Business - Appointments

Antalis McNaughton has named David Hunter as the new Managing Director of the UK, Ireland and South Africa Region.

David will take over from Ian George during the next few weeks, and Ian will retire from Antalis McNaughton in June after an accomplished career of 37 years within the paper industry. Ian has successfully brought the business operations of Antalis and James McNaughton together into a unified operation in the UK and Ireland having joined the Antalis Group when the company acquired Map Merchants in 2007.

David brings with him a solid management experience from many years in B-to-B wholesale distribution at Wolseley, B&Q and Jewson and will be based at Antalis McNaughton’s headquarters in Coalville, Leicestershire.

David commentes, “I am delighted to have joined Antalis McNaughton and look forward to continuing the excellent work the company has done in developing the business to meet the evolving needs of our customers”.

For more information on Antalis McNaughton, please visit www.antalis-mcnaughton.co.uk

Michael Farkas has been appointed to the new role of Marketing Director at GMG GmbH & Co. KG. Michael joins GMG from IKEA where for nine years he was involved in developing the sophisticated and efficient workflow behind the IKEA catalogue, one of the world’s most demanding print production projects.

“Michael has substantial experience in international project management and business development and brings considerable energy and enthusiasm to GMG’s global marketing strategy. He also brings invaluable experience in the development and management of large-scale media projects and in the development of colour management and certified workflow concepts,” says Robert Weihing, Managing Director at GMG.

“From my experience at IKEA, I’ve come to know GMG as an impressive brand with a great team behind it and I’m very much looking forward to working with them to further realise the potential of GMG’s product range,” says Michael Farkas. “GMG is going from strength to strength and we have a busy year ahead, starting with a strong presence at FESPA Digital in Barcelona where we exhibit for the first time to launch a new production solution designed for the wide format graphics market.”

For more information on GMG, please visit www.gmgcolor.com

CGS Publishing Technologies International has appointed Vicki Blake to the role of Director of Business Development. She will also oversee marketing and communications for CGS operations in the Americas. Her appointment marks the beginning of a year that promises expansion of the ORIS product line into current and new markets, as well as new colour management and workflow products.

“We are very fortunate to have Vicki on the CGS team,” comments CGS's CEO Trevor Haworth. “Her wealth of experience in packaging, workflow and soft proofing, plus her impressive track record in developing business opportunities, is a perfect complement to CGS’ plans for growth in those markets.” Haworth also noted Blake’s leadership role in the Ghent PDF Workgroup (www.gwg.org), an alliance of end users, associations, and developers dedicated to creating reliable best practices for the graphic arts industry.

Blake’s previous roles include soft proofing developer ICS, where she served as Vice President of Business Development, developing that company’s OEM program, and establishing new key accounts and markets. Prior to that, she served as Business Development Director for PDF preflight developer Enfocus, where she initiated and managed OEM partnerships and was part of the initial team growing that business. She also spent many years with packaging workflow leader Barco Graphics (now Esko), in a myriad of management and marketing positions, serving as the liaison between sales, product management, R&D, and developing new markets.

“I’m really excited about working with CGS,” Blake says. “Its ORIS colour management and proofing line is simply the best there is. Its upcoming products promise more of the same. I’m looking forward to helping CGS launch some exciting new products and expand its existing target markets. It’s a perfect fit.”

For more information on CGS Publishing Technologies International, please visit www.cgs-oris.com

CWE Solutions has celebrated the start of 2012 by employing two new recruits.

Mark Hollinsworth and Ioanna Xenophantes are both experienced print professionals, driven, knowledgeable, and eager to help CWE Solutions expand.  Since it was formed in 1999, the company has grown significantly and is now one of the biggest firms in the UK’s print and signage market.

Mark Hollinsworth is the new Operations Manager for CWE Solutions, responsible for the internal sales team for London and Sheffield as well as the external sales team in London. He describes himself as very much a people person, and the aim of his new role as maximising every opportunity for the company.

