API overhauls sales team in Europe

Mark Gilbert, the company’s previous UK national sales and distribution manager, has been promoted to head of sales in Northern and Central Europe. Gilbert led the team at API when it opened the Sheffield site.

To fill the position vacated by Gilbert, Mike Kitchen has joined API as its new UK national sales and distribution manager. He will lead the UK sales and service team, with overall responsibility for sales in the UK and Ireland. He will also assume overall responsibility for the Sheffield site, developing a best practice culture to provide the platform for continued growth. Kitchen has previously worked in various sales and operational roles across the printing, graphic arts and machinery industries. 

Kitchen will report directly to Gilbert, who said: ‘With brand owners looking to enhance their product and add real value to their packaging, our ability to provide a complete range of foils and deliver them quickly and effectively to our customers has led to high growth in their use, thanks to the impact and difference they deliver to packaging. In our new roles, Mike and I are looking forward to further building on the value we can deliver to our customers across the UK and the rest of Europe.’ 

The Sheffield sales and distribution center houses over five million square meters of foil covering the full API product range, and uses the latest machinery for spooling, cutting and slitting to minimize lead-times and maximize service for all its UK customers.

‘Everyone in the team at Sheffield works with the customer as their focus in all that they do,’ commented Gilbert. ‘Since we opened we have ensured we continually strive to offer the best service in the industry through the range of products, support and practical technical expertise offered to our customers.’