Hochiki Europe appoints new Commercial Director

Hochiki will be making significant new investments in their people to support the Middle East, Africa, and European regions in order to develop the expertise they can bring to their customers in 2022 and beyond

Accomplished Mr Shinsuke Kubo, Hochiki’s Managing Director for the Middle East operation based out of Dubai, has been recognised by both customers and the business’ internal teams as a shining light when it comes to customer experience. With his extensive knowledge of both the Hochiki product and the fire industry, he will now take up the role of Commercial Director for Hochiki Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India. This new role will be based out of the UK head office in Gillingham, Kent, with regular visits to the Middle East, where Kubo will continue to play a key role in the strategic development of this region and remain as a board Director.

Using his vast experience of the market, in this new role, Kubo will be focused on leading the product management team to develop the company’s road map to ensure it meets the needs of customers. With a desire for an efficient operation, he has already set up his key team with David Brown as Product Manager and Robert Head as Commercial Product Manager, who between them bring over 40 years’ experience of working with Hochiki and within fire safety.

A crucial element to this new role and indeed the team will be the close working partnership between them and the teams in Japan and of course the Research and Development arm of the business. The constant feedback between customers, Japan and R&D teams will enable Kubo to realise his ambition to take Hochiki to the next level for its customers.

“I have enjoyed a fantastic career with Hochiki for the last 28 years (Japan 17 years, US 7 years and Dubai 4 years) and have gained experience of the industry and our customers across the globe, so I am excited to start here in the UK. My focus will be on learning more about the market here in the UK and across Europe, including exports, in more detail and I’m looking forward to meeting with our customers to learn directly from them on how we can improve our products and services, that customer insight is what drives everything we do here at Hochiki.”

Both Graham Lowe, Hochiki Europe’s Managing Director and Kubo’s priority throughout this transition and beyond is to ensure that customers continue to receive the absolute best service and products from Hochiki, therefore Shahab Anjum Head of Sales Middle East and his team will continue to support in developing Hochiki’s sales within the region.

In addition to the excellent service that the commercial team deliver and as part of the business’ continued commitment to investment in the region a brand-new role of ‘Country Manager Middle East,’ has been created. With the interviewing process underway, this role will be dedicated to supporting and growing the region.

Hochiki Europe is committed to ensuring the best people are in place in order to deliver the best life safety technology and customer experience. Kubo’s new role as Commercial Director is essential to driving the company vision forward.

Rebecca Morpeth Spayne,
Editor, International Fire Buyer
Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 922
Email: [email protected]