Laser has welcomed two senior executives to lead its newly-created private label department delivering premium products and strong back-end to new and existing retail partners.

Michael Tomkins has joined the company as general manager of private label. He will be supported by Alastair Shakes who has been appointed head of curation and development for private and exclusive brands. They will both focus on growing Laser’s local customer base while exploring opportunities in international markets.

A 25-year industry veteran, Tomkins had a career spanning 10 years at The Crest Company, where he commenced as a national account manager before being promoted to global sales and product development manager. He was most recently general manager of sales for two years. Prior to Crest, Tomkins spent time at E3 Style, Shock Entertainment and other companies.

Laser general manager of private label, Michael Tomkins

With more than 15 years’ experience in sourcing and product management, Shakes also joins Laser from The Crest Company where he served as product and range architect. Prior to this, he spent almost seven years as product development manager at JB Hi-Fi, responsible for its private label business and managed sourcing and fulfilment for various categories and home brands.

Laser managing director, Chris Lau welcomed Michael and Alastair to the team as the company continues to scale in existing areas while expanding into new businesses.

“2020 has already seen us invest heavily in new talent across the business, and more robust processes, as we strive to capitalise on the unprecedented interest we are seeing from potential partners both in Australia and overseas,” he said.

Laser head of curation and development for private and exclusive brands, Alastair Shakes

“We see private label as an area of growth for us as partners are drawn to our ability to deliver high quality products at affordable prices and have the processes and people in place to ensure a compelling offer to consumers. Initial discussions have shown that there is strong interest in smart home, home AV, gaming and IT accessories from overseas customers.

“When looking at the success of our CONNECT Smart Home range, both as a new brand we have built and the product portfolio we have created for Harvey Norman, we have confidence that this can be replicated across categories and geographies moving forward with the right people managing this area of the business.”

Laser has also bolstered investment in its China operations from both an infrastructure and staff perspective, ensuring its QA processes, sourcing and logistics is capable of supplying unprecedented growth throughout 2020.