Hochiki has announced plans to make significant investments in their people to support the Middle East, Africa, and European regions in order to develop the expertise they can bring to their customers in 2022 and beyond

Shinsuke Kubo, Hochiki’s Managing Director for the Middle East operation based out of Dubai, will now take up the role of Commercial Director for Hochiki Europe, Middle East, Africa, and India. His new role will be based out of the UK head office in Gillingham, Kent, with regular visits to the Middle East, where Kubo will continue to play a key role in the strategic development of this region and remain as a board Director.

In this new role, Kubo will be focused on leading the product management team to develop the company’s road map to ensure it meets the needs of customers. He has already set up his key team with David Brown as Product Manager and Robert Head as Commercial Product Manager, who between them bring over 40 years’ experience of working with Hochiki and within fire safety.

The team will work closely with teams in Japan and the Research and Development arm of the business. The constant feedback between customers, Japan and R&D teams will enable Kubo to realise his ambition to take Hochiki to the next level for its customers.

Kubo commented: “I have enjoyed a fantastic career with Hochiki for the last 28 years (Japan 17 years, US 7 years and Dubai 4 years) and have gained experience of the industry and our customers across the globe, so I am excited to start here in the UK. My focus will be on learning more about the market here in the UK and across Europe, including exports, in more detail and I’m looking forward to meeting with our customers to learn directly from them on how we can improve our products and services, that customer insight is what drives everything we do here at Hochiki”

Both Graham Lowe, Hochiki Europe’s Managing Director and Kubo’s priority throughout this transition and beyond is to ensure that customers continue to receive the absolute best service and products from Hochiki, and so Shahab Anjum Head of Sales Middle East and his team will continue to support in developing Hochiki’s sales within the region.

In addition to the excellent service that the commercial team deliver and as part of the business’ continued commitment to investment in the region a brand-new role of ‘Country Manager Middle East,’ has been created. With the interviewing process underway, this role will be dedicated to supporting and growing the region.