Barry Venter has been appointed as the new MD of Nashua.
His career has mostly been within the ranks of Nashua Group: “Nashua forms part of my DNA as I have grown and evolved over 22 years with this business. It is an aspirational, truly South African brand and the value system and culture within the business is very important to me.
“Our core values are focused on our people and customer service and our customer ethic is at the centre of our business,” Venter adds. “I am very passionate about that and have been driving it in all my varied roles in the business.”
Venter started as a contractor at Nashua, worked in the warehouse, packed SIM cards, even sold second-hand phones to dealers – and along the way, was exposed to mentorship and opportunities, moving into IT to implement new technology and create a call centre before moving back onto the business side as GM: operations, then chief operating officer at Nashua Mobile.
“When we sold the mobile business I was acting CEO and was able to assist most of our staff acquire other jobs, together ensuring a successful handover of our customers to the respective Mobile Network Operators,” Venter says. “It was a massive success personally and helped develop me as a truly inclusive leader as a result. I’m ready for this role and already enjoying it.”
Nashua has seen many significant changes over the years. Just five years go the company implemented a revised strategy to become a ‘Total Workspace Provider’. It built a substantial offering with new company products to strengthen this position and add more value for customers: “Our customers are able to focus on their core businesses while we take care of the complete office environment.”
Venter believes Nashua’s differentiation lies in its people: “We have 40 franchises with a sales force of approximately 500 and 700 field engineers to support our customers across the SADC region. It is our relationships and engagement at a community level that had allowed our growth, alongside quality solutions and excellent customer service.”
He adds that collaboration and strategic partnerships are fundamental to improving business outcomes: “Strategic partnerships with other world class businesses benefit everyone; our customers benefit from our partnerships, which allow us to offer services and solutions that we couldn’t do alone.”
Venter believes the economic climate is accelerating because of Covid-19; it’s transforming and the market is shifting again: “We need to be nimble enough to continue to stay relevant, keeping people safe but engaged.
“Engagement and management need to change and are mostly happening via video links to create personal connections and collaboration. Nashua’s positioning is to continue to take care of the workplace for our customers – whether it’s an office or a home environment, from the front gate to the cloud. Our products and solutions are well positioned to assist companies especially during this time to enable them to work remotely.”