Alex Tatham

Sales & marketing director, Westcoast

Career so far I was a qualified chartered accountant with Ernst & Young and Ideal/Bell Micro.

If you could be anyone else for a week, who would you be? Moussa Dembele. I would ask myself: “Tottenham? Really?” (I am a Fulham fan!)

What will next year’s most overhyped industry buzzword be? Touchscreen.

Has 2012 been a good, bad or ugly year? Good. Fantastic in fact. I will let others worry about being gloomy and we will carry on investing with enthusiasm.

What would you have as your last meal? Beef Wellington.

What keeps you awake at night? My teenage children leaving the lights on.

What piece of technology could you not be without? My iPhone. When I did leave it on a plane, I became paralysed for days.

Have any of your predictions come true this year? I said the Olympics would be fantastic.

What is the best partner/customer trip you have ever been on? Japan and Australia with Panasonic in 1997. I am still in touch with another couple that have become great friends.

What do you see as the channel’s biggest challenge in 2013? Growth will get harder but innovating and diversifying will inevitably help. Most importantly, the channel should be confident that it is the most efficient supply chain model and our cost efficiencies can be applied to many other channels – and Westcoast will be at the forefront of this.