New sales director to drive property agency 's expansion
Independent property agency, KWB, has brought in a high-profile sales director to double the size of its corporate cleaning division.
Jim Duffy comes to the Newhall Street business after co-founder John Bryce and the other directors agreed the growth strategy.
Jim is supporting an existing business with a substantial clientele working in the Solihull area, from office cleaning for a large number of clients on Birmingham Business Park to cleaning office space in a hanger at Birmingham Airport.
He has tasked himself with doubling company turnover within three years and is well on target.
“There are several elements, but the core aim is to double turnover within the next three years. It is ambitious, but I've worked for several companies in business development positions when similar growth targets have been achieved, ” he said.
Duffy's CV includes management roles with the Wolverhampton-based Express & Star, Birmingham's Post and Mail and Rentokil Hygiene.
His first love was football though, and he looked on course for a career in the sport, when his home-town club, Wolverhampton Wanderers, gave him a youth contract in the early-1980s.
Kenny Hibbitt was the terrace star, with more than 500 appearances and more than 100 goals, and he took a keen interest in the teenager's fledgling career.
“It was an amazing feeling, to be born in Wolverhampton, get a deal with Wolves, and then have a club legend like Kenny make it clear that he fancied my chances of getting a pro contract. At the age of 16, football was my life and I couldn't imagine any other future, ” recalled Duffy.
Unfortunately, Hibbitt was pushed out, along with youth team manager Frank Upton, and both went to Coventry City after the club was acquired by the Bhatti brothers.
“It was a very dark time for Wolves. They were relegated right down to Division Four, good players were leaving and Molineux was a miserable place. Kenny and Frank got in touch, and offered me an apprenticeship deal at Coventry, but I realised I'd just fallen out of love with football, ” said Duffy.
However, he discovered a new calling, selling adverts for the Express & Star, and a move to the Evening Mail in Birmingham saw him promoted to regional advertisement manager, responsible for 10 sales representatives.
“Great times. Great people. The buzz was wonderful, but then in the early 2000s you could tell printed papers were starting to decline. It was quite sudden, but there were a lot of redundancies, and I chose to leave.
“My wife, Joy, teaches business and economics, and has always been a great sounding-board and source of advice if I'm mulling over a move. Facilities management (FM) was a new and dynamic sector, and we thought my skills would be well suited to its demands. ”
Rentokil Hygiene was the first of several FM roles and when a mutual contact introduced him to KWB's Bryce, Duffy didn't hesitate to focus on the 'softer' side of the sector.
“Cleaning was an important element of FM work before Covid, but now it's top of the list for schools, colleges, offices, and other corporate clients, ” said Duffy.
“It is a broad remit, looking at all our routes to market, overseeing the tendering process, bringing people together and setting achievable goals.
“We'll probably grow the staff, perhaps bringing in someone on the business development side, but it will be organic, and it certainly won't be rushed.
“John and the other directors know what they want to achieve, and so do I, and I 'll be working closely with the ops director, Paul Winters, to deliver results. ”
Pictured: Jim Duffy and Paul Winters