Sales Director – Privately Owned, SaaS & AI Driven Digital Communications Specialist
Matthew Drury placed who has since led a highly successful diversification strategy and won several significant contracts in new sectors
Background
Saturn is a privately owned, SaaS & AI driven digital communications specialist, selling visual display screens to a variety of sectors.
CEO, Chris Welsh, was managing day-to-day sales and recognised he was becoming a bottleneck to growth. He knew that in order for the business to grow and scale he needed a dedicated sales person.
The owners were looking to increase turnover to £7m with a potential exit in 3 years time, meaning Saturn required:
- A dedicated Sales leader to drive the growth
- Diversification of product offering
- Sophisticated and scalable sales engine
Rowan were retained by Saturn Communications CEO, Chris Welsh, to appoint a new Sales Director who could drive these growth ambitions.
Journey
Rowan worked closely with CEO Chris Welsh, through the detailed briefing process, to gain key insight into the personal and professional requirements for the incoming Sales Director:
- Software & Tech industry experience
- Credibility at SMT & Board level
- Success developing sales in new sectors
Leveraging Rowan’s internal research team, considerable time & effort was invested to fully understand the business & market – in order to get the highest calibre candidates – including speaking to Saturn’s clients and physically going into stores to see the product in action.
Rowan successfully appointed Matthew Drury as Head of Sales for Saturn.
Impact
Matthew was a highly suitable candidate with an excellent track record:
- Over 10 years within the software and tech industries.
- Developing new sector sales
- Driving his previous business through 30% YoY growth and a successful Private Equity exit.
Matthew has been instrumental since joining Saturn and has:
- Developed, implemented and drove a successful diversification strategy – moving away from automotive and towards a consultancy and digital content model – an invaluable strategic advantage through Covid-19
- Demonstrated, adaptability, tenacity and outstanding strategic thinking through Covid-19, by winning key contracts during Covid-19 with: AO.com – a huge in-store contract with, Several NHS trusts – to help interpret language on Covid instructions, National train stations – installing relevant, AI driven digital displays to help move away from paper / contact systems
- Created a pipeline of deals within new sectors
- Retained Rowan to build the Sales & Marketing team (Marketing Manager, BDM, Finance Controller)
Quote – Chris Welsh, CEO, Saturn Communications
“Having worked with Rowan on a number of recruitment projects, I have found their service second to none.
The team took the time understand our business objectives and work with us to create a job specification to meet those objectives. Importantly, they invested the time necessary to understand our business culture to ensure any potential candidates would be a good fit.
The quality of candidates chosen by Rowan were of the highest calibre and resulted in a successful outcome on all occasions.”
