The Scotts Company has combined the Scotts Miracle-Gro and Scotts Solus Brands sales teams to create one overall Sales Force. The combined team, comprising more than 50 people directly involved in serving retail customers, will start operating immediately.
This means that every sales representative will now sell the whole portfolio of both companies to facilitate easier, better and quicker ordering and servicing our customers’ needs.
The Sales Force will be organised into six mainland regions, each led by Scotts’ most experienced Regional Sales Managers (RSMs). Each RSM will have a team of between two and five people, comprising Sales Reps and Merchandisers. The Merchandisers, formerly part time, will become full-time employees, providing year-round support for all categories to our customers.
The team will be led by Rainer Schubert, Sales Director UK. Peter Dawson will lead the newly expanded Independents Team, in his role as Independents Channel Manager. Patrick Philipp will report to Peter Dawson, as Field Sales Manager, leading an enlarged team of 35 field sales personnel.
Garden Centre Group Accounts will be managed by Alan Jones and Simon Smethurst, from the former Scotts Miracle-Gro team, and Caroline Houghton, from the former Solus Brands team.
Rainer Schubert told The Landscaper “This is a watershed moment for our new company. It has taken time to get to this point, but we were determined to get the structure right first time and, most importantly, ensure all the people concerned were treated properly. We’ve achieved that and will hit the ground running. We now have a single Scotts Team, the biggest sales force in UK Gardening, with enormous experience. We will not rest until we prove ourselves with outstanding service to all our customers.”
The Regional Sales Managers are :
South-East – Jon Exall
South-West – Tony Macer
East Midlands – Ian Smith
West Midlands – Russell Tame
North – Steve Simmons
Scotland – Bruce Willox