The newly-formed team, which will span the UK, will be headed up by Jon Pritchard as industrial print business unit leader, who moves from exclusively focusing on Konica Minolta’s KM-1 sheetfed B2 technology to overseeing all industrial output.
Established at the start of November, the team is filled out by Grahame Megilley and David Evans as business development managers in the North and South respectively, while Steve Lakin has joined as UK-wide label press sales consultant.
Pritchard said: “Konica Minolta is a strong developer of inkjet and toner technology, but there are sectors such as packaging where they do not yet have much of a presence.
“Our team will come together passing around ideas and exchanging knowledge and networks from our extensive backgrounds. One of our first key objectives is to raise that awareness of our offering and then convert that into customers.
“Products in our portfolio have unique positioning because they offer new ways of working within the inkjet field – I have worked with inkjet for 20 years and the term itself has become quite generic in terms of its meaning. There are lots of hidden gems of technology within the Konica Minolta offering in this wheelhouse.”
External hire Megilley comes from a sales background of B2 sheetfed and wide-format UV inkjet production for Fujifilm and Hubergroup. Evans has worked within the Konica Minolta family since the manufacturer took a stake in MGI Technology, where he ran the French company’s UK operations. He previously worked at HP Indigo.
In their dual roles across North and South, the two will be responsible for the growth of KMBS’ inkjet sheetfed press sales on products including the AccurioJet KM-1 CMYK LED – both B2+ and SRA3 versions – and the up-to-B1 MGI digital spot varnish and hot foil embellishment presses.
Lakin, another external hire, has held senior roles for HP Scitex, HP Indigo, Screen UK and Barco Graphics. He will be solely responsible for driving web-based technology including the Accurio 190 digital label press and the MGI 3DW spot varnish and hot foil label embellishment press.
Overseer Pritchard’s sales and technical experience reaches back over 20 years and includes senior product management positions at Domino Printing Sciences and Xaar.
KMBS UK, headquartered in Basildon, Essex, employs 1,067 people around the UK and has a turnover of £189m.
