At the helm, Paul Chambers (General Manager) will bring to bear his many years of experience in publishing and wholesaling and account management prior to joining the NFRN to be the primary contact with the Senior Directors of Publishers, Distributors and Wholesalers and, along with the National President and Chairman of the Newstrade Operations Committee, will conduct the Federation’s top level negotiations on behalf of members.
David Daniel, (Trade Relations Manager), will head up the News and Magazines Department., reporting to Paul Chambers. David will continue with his existing duties but, in addition, will become responsible for news operations and news development with line-manager responsibilities for TWO new national field-based appointments:
Bob Scott, (currently Retail Development Manager in the Central Southern area) is promoted to National News Operations Manager. With responsibility for the Newspaper Category (National and Regional) and wholesaler service issues, this extensive and challenging role will act as a conduit between members, the NFRN Helpline and the Local and Regional Management of wholesale and national and regional newspaper account managers. The incumbent will seek to establish good working relationships with wholesaler and publisher personnel, using his extensive experience to identify problem issues and encourage remedies that results in improved service to NFRN members. Equally, the incumbent will have responsibility for holding retailer workshops, when appropriate, to give direct advice to members.
Brian Murphy, (currently Product Manager at NFRN Head Office) is promoted to National News Development Manager. – Expanding on his current responsibilities which includes the continuance of NFRN AIM and the news and magazines element of CTN World, this new widened function will become responsible for developing the magazine category through NFRN members. As well as establishing proactive working relationships with publisher, distributor and wholesaler account managers, the NFRN Field Team and District/Branch NFRN Officials, the incumbent will be responsible for developing a range of self-help tools as well as providing training to staff, Officials and members, all aimed at helping members to grow their market share and achieve the maximum possible profit from sales in this important category.
Says Trade Relations Manager, David Daniel: “I think there is considerable untapped potential amongst NFRN members to grow their news category if we can find the means to minimise poor service within the supply chain, whilst encouraging members to be positive and adopt best practices. Many members, however, need support and guidance if they are to optimise sales and profitability and compete effectively in what remains an extremely important element of their business mix. I am delighted, therefore, that the NFRN has decided to apply greater focus and resource to support members in this crucially important, though frequently difficult, category and I look forward to the challenges ahead with relish.”
Says General Manager, Paul Chambers, “The thinking behind the new structure is on the one hand to create a fully joined-up team to provide support for members at every level, from publisher/wholesaler Customer Care desk right through to Managing Director, whilst at the same time providing much needed direct support for Districts and members who may need help in resolving service-related problems. On the other hand, it is also considered to be right and appropriate that we should be more focused in providing direct support for our independent news retailers who need our help if they are to optimise profit on return and compete effectively in the news category. I am very confident that we have a very experienced team in place to achieve a real difference and I look forward to leading them towards an improved future for our members.”
