Managing director, Acer UK
Career so far I am an Acer veteran with a 10-year tenure with the firm. I have held a variety of EMEA, regional and country-level positions and have been Acer UK’s managing director since November 2011. Prior to Acer, I worked at Compaq as director, channel development and strategy for EMEA and Texas Instruments.
If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be? Jenson Button. I have been involved in F1 for a number of years. I love the excitement, glamour and the buzz. There can be no greater thrill than driving one of these incredible machines.
What will next year’s most overhyped industry buzzword be? Apple.
Has 2012 been a good, bad or ugly year? It has been a good year.
What would you have as your last meal? A good steak, lobster tail and mashed potatoes washed down with a glass or two of my favourite red wine.
What keeps you awake at night? Nothing really. I am normally so shattered that I sleep like a baby.
What piece of technology could you not be without? My Acer TravelMate 8481: a great corporate notebook with superb battery life.
Have any of your predictions come true this year? Yes, I predicted that following the poor results of early 2011 that Acer would rebound and once again be a force to be reckoned with.
What is the best partner/customer trip you have ever been on? Acer is a worldwide partner of the Olympic Movement and Paralympics and we recently took a number of VIPs from our distribution and retail partners to the Olympic Games. First, it made me immensely proud to think that the whole games were being run on Acer PC and Server hardware; second, we had a great bunch of people that made the whole event even more special.
What do you see as the channel’s biggest challenge in 2013? I would split the answers in two. First, for the retail channel to get consumer confidence back and for distribution adding value for their vendors.
