does customers to buy their products,” he said.
“Beko’s parent company Arcelik has some of the strongest environmental, sustainability and governance credentials in our industry which are also key to future success.”
Beko Australia and New Zealand managing director, John Brown is thrilled that Kalotheos has come on board with the company. “It is a highly competitive market with complex logistics, distribution and service challenges. To be successful here you must get everything right to deliver an exceptional customer experience – and to do that you need a great team of people.
“Our team including Dan Pittman, Amanda Hart and Murat Dora are doing great work, and adding Jimmy’s experience, enthusiasm and passion for our industry adds further depth to Beko Australia and New Zealand.”
Beko national sales manager, Dan Pittman and marketing manager for Australia and New Zealand, Amanda Hart, will report to Kalotheos. The sales and marketing director function has responsibility for sales across Australia, but the Beko New Zealand team will continue to report to John Brown.
Kalotheos’ appointment coincides with Beko celebrating 10 years in the Australian market and complements two other additions to the sales and marketing team.
Two new sales account managers join the Beko team including Phillip Lowe who was most recently with Dyson and before that LG, working across much of the east coast of Australia, and Rabin (Rob) Shrethsa who has been a successful Harvey Norman electrical proprietor for 10 years in Victoria and NSW.
Beko has also promoted national training and development manager, Eddie Gaymer to national field sales manager. He has been instrumental in the development of the Beko account manager induction and training program and improving field execution.