Mike Cottam has been appointed as Sales Director at fire protection solutions company Advanced.

Cottam joins Advanced from global science-based technology company 3M where over the past 19 years he has held a variety of roles covering sales and marketing, integration and Lean Six Sigma.

In his latest position as EMEA Segment and Channel Leader within 3M’s Abrasive Systems Division based in Dubai, Cottam headed up the sales and marketing strategy to expand the division’s customer base into key metal working segments across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In his new role, Mike will draw on his wide-ranging experience to lead Advanced’s sales, marketing, customer service and technical support teams in delivering excellent customer experience and accelerated growth in new and existing markets.

Commenting on his appointment, Cottam said: “Advanced has a clear purpose of creating a safer future, something I’m very passionate about and eager to play my part in achieving. I am excited to be joining the company at a time when, despite a challenging economic backdrop, the business is continuing to thrive and expand into important new areas of fire and life safety. I look forward to working with teams across Advanced to build upon the excellent foundations already in place and develop new markets and channels that will allow us to bring the benefits of our solutions to an ever-wider range of customers.”

Advanced’s Managing Director, Pete Browitt, said: “Mike brings a valuable breadth of skills and experience to our leadership team. Having worked across diverse sectors including healthcare, personal safety, infrastructure protection and abrasives, he will be able to draw on best practice from these areas to introduce new opportunities and approaches to our business. His proven commercial background, combined with strong customer focus, will help take us to the next level of our growth strategy and keep us at the forefront of our industry.”