News
Spotlight Interview: Andrew Royle, Sales and Marketing Director - 20 years at P C Henderson
by Kate Donkin on 04/04/2019
Andrew Royle, Commercial Director at P C Henderson, has recently celebrated his 20th anniversary at P C Henderson. We sit down with Andrew to discuss his time at the company over the past 20 years.
What are your main duties and responsibilities at P C Henderson?
As Sales and Marketing Director, I am ultimately responsible for the commercial activities and overall revenue of the business. I am also the primary sales contact for customers based in the USA and Asia-Pacific regions – as well as some of our biggest UK customers.
How has your role evolved throughout your time at P C Henderson?
I was initially brought into the business in 1999 as International Marketing Manager for our sliding door gear department. When the garage door side of the business was sold in 2008, I was then assigned as General Marketing Manager (for UK and international markets) before being promoted to Commercial Director in 2010.
What did you do before P C Henderson?
I graduated from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand - where I am originally from – with a Marketing (BC) degree before completing an honours degree in the same subject. Whilst studying, I was offered a Marketing Assistant job for a company called Interlock - a manufacturer of door and window hardware as well a distributor for P C Henderson, which it still is today.
I did that for a while - gaining some valuable experience, working in various locations across New Zealand before deciding to take 6 months out to go travelling. I ended my travels in London and started doing some temp work. After being in the UK for a couple of months I received a call from the Export Director of P C Henderson who offered me a job in the north east - I accepted the job, moved up to Durham and the rest is history!
What do you enjoy most about the role?
My role is very diverse – no two days in the office are ever the same – which means I’m still coming across new challenges and scenarios to work through. It is also very rewarding to see the business achieve year on year growth – particularly as we’re now only a couple of years away from our 100th anniversary!
What are the main challenges associated with your role?
The main challenge is continuing to meet the ever changing demands of our customers - we have a great Research and Development team and some innovative products in the pipeline to keep up with market trends and support this.
Localising our products and solutions to suit different geographical locations is also a challenge. We export to over 70 countries across the globe so all of our customers have different requirements, I manage this by travelling and visiting the customers first hand where possible, which I think is key to long lasting business relationships.
What do you like most about working for P C Henderson?
Without a doubt, the people I work with - having worked here for 20 years, I have made some lifelong friendships and I feel incredibly fortunate. P C Henderson is a great investor in people, the company is keen to develop everyone to their full potential and tries to offer opportunities for progression.
What has been your greatest accomplishment so far?
Although being promoted to Sales and Marketing Director in 2010 was a huge achievement, my greatest accomplishment is our ongoing expansion into the Chinese market. This was very challenging due to the cultural differences and language barriers but we are now seeing some promising results coming through which is extremely rewarding.
Tell us something about you that people may not know.
In 2012 I completed the Ironman in Zurich, Switzerland which consisted of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run. It was a fantastic experience which gave me a huge sense of achievement but most importantly it taught me that; with the right amount of discipline, dedication and commitment - you can surprise yourself with what you can achieve.
Where do you see the future of P C Henderson?
With P C Henderson’s recent win of Best Exporting Company in the UK at the British Chamber Awards 2018, I’m confident P C Henderson will continue to invest its resources in international growth.
I believe P C Henderson will also continue to heavily invest in its design and production capabilities to put forward innovative products to the market – our new Pocket Door Pro is a great example of this.