MacArtney, the world leader in underwater technology, has appointed 52-year-old Kevin Murray as the Managing Director of MacArtney UK, based in Aberdeen.
Murray has held the position of Sales Director since joining the company in March 2021 and looks forward immensely to taking on a much broader role with the company.
“I’m delighted to be able to take over from Phil, even after such a relatively short time with MacArtney. We have worked closely together, and I have benefited enormously from the gradual transition combining our expertise and knowledge of the industry. At Group level, we have identified goals for the UK. With my background, I can put my efforts into further refining processes and efficiency and strengthen both sales and operations to achieve them. My aim now is to carry on growing MacArtney UK within the fields of offshore energy, ocean science and defence, marketing MacArtney’s world-class products within connectivity, data systems and Launch and Recovery”.
Murray gained a BA in Business Studies and the CIM Diploma in Marketing in 1992, working in fields such as media and hospitality before moving into the underwater technology field in 1999 with CDL. He made his first contact with MacArtney there, as CDL were a MacArtney agent at the time. He later moved to Ashtead Technology – another MacArtney agent at the time – where he spent a total of 10 years, rising to Sales Director. He takes over the position of Managing Director from Phil Middleton.
Business philosophy
Murray’s background in sales has ingrained a solid belief in building strong customer relationships on a one-to-one basis, something not made easy over the last couple of years of lockdown. Under his leadership, the sales team will keep focusing on meeting their customers and building personal relationships, trust, and confidence to provide input and further collaboration. Murray believes the result is long-term sustainability for MacArtney and for the customer. As he puts it:
“The use of Teams, Zoom and the like during the pandemic has provided a good alternative, but I still firmly believe in primarily meeting the customer face-to-face and will continue to make that part of MacArtney UK’s philosophy.”
Challenges and opportunities
MacArtney’s UK operations are one of the Group’s largest outside of Denmark and offer the complete MacArtney range of underwater connectivity and technology products and solutions. This includes workshop facilities, where the focus is on the company’s core competencies, such as moulding cables and servicing the UK market with high-quality connectivity products. Opportunities for growth exist in the offshore sectors, including wind power, where the UK is a world leader in offshore wind farms. The UK government is funding transition to offshore wind, a sector in which MacArtney’s products are invaluable.
With Kevin Murray at the helm, the Group looks forward to continued growth and optimisation of the rich UK market potential. MacArtney CEO Niels Peter Christiansen rounds off:
“I am very happy to see an internal candidate ready to step up as Managing Director for MacArtney UK. Kevin will ensure continuity in the management team at a time of profitable growth.”
