30 Under 30

It’s been a tough year, but there has still been plenty to celebrate in the tech trade over the past 12 months. Managing directors and other top brass are regularly praised for their achievements when things go well, but the younger execs sometimes get overlooked. To give them their dues, PCR presents a rundown of some of the hottest young talent working in the industry today, across retail, vendors,
distribution and communications, listed
in alphabetical order…

Charlotte Best
National Account Sales Manager, Westcoast
Best joined Westcoast two years ago and quickly rose up the ranks to become a reseller account manager. She was promoted to her current position earlier this year, and the firm attributes much of its recent growth to Best’s hard work and enthusiasm. She was also described as “a legend” by one nominator.

Iain Bristow
Technical PR and Component Marketing Specialist, Asus
Since 2007 Bristow has played a key role in driving the popularity of Asus products in the UK. The 23-year-old has run a number of campaigns, helping the vendor in the recent Custom PC and Bit-Tech Awards. A key part of his position has been to forge and maintain relationships with the media.

Stuart Brown
Warehouse Manager, Widget
29-year-old Brown has been at Widget for over ten years, starting at the bottom and working his way up. Widget claims his solid and dependable performance is essential to the smooth running of stock and shipping at the company’s base in Stevenage, Hertfordshire.

Hannah Buckey
Sales and Marketing Assistant, HANNspree
Buckey has supported the sales and marketing team for the past three years. Her efforts have helped take HANNspree from an emerging brand to one that boasts a top five spot for UK monitor sales. The 25-year-old’s employers described her as an “absolute pleasure for customers, partners and agencies alike to deal with.”

Caroline Bunclark
Marketing Executive – Northern Europe, Nvidia
Better known as Bunny, 28-year-old Bunclark handles Nvidia’s marketing for Northern Europe. Her achievements at the graphics vendor include doubling the number of customers actively implementing co-branding strategies and boosting sales figures with targeted campaigns.

Robert Craven
National Account Manager, Veho
22-year-old Craven started at Veho as a trainee when he was 19, and has now become one of the firm’s top account managers on the trade team. He has quickly moved up to his current position of national accounts manager, and is well respected within the electronics vendor’s UK team.

James Dean
Managing Director, Imacula
Dean founded PR firm Imacula back in the summer of 2006, and has expanded the client list since then to include Realtime Distribution, Novatech, Zotac, Belkin, Ergo and Hyundai. He was described in his numerous nominations as dedicated, innovative and “a pleasure to work for.”

Chris Elt
Sales Director, Ntec Europe
Elt recently joined Ntec following a successful career at Realtime Distribution. He jumped straight in at the deep end and has managed to create new markets for CoolIT and SteelSeries. 27-year-old Elt is celebrated for his product knowledge, customer relationships and drive.

Lindsey Fish
Marketing Supervisor, EntaTech
Since joining EntaTech two years ago as a marketing executive, 26-year-old Fish has fast become a strong member of the team and now heads up the marketing department. Since taking up her new post, she has been tasked with looking for new ways to promote EntaTech and its vendors to the IT channel.

Sam Goult
Marketing Manager, Elonex
Goult is responsible for all the marketing at IT solutions and consumer electronics firm Elonex, which has seen strong growth over the last two years. He has managed high profile projects including X Factor sponsorship, the launch of the world’s first sub-£100 laptop, the iGame launch, and other ongoing projects.

Adam Harris
CEO, Technology Channels Association (TCA)
Having worked hard over the past years building a profile for himself and Bear IT, Harris became CEO of trade association the TCA late last year. According to his nominator, he is so dedicated to the new role, he was even responding to work emails on his honeymoon last year.

Lianne Johnson
Major Retail Account Manager, Kaspersky
25-year-old Johnson joined Kaspersky six years ago as a part-time sales administrator, and swiftly rose to her current position. She is responsible for the day-to-day management and development of the Kaspersky revenue of major retail accounts such as Amazon. Her nominator praised her commitment and work ethic.

Joanna Kemp
Head of Sales – Software, Koch Media
Kemp has been a key part of the Koch Media management team for five years, and now manages the reseller and retail sectors for the business software category. The 29-year-old runs a large sales team, overlooks supplier acquisitions and is also tasked with promoting the Koch Media brand.

Faye Le Duc
PR and Marketing Manager, Imacula
24-year-old Le Duc began in the industry six years ago, working as part of chip giant AMD’s marketing team, before moving onto tech website Hexus.net. She recently joined PR and marketing firm Imacula, and, according to her nominator, “is doing an absolutely sterling job”.

