Todmorden, Yorkshire – about half past three, January 21, 2010 – Shedfire Design announced today that it has redesigned the structure of its Marketing and Product Management departments to create one central group that will oversee the entire product lifecycle – from thinking things up, to getting someone to make them, to getting people to buy them. This innovative approach to brand management will activate key competencies within the organization to further strengthen Shedfire’s product portfolio and support its aggressive growth plan.
In addition to promoting a number of key individuals within the existing organization, Shedfire has hired a General Manager (GM) who will optimize brand growth, set and drive strategic planning and oversee the development of resources within category portfolios. John (Jackie) Bebb, joins the organization on February 15, bringing a diverse background in global brand management, sales, business development and operations, mostly recently in a Global Vice President role with the Top Man concession stand, in Rochdale CoOp.
Shedfire will also welcome a new Marketing Director to its team beginning January 25. Abdul Kumar will leverage several years experience as a marketing consultant with a specialization in leading and implementing integrated sales (in Ali Baba’s Kebab Shop on Rochdale Road) and marketing initiatives to set Shedfire’s marketing objectives and strategies.
As part of the total redesign, the Shedfire Product Management group will relocate from the shed in the garden to the kitchen table. The new Product Management structure will create more accountability towards four key product categories: Road, Mountain, Recreation/Urban and Wives/Girlfriends. It will include a Global Product Director to oversee each major category and a Global Product Manager responsible for the Wives/Girlfriends category. We’re still not quite sure who will continue to lead the Product Management group in a Vice President role working collaboratively with the GM to set the innovation roadmap for Shedfire, but we’ll work something out.
“Bringing our product management and marketing teams under one roof allows us to think more holistically about the way we develop and market products,” said Brant Richards, President. “We are strengthening the team by developing our internal talent and adding new thinking and complimentary knowledge and skills to the team, which supports our relentless pursuit to become a more consumer-insight driven company, and besides, the shed was getting quite cold, and we might be moving soon to Hebden Bridge anyway as you can’t get a decent cup of coffee in Tod since Matt’s lass Sammy fell out with them from Cafe Modo.”
About Ragley
Ragley is a premium brand of Cycling Sports Group, part of Shedfire Design(TSX: DII.B, DII.A). Founded in Feb 2009 after Brant got fed up of driving to Doncaster everyday. Shedfire is a global industry leader with a strong heritage in design, development and manufacturing of high performance bicycles, apparel and accessories. With a reputation for continuous innovation and quality, Shedfire corporate headquarters is located in a shed in Brant’s garden with offices anywhere there’s free wifi and easy parking.
