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Lenovo has confirmed that its hunt for a new MD is over. Hiring from within the UK – and from within the industry – former Acer UK county manager Preben Fjeld will head up the Lenovo operations department. After two years in the job, Fjeld only quit his post at Acer last week and he will take control of ops as MD at Lenovo from November 1, according to the Register.
In a statement to staff, EMEA CEO Francois Bornibus, described Fjeld as an ‘experienced leader with a strong understanding of the dynamics’ of the British PC sector. Lenovo has been without a UK head since May after John Harber down tolls just 15 months into the job in order to assume the MD role at reseller Arrow Business Communications.
Lenovo will now be hoping that Fjeld’s expertise and experience within the market can help to turn around some worrying figures of late. According to distributor sales data for Q2, Lenovo’s UK shipments crashed 22.6 per cent year-on-year, roughly twice the decline of total sales across the entire market.
Bornibus himself assumed the EMEA executive position in March following five quarters of declining turnover. His aim is to turn Lenovo into the biggest seller of PC hardware in the region. He is also keen to import the full Motorola portfolio similar to how other regions operate.
The return to form of HP as well as the general election and uncertainty surrounding Brexit has all been suggested as reasons for Lenovo’s slide. Whether or not Fjeld and Bronibus can turn things around, remains to be seen.
