The Company

• ACO Technologies plc (ACO) is a market leading construction products manufacturer, and a specialist in drainage technology. The UK business has two divisions - Water Management and Building Drainage. It is part of the family-owned ACO Group – a global enterprise headquartered in Germany. 
• Strong brand presence, R&D capability, and IP has enabled the organisation to achieve consistent year-on-year growth for over 20 years, winning the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: Innovation twice. This is a highly successful and ambitious business with a planned expansion programme to meet future growth plans. 
• The Building Drainage division focusses primarily on stainless steel and ancillary products for the internal drainage, and the ‘high-end’ external drainage sectors, with its own factory, sales force and routes to market. ACO is now seeking a commercially led entrepreneurial general manager to lead this division to realise its significant growth and development potential.

The Role

• Part of the UK leadership team, this is primarily a commercial leadership role, with direct responsibility for the site, a management team of 4, and a total team of 40 people. This will be a highly visible role within the group and will work closely with colleagues across the global organisation. 
• Your goal is to drive sales growth, by strengthening existing relationships within the builders’ merchants channel, and developing the company’s proposition with specification partners, whilst developing a can-do team culture with customer service focus.
• Responsible for developing the capabilities of your team, you will add value to the UK leadership team through your commercial nous and contribute to the international group’s divisional product strategy.

The Candidate

• Degree-educated, and with a proven background in managing a business unit with P&L responsibility, you will have comprehensive leadership experience in a highly commercial environment. 
• Ambitious and driven, you will possess a track record in the building products manufacturing sector, or related industrial product markets that sell through 3rd party distribution and specification partners.
• You should have clearly evidenced experience in providing leadership in change management, expanding product offerings and growing a business. A knowledge of, and passion for, working within an international / German family-owned business would be advantageous.

For an informal and confidential discussion, please speak with our advisors at Berwick Partners; Jonathan Burke on 0113 386 8525.