17/08/2020
With his over 25 years’ experience in admixtures for ready-mix concrete, Sika are pleased to announce the appointment of Drummond Welsh as our new National Sales Manager for Concrete from the 3rd August. Having spent 11 years in the Middle East, Drummond has a wealth of experience with cutting edge and best practice concrete technologies for extreme conditions. He is also a prominent figure within the concrete community as both a Post-Chairman of the Concrete Society in Scotland and a Post-Chairman of the Lighthouse Club (A construction industry charity).
With his over 25 years’ experience in admixtures for ready-mix concrete, Sika are pleased to announce the appointment of Drummond Welsh as our new National Sales Manager for Concrete from the 3rd August. Having spent 11 years in the Middle East, Drummond has a wealth of experience with cutting edge and best practice concrete technologies for extreme conditions. He is also a prominent figure within the concrete community as both a Post-Chairman of the Concrete Society in Scotland and a Post-Chairman of the Lighthouse Club (A construction industry charity).
Drummond first joined Sika 3 ½ years ago and has proven himself to be extremely customer orientated and driven for results during that time. We took the time to have a chat with Drummond to find out more about what his plans are for Sika’s concrete business moving forward.
Q&A with Drummond
What are Drummond’s plans for growing Sika in the Concrete Industry?
As Drummond embarks on his new role, he wants to continue Sika’s growth in the concrete industry developed by Ian Williams, his predecessor for three years – a hard act to follow!
In addition, he plans to work closely with Sika’s Research and Development team to continue to innovate based on both the market and customer needs. Innovating products specifically for the concrete industry and more generally within the construction industry will make Sika a one-stop shop for all construction chemicals.
Technology is paramount within construction and Drummond is hoping to add new innovations such as the further applications of Sika’s Sikafume and development of Watertight Concrete technologies. He will also be looking at ways for customers to incorporate Sika’s technologies into their projects to bring costs downs and improve sustainability.
COVID-19: How can the market navigate this current situation? What is the outlook for the future?
There will always be a need for construction, and it is an adaptable industry. However, to start to drive the industry forward after the significant impact of COVID-19, Drummond reflected that it needs to start with government investment in infrastructure projects such as schools, hospitals and major infrastructure projects.
As Construction projects are restarting, the workplace has changed. With social distancing measures in place and restrictions on how and the numbers of people we can meet, there is also unpredictably about how and when this may change in the future. Based on this Drummond calls for us all to continue to work smarter and embrace change.
Now that everyone has adapted to video conferencing technology, we can re-evaluate how we worked in the past. Gone are the times of unnecessary extensive travel, spending hours travelling to a single hour meeting, which can now be achieved just as easily in a video conference. However, Drummond is quick to note this is not so say there should be no face-to-face meetings, these are still incredibly important. Construction is a people first industry and ultimately it conforms to the old saying “people buy from people”. Therefore, when we begin to have less restrictions, we must always think about how to continue to work smarter.
With a clear vision for the future, we look forward to seeing how Sika continues to grow in the concrete industry under Drummond’s leadership.