Fairpoint Outdoors continues to strengthen team

Scandinavian tackle company Fairpoint Outdoors has further strengthened its team with another high-profile appointment.

The owner of the Westin and Kinetic brands has revealed well-known industry figure, Richard Taylor, as its Country Manager for England, Scotland and Wales.

The experienced Taylor has an impressive CV, having been Sales Director at Hardy and Greys for 11 years, Managing Director of Leeda for five and UK Manager for Svendsen Sport for nine.

Taylor will be responsible for sales and will be working alongside Gareth Whittington and Thom Hunt as part of Fairpoint’s strong commitment to the UK and Éire.

He joins Thomas Sanotra, who returned to the company as Chief Operating Officer after a period at Svendsen, and underlines the company’s strategy to build a quality team for future growth.

Robert Peetz and Robert Valkeneer also made the transfer from Svendsen in October, joining Fairpoint as Purchase Manager and Senior Product Manager respectively.

“Signing Richard is a huge scoop for us,” said Westin’s CSO, Thomas Eldor Petersen. “We have known him for more than 15 years and have been impressed by his knowledge, integrity and work ethos.

“We see great potential for growth in the UK and Richard will be a key part in helping us deliver this.”

Taylor, who will also work closely with Fairpoint’s product development and marketing departments, said: “Having recently visited Fairpoint Outdoor’s head office in Denmark and met the fantastic people there, I am extremely excited to be joining such an innovative and dedicated team.

“I share the company’s vision to continue to bring high quality products to market, backed up by great marketing, and see a huge opportunity for growth in the UK. Interest in lure fishing has grown massively in recent years and Westin has been one of the brands at the vanguard of that exponential growth.”

Main picture: From left, Thomas Sanotra, Richard Taylor and Thomas Eldor Petersen