Berghaus has reorganized its business by creating an International Board that will oversee the overall direction of the brand and will work with dedicated regional business units delivering more effective local solutions in markets around the world.


Over the last few years, the Berghaus business has grown significantly and with new partners on board, has a greater global reach than ever before. To enable the company to both focus on its world-wide ambitions and ensure that it delivers ever more effective solutions to individual regions, Berghaus is introducing an International Board. Led by brand president Richard Cotter, the International Board will include David Kennedy (finance director), Tina Payne (HR director), David Heath (in a new role outlined below), Michael Lockett (vice president Asia) and Richard Leedham (in a new role outlined below) from  the current executive team.


In addition, Berghaus is recruiting for a new role of chief operating officer, who will be based in Sunderland and will run the global operations and supply chain functions. The CEO will sit on the Berghaus International Board.

The global management of the brand will continue to be directed from the Berghaus headquarters in Sunderland, led by the International Board. However, other changes to the business will help the company meet its objectives to deliver better local solutions in individual markets.


Regional business solutions
Berghaus is introducing better local solutions for key markets, with the creation of distinct regional business units, managed by dedicated teams, in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia. The EMEA unit will incorporate two individual units, for Europe and the UK.


The EMEA business unit will be directed by Richard Leedham, who has been appointed to the position of vice president EMEA, sitting on the International Board. Richard has been working at Berghaus for 15 years and has most recently fulfilled the role of UK sales director. Richard and his team will work closely with partners in the UK and across Europe. Meanwhile, Matt Kemp has been appointed to the position of UK country manager. Matt will be responsible for the business in the UK, and will support Richard in his role.

Europe is a large and complex region, where Berghaus operates with both a network of distributors and new models for the brand, such as a joint venture in the Nordic area and a subsidiary in Germany.  EMEA sales director Simon Roberts will continue to be responsible for driving growth and revenue in the region, and will carry on strengthening his team to deliver the brand’s objectives across Europe. 


UK marketing
UK specific marketing solutions will be developed and delivered by a dedicated team. Caroline Smith has been promoted to the new role of head of marketing EMEA and will manage all marketing in the UK and Europe. In the UK, Caroline will be supported by trade, consumer and digital marketing specialists. They will be responsible for ensuring that global brand initiatives are delivered in the UK, with local relevance and impact.
 
Brand marketing
After five years with the brand, marketing director Sarah Sculpher will be returning to her home region in southern England to take up the position of international marketing director with Lacoste Chasseures, within the Pentland Group. With this change, Berghaus has taken the opportunity to restructure the marketing function in line with Berghaus’ wider strategic focus.


To provide integrated brand and product solutions on a global scale, David Heath has been appointed vice president global product and marketing, sitting on the International Board. David now has responsibility for the complete integration of the product and marketing functions. He will be supported by the existing product and design teams, where Berghaus will be recruiting to several new roles, including head of apparel.

To support David, a newly formed brand team will be put in place to develop globally relevant marketing solutions. Leading that team, a new position of global brand manager has been created. Jo Scott will join Berghaus in February from Volvo and will be responsible for developing the lead stories and campaigns that will be used to promote the brand in the UK and around the world.