Meet the Team: Kevin Hardy
We catch up with Kevin Hardy, who has taken on the new role of business development manager for Australia and New Zealand.
Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Kevin moved to Ireland 20 years ago and joined the F. Ball technical service team as technical representative for Ireland, in 2020, having worked for 26 years in sales roles at multinational companies, including in the subfloor preparation and adhesive industry.
We started by asking him what is different about his new role, apart from being on the other side of the world.
“As the name suggests, it involves more business development and brand building than in Ireland, where F. Ball is an established name in flooring installation products, but I still provide technical advice and other support, including training,” he says.
“A lot of the role is telling potential distributor partners about F. Ball,” continues Kevin. “We already have three in Australia and one in New Zealand. We’d like to have a distributor in each state.”
What challenges and opportunities do you foresee when it comes to achieving this?
“It’s a mature market, like in Europe,” he says. “It’s competitive, but this means that there is huge market to go at, and our products stand out for their performance. It’s about getting the message out about them.”
What are the objectives when it comes to identifying potential distributors to work with?
“We want to partner with flooring distributors who are established in the market, so that we can help grow their business and our partnerships in that state. That way, we can add value with the technical support, sales and marketing that we have become known for in the UK and Europe.”
Is there anything that he would like to say to prospective distributors?
“We are looking to work with distributors whose values align with ours and who have the capability to distribute the volume of products that we want to sell. Also, once you join our network, you’re not just left alone – you and your customers have access to our training and technical support to help sell our products.”
Are there any key products that will be of particular interest in Australian New Zealand markets?
“Like in the UK, they install a range of floorcoverings, and LVTs are increasingly popular. F. Ball’s Styccobond F58 PLUS fast-track, pressure sensitive adhesive is ideal for this. Australian flooring contractors tend to prefer water-mix smoothing compounds to bag-and-bottle formulations, so we expect that Stopgap 1500, the water-mix alternative to smoothing compounds that can be applied over old adhesive residues, to take off.”
What does the typical day involve?
“It’s very variable at the moment. It mostly revolves around travelling to meet distributors to talk to them about F. Ball, it’s products and support. People forget how big Australia is. I spend quite a lot of time booking flights and accommodation, and there are time differences to account for. I’m trying to get into a routine of a day or two at home and a few days on the road.”
Kevin moved to Melbourne with his family and took up his new role in March. We wanted to know how he has settled in.
“It has taken a bit of getting used to at first, but life in Australia is similar to South Africa in terms of the weather and love of sport, and we’re beginning to fit in nicely. We’re pleased to be living here.”
