Member Article

Craft Supplies business goes dutch

County Durham based company, Crafter’s Companion is set to open its first operation on mainland Europe after the expanding business recruited two new sales executives on the continent.

Pierre Hoenselaar and Erik Rietveld have joined the growing UK craft supplier and will initially be responsible for growing the company’s presence in ‘Benelux’, which includes Holland, Belgium and Luxemburg.

To support retail customers in Europe, the organisation has devised a new Euro based pricing structure and also developed a new trade website that is available in 16 different languages.

Crafter’s Companion designs, manufactures and sells craft-related products to people across the world through retail outlets, online and TV shopping channels. Its new European arm will join the company’s two sites in County Durham and its US facility in California.

The company is run by Sara Davies, a familiar face in global craft sector. She regularly features on TV channels Ideal World and Create & Craft and is the current board chair at the Craft Hobby Association UK (CHA-UK).

She said: “We are very pleased to announce the arrival of Pierre and Erik to the team as they give us a physical presence in Europe to support existing and potential trade customers.

“We are also very excited by the prospect of being able to take the crafting tools we manufacture, our own brand products such as Spectrum Noir, third party brands such as Craftwell and licensed brands onto the continent.”

This expansion has come hot on the heels of Crafter’s Companion recruiting a high-profile trade team to expand its retail presence in the UK. It took on six industry experts from the Creative Hobbies Group (formally Kars) in March to form its own dedicated distribution division, spearheaded by Simon Duncan.

Pierre, 34, joins the company with almost a decade of account management and sales experience working with major clients in the crafting industry, particularly in the Benelux region. Erik, 46, has also spent several years in the sector as a Senior Buyer across Europe so brings excellent credentials to his new role.

Erik said: “Pierre and I are very much looking forward to strengthening the Crafter’s Companion business in Europe and first reactions in the Benelux market have been very positive thanks to the company’s reputation and product portfolio.”

For further information, visit www.crafterscompaniontrade.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jodie Balmer .