Mike Wood named as new MD at Amplicon

Amplicon Liveline, the manufacturer and distributor of IT and instrumentation, has announced the appointment of Mike Wood as Managing Director and Chief Executive

Amplicon Liveline, the Brighton based manufacturer and distributor of IT and Instrumentation for Industry, announced today the appointment of Mike Wood, a business executive with over 25 years experience, as Managing Director and Chief Executive.

Mike will take over the role from Jim Hicks, who will be moving into the position of Chairman.

Mike joins Amplicon from his own successful B2B e-commerce company, which he founded in 1999 with family members, holding the position of Managing Director.

Previous positions include sales management at the value added service company Premier Farnell, product management at Eurodis HB, commercial manager for high- speed data communication products at BICC Brand Rex and sales management at Papst, where he was responsible for the UK sales team.

He began his career with Microwave Modules, an electronics manufacturer and exporter on Merseyside, where he worked in engineering, operations, product management and purchasing.

His unusual blend of industrial electronics manufacture, sales and marketing experience gained in world class ISO9000 companies, together with creative media experience promises to be a perfect fit with the innovative technical culture at Amplicon.

"I set up Amplicon nearly 30 years ago and throughout those years it has grown into a well-known and respected company.

I am confident that Mike has the background to manage it even better than I have and take the company forward from strength to strength," commented Jim.

" I am looking forward to seeing the increase in turnover and profitability that Mike will undoubtedly achieve over the coming years!" he added.

"I am really excited and proud to be joining the Amplicon Liveline team as Managing Director.

I am looking forward immensely to building on the exceptionally strong base and platform that Jim has developed in the last years.

There is a huge synergy in our business philosophies, collective experience, values and standards", comments Mike.

"I see the growth of the business being achieved both in a traditional sense by providing the highest levels of customer service, and by harnessing the power of Internet based E-commerce, in which the company has made a substantial investment", he added.

After 28 years of day to day management of the company Jim Hicks, founder and major shareholder has now moved into the new role of Chairman.

In this role Jim will provide continuity and support for the executive management team under the leadership of Mike Wood, whilst also working on the challenge of a new strategic direction for the Amplicon Group, such as new business opportunities and possible acquisitions.

"Amplicon will now have a three-pronged business strategy - organic growth driven by Mike, possible new business opportunities, and growth by acquiring other companies" commented Jim.

"We are currently in regular contact with more than 36,000 named individuals throughout the UK, and we don't want to miss the opportunity to provide these customers with additional products and services that will have synergy with the current product range," he added.

Jim has considerable experience of a non executive role as he is a board member for Sussex Enterprise, Vice Chairman of Business Link Sussex and a member of the Sussex Learning and Skills Council.

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