He will lead the sales and operational elements of the flightcase and loudspeaker solutions specialist's busy US businesses, including its four distribution hubs, assuming full responsibility for their day-to-day running.
Stratford started his Penn career 28 years ago in 1983 on the production line of their anodising company, quickly moving up into a management role. He relocated to New Jersey in 1988 to become the general manager of that particular venture, before being appointed vice president of sales in 2003.
Says Stratford, "It is a great honour to be appointed president of North America. The US market is one of our most competitive and constantly changing in the world, and I look forward to helping produce many positive results."
He continues, "The Penn-Elcom model ideally suits the American market with its commitment to innovation and ongoing improvement to a dynamic, high quality product range. With the four distribution locations, all products are quickly and easily accessible to the whole US customer base, and the pricing is highly competitive."
Says Roger Willems, chairman of Penn-Elcom, "Richard is a natural salesman who understands exactly what our industry needs as well as having great organizational skills. It will be a huge benefit to our North American operation - which is the most competitive market in the world."
(Jim Evans)