Mark Lowe
Product Manager for Consumer Electronics, Midwich
After seven years in a management position, Lowe was instrumental in Midwich’s decision to make the transition from computing to consumer electronics. Under his stewardship the firm’s sales have enjoyed growth and he has negotiated exclusive contracts with some of the biggest brands in consumer electronics.

Oliver Mason
Senior Trade Account Manager, Meroncourt
Responsible for sales development, customer base
expansion and managing Meroncourt Europe’s sales
team, Mason has been with the company for almost
five years. In that time he has become the most senior
sales manager and, according to his nominator, has led
incentives that helped the firm through the recession.

Charlie Mews
Vendor Relations Manager, Ebuyer.com
Described as “incredibly hard working” and “always going the extra mile”, Mews’ main role is to liaise with manufacturers and ensure they are promoted through Ebuyer.com. She joined the firm’s customer services department in 2006 when she was 18, before moving to sales and finally marketing in 2008.

Andy Miles
Senior Marketing Executive, Interactive Ideas
Miles has played a major role in Interactive Ideas’ recent success, with the company achieving record revenues and expanding in size over the last two years. Described as an excellent communicator and a creative thinker, he has built strong relationships with the company’s customers and suppliers.

Gemma Nichols
Marketing and Communications Executive, CCI Distribution
Having joined CCI in a customer service role six years ago, Nichols spent two years as a trade sales account manager before taking on her current role in late 2006. Colleagues describe Nichols as competent and reliable, and praised her for organising her wedding and honeymoon without missing a single deadline.

Graham O’Reilly
Business Development Director, AVG
29-year-old O’Reilly joined the security firm in January 2008, and since then has secured major partnerships with PC World, Currys, Maplin, Tec 7 (House of Fraser), Insight, Misco, Bechle, Easily and Kingston Communications. He previously worked at software firms Intuit and Formjet.

Ravi Popat
Purchasing Guru, YoYoTech
29-year-old Popat joined YoYoTech right at the start of the business. His nominator says his market knowledge, personable manner and ability to deal with intense pressure have made him something of a legend in the industry. Popat continues to play an integral part in YoYoTech’s growth plans.

Louise Powell
Marketing Executive, Gem Creative
Powell has recently been promoted to the role of marketing executive, managing marketing relationships with Gem’s supply partners. Her duties include overseeing trade marketing activities in The Future magazine, managing advertising campaigns and co-organising e-shot and web communications.

Gary Read
Distribution Account Manager, Logitech
27-year-old Read joined hardware vendor Logitech last year after three years working in business development at Microsoft’s OEM unit. His employers praise him for injecting a positive spark into the team. Read received a large number of nominations, which described him as honest, helpful, funny and polite.

Glen Rhodes
Product Manager, Target Components
After joining distributor Target over three years ago as a marketing assistant, Rhodes’ technical knowledge gained him promotion first to the purchasing team and later to his current position. Target says his market knowledge and technical acumen have had a significant impact on the firm’s strong performance.

Leanne Smith
Primary Buyer – Storage and Consumables, Target Components
19-year-old Smith has made an impact at Target in a short amount of time, after joining the company two years ago as a buying assistant. She has boosted profitability by over 20 per cent in every product area she has managed, and colleagues say her “attitude, energy and vibrancy make her a pleasure to work with.”

Neil Spicer
Managing Director, Ntec Europe
Spicer set up PR firm Ntec five years ago, which is now a respected player in the IT channel, representing firms including Cyberlink, CoolIT and Satzuma, and most notably graphics card vendor Sapphire. Three words that came up regularly in his many nominations were ‘committed’, ‘passionate’ and ‘respected’.

Ayshen Turk
PR and Marketing Specialist, PR Zone
Having achieved a first class honours degree in marketing and business law from Birmingham City University, Turk spent her gap year working for Intel, before joining PR Zone. She has made a significant impact, developing online and print campaigns for major clients such as MESH and Thermaltake.

Adam Westley
EMEA Trade Marketing Manager, Acer
Having joined Acer in 2005, Westley was a key part of the team that took Acer to the number one position in the UK last year. He has been promoted three times since joining the vendor, and his work in developing the brand has helped Acer win numerous awards, including last year’s PCR Awards Grand Prix.

Kathryn Whyte
Software Product Manager, Ingram Micro
Whyte joined Ingram Micro two years ago from reseller SHI. She was promoted to her current position last year, supporting three business managers and a team of 30 associates. The firm says her determination and drive helped shape Ingram Micro’s recent ‘Wonder of Windows 7’ campaign.

David Woods
HP Business Manager, Ingram Micro
Woods joined Ingram Micro in July this year from reseller/distributor operation Computacenter UK. He works closely with HP in his current position and has gained market share for the business in his area. David is described as an asset to Ingram Micro, with a good future career ahead of him.