He explains that his role was newly created to provide a direct link between the MD and the sales team, to ensure the company can continue to grow and to “move things on to another level”.

With 16 years’ experience in the industry, Mark thrives on the challenges that this new role provides. And he will likely be with CWES for the long-term, if his track record is anything to go by – he was with his previous employer, Metamark, for 12.5 years, and describes Metamark as a fantastic company.

Mark believes one of the biggest challenges of his new role is winning the trust of his team. “I need them to know that I’m willing to go out on a limb for them,” he explained. The thing he’s most excited about in his new role is proving he can excel at the job. “Being a success, and proving myself. That doesn’t mean money but rather when you get that pat on the back and told you’ve done a good job. I can’t wait to prove myself at CWES.”

Ioanna Xenophantes has recently taken on the role of Internal Account Manager at CWES. This position means she is heavily involved in pro-active sales, which she greatly enjoys, and in particular with growing existing accounts, as well as meeting customers onsite when needed.

Having worked in the print industry for 14 years, Ioanna wanted to work for CWES as she already knew much about the company and viewed the role of Account Manager as a challenging yet rewarding one.

Previously, Ioanna enjoyed working for PaperCo, where her position entailed identifying new sales of Roland printers within the commercial print market and design to print sector. As part of this role she followed through from initial enquiry to demonstration to sale, as well as looking after the needs of existing users of wide format equipment within these sectors. In her job at CWES, she gets to learn about the large format print equipment and HP printers, and to experience a previously unfamiliar sector of the market.

Although new to the role, Ioanna describes “working with HP equipment and learning about the equipment” as the element she’s most excited about – as well as the prospect of “bringing in lots of new sales”.

For more information on CWE Solutions, please visit www.cwesolutions.co.uk

[photo shows Mark Hollinsworth (L) and Ioanna Xenophantes (R)]

UK-based UV LED innovator Integration Technology Ltd has appointed digital print industry professional Yasushi Katsuta as Business Development Manager for its operations in Japan which will be opened in March 2012.

The Oxfordshire-based company's offices in Fuchu-shi, Tokyo, will provide technical sales, parts stores and administration functions for the territory and for ITL's exclusive distributors.

Osaka-born Katsuta joins ITL from NEopt, where for the past two years he represented ITL interests in Japan.  He previously worked extensively for inkjet print head maker Xaar as Development and Sales Engineer.   

ITL has operated in Japan since 2001 in conjunction with NEopt supporting its digital graphics market business and Finesensing handling a growing number of specialist industrial applications for ITL technology.

Yasushi Katsuta will be showcasing ITL UV curing systems on the NEopt stand at the Printable Electronics exhibition from 15th to 17th February in Tokyo.

X-Rite has appointed Vic Stalam as Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing overseeing all sales, marketing and services activities for the Americas and EMEA regions.  He will also serve on X-Rite’s senior leadership team as a corporate officer. Stalam will be based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and report directly to Thomas J. Vacchiano, Jr., Chief Executive Officer of X-Rite.

“Vic has an exceptional track record of success in developing and growing businesses,” said Vacchiano. “His broad set of experiences will bring great value to X-Rite as we pursue our strategic growth opportunities.”

Most recently, Stalam served as the Vice President, Commercial Sales in the U.S. and Canada for the Eastman Kodak Company. His team was responsible for selling the complete portfolio of Kodak products and solutions delivering approximately $1 billion in revenue. Stalam advanced rapidly through a succession of sales, marketing and senior management positions at the Eastman Kodak Company, including head of the Global Key Accounts & Channel Management and Vice President - Packaging Business, and General Manager and Vice President - Digital Products and Systems. During his career at Kodak, Stalam led the teams that built several new businesses, like its Approval, DigiMaster, and Flexo Packaging solutions.

Stalam holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Osmania University, India, a Master’s of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology, and a Master’s of Business Administration in Marketing from the Rochester Institute of Technology.