Chris Bacon, Sales Director, Webro Cables & Connectors Limited outlines his role and plans for the coming year
What is your current role?
I’ve been with Webro Cables & Connectors Limited since November 2009, where I’m the Sales Director. I lead a strong team of internal & external sales managers, and business development managers. I’m also highly involved in shaping the overall business strategy, and helping to define the product roadmap – based on the opportunities that we discover collectively as a team, as we continually talk to our customers, installers, and other partners.
How does that fit into the Webro family?
I’m a joint owner of the business, alongside Peter Edginton, our Managing Director. As existing employees, we completed a management buyout in February 2021, and we haven’t looked back since.
My entire career has been spent in the cable industry, having worked previously for Volex, CDT, Belden, Lapp, and Panduit. In truth, I’m a self-confessed ‘cable trainspotter’ with 28 years’ experience across all things ‘cable’.
Tell us a little about the main product ranges?
Cables and connectivity solutions are omnipresent globally. It’s no surprise our portfolio covers a wide range of categories, ranging from power, control, instrumentation, TV and satellite, data, rail, and AV and custom install. That said, the bulk of our business comes from the security, and fibre, and telecoms markets. All three are highly progressive sectors that provide us with significant opportunities for growth.
How did the company perform in 2022?
We’re proud to say that 2022 was a pivotal year for our business. Alongside double-digit growth against the background of a stalling economy and supply chain challenges, we’ve also realised several ambitions ahead of plan.
We’ve termed our new journey as ‘the road to Webro 2.0’ since the takeover.
We stepped up recruitment to appoint accomplished specialists in key areas across marketing, procurement, and sales. With these experts in place, we’ve been able to accelerate our development – entering new markets to secure significant sales, upscaling our marketing capability to extend our reach, and rebranding to create a striking new Webro identity. We’re currently in the throes of a full refurbishment at our Nottingham Head Office too, and headlong into developing a new website. We certainly haven’t skimped on investment over the past 12 months!
What are the core elements of the business?
First and foremost, our business is built upon the solid foundation of attentive, highly responsive customer service, along with offering a focused range of end-to-end product solutions that conform to the highest technical standards.
Our success comes from staying close to customers to understand them, their needs, and the market. This insight then drives the development of new product innovations. This partnership approach helps to drive growth on a ‘win-win for all’ basis.
Can you outline plans for the coming year?
We’re very excited about 2023/24 and beyond. We’ve recently been appointed as the pan-European distributor for Norden security & connectivity solutions. Norden is one of the fastest-growing ELV (Extra Low Voltage) Infrastructure Systems manufacturers in the market, with innovation and sustainability at the core of its development.
With our team of dedicated experts – with 350 years’ experience – we’ll work in partnership with Norden to drive value-engineered solutions into the UK & Europe. We’re fully stocked with the latest network and surveillance product offering across Norden’s multiple brands (NCS, Eyenor, Secnor, and NVS), that include cabling infrastructure, video surveillance systems, and access control.
Meanwhile, the new Webro.com website will launch in Q2, delivering a dynamic user experience with intelligent search, valuable content, and significant learning opportunities. It’s going to be a powerful centrepiece of our comms strategy that’s set to become an invaluable tool for our customers.
Finally, across our wider portfolio, we’re investing heavily in ‘future technology’, launching an increased range of both solar, EV (Electric Vehicle) charging cables and FTTX connectivity.
With substantial opportunities, heavy investment, an ever-expanding product range, and of course a talented and dedicated team, we’re anticipating that 2023/24 will be our best year yet, which can only be good.