Leadership Team

Routeco is led by a group of passionate and talented individuals, who collectively have many years of experience and knowledge within the industrial sector. The short biographies below give you a brief insight into Routeco's Leadership Team.

Ian Stewart - CEO Sonepar UK

Ian Stewart CEO of Sonepar UK

Ian joined Routeco in 1986. With a BSc (Hons) Microbiology - Ian’s initial career was in sales and systems analysis with Electronic Data Processing plc. He joined Routeco in Management Information Systems & Finance, and then was appointed Finance Director and then becoming Managing Director in 2000. Ian is the CEO for Routeco Group, and in 2018 was appointed CEO for Sonepar UK and assumed responsibility for Sonepar’s other UK business Mayflex.

Dave Amps - Managing Director

Dave Amps, Managing Director of RoutecoDave joined Routeco in 1998 with an HND in Electrical Engineering. Having previously completed an Advanced Technical Apprenticeship at Perkins Engines, Dave then went on to become Control Systems Engineer. He joined Routeco as a Technical Support Engineer, before moving on to various management roles within Product Support & Technical Sales. Dave then took over the leadership of Routeco's sales team as National Sales Manager and was appointed as UK Sales Director in 2015 then UK Sales Marketing Director in 2017. In 2018 he was appointed Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for leading Routeco’s Sales, Marketing and IT activities. In 2020 he was appointed Managing Director of Routeco.

Sean Evans – Chief Financial Officer

Sean Evans, Chief Financial Officer of Routeco
Sean joined Routeco in 1997. Prior to joining, Sean held financial roles at Nokia and DSG plc. He trained with PWC and joined Routeco as Financial Controller and was appointed Finance Director in 2002. Sean is now Chief Finance Officer and is responsible for Quality, Customer Service, HR and Finance.
 


Graham Jones - Business Development Director

Graham Jones Business Development Director of RoutecoGraham joined Routeco in 1997 where his career to that point had been as an electrical engineer for both Land Rover and Walkers Crisps. Joining Routeco as an Account Manager he quickly became Area Sales Manager for the Coventry Branch where he then went on to lead the UK sales team as National Sales Manager. Graham was appointed as Business Development Director for the Routeco group in 2015.

 

Keith Harrison - Commercial Director

Keith Harrison Commercial Director of RoutecoKeith joined Routeco in 1997 with an HNC in Electrical Engineering. Keith initially worked in the System Integrator community before moving into Technical Sales for a national distributor. He joined Routeco as Area Sales Manager, covering a number of regional locations in the North West of England and later became Rockwell Business Manager. Appointed as Rockwell Business Director in 2015, Keith is responsible for Rockwell Automation business via Routeco and other strategic alliance partnerships and has now assumed the role of Commercial Director.

Darren Lack - Group Supply Chain Director

Darren Lack Group Supply Chain DirectorDarren joined Routeco in 1993, with an HND in Mechanical & Electrical Engineering. His early career was at British Timken before moving into sales with Harland Simon Control Systems. He joined Routeco as a Sales Engineer for Milton Keynes branch before moving into Branch Management, Regional Sales Management and then onto managing Routeco's Corporate Accounts business. He moved into Operations in 2013 and was appointed Operations Director in 2015 and has since then assumed the role of Group Supply Chain Director for the Routeco group.

Clare Lundberg - HR Director Sonepar UK

Clare Lundberg Sonepar UK HR DirectorClare has a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and Sociology and is a Fellow of the CIPD. Clare has over 15 years' experience within Human Resources having worked for a large blue chip distribution company (Hays) and an IT outsourcing company (Getronics). Clare joined Routeco in 2006, was appointed as HR Director in 2015.  Routeco was acquired by the Sonepar group in 2014 and Mayflex acquired in 2015, Clare has now taken the role of HR Director for both Routeco and Mayflex

Michael McGuinness - IT Director Sonepar UK

Michael McGuinness IT Director Sonepar UKMichael started his career in Software development in London in the early 90s. He moved into IT Management with spells at Nurdin & Peacock, Nutmeg UK Ltd and the Vf Corporation. He joined Routeco as MIS Manager in 1997 and after many successful years was appointed as IT Director in 2015. He is now IT Director for Sonepar UK and has responsibilty for the IT and Digital Transformation strategy for Routeco and Mayflex.

 

Kevin Payne – UK Sales Director

KeKevin Payne UK Sales Director for Routecovin joined Routeco in 2002 as an External Sales Engineer, following similar roles in the Control & Automation industry. He has since held a number of sales leadership roles, and was Regional Sales Manager for the South for nearly seven years, before being appointed as National Sales and Marketing Manager in 2018. He was appointed UK Sales Director in January 2020 and is responsible for the leadership of our sales, product specialist and marketing teams, ensuring we add value for both our customers and suppliers.

Claire Hancott – Group Finance Director

Claire Hancott Group Finance Director for RoutecoClaire joined Routeco in 2015 as Finance Manager and previously held the Financial Controller role before becoming Group Finance Director in January 2020. She is responsible for all finance departments across the Group including management accounts, pricing and credit control. Claire had a number of different accounting roles before joining Routeco and is AAT and CIMA qualified.

Mark Crawford – Group Operations Director

Mark Crawford Group Operations Director for RoutecoMark joined Routeco in 2018 with an HNC in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.  His initial role was Group Manufacturing and Services Manager, then became Group Operations Director in January 2020. He is responsible for improving our operational systems, processes and policies to optimise customer service and increase efficiency across the Routeco Group. Prior to joining Routeco, Mark was at Rockwell Automation for nearly 20 years where he held a number of different sales management roles.

Stefan Gottwald - Country Director (Austria)

Stefan Gottwald Austria Sales Director for RoutecoStefan went to the Technical College for Telecommunications before graduating from Vienna University of Economics and Business. He started his career at a global software and high-tech company as a Project Manager before developing a global division which he headed us as Division Manager. Stefan then joined a MES software manufacture, which served the industrial manufacturers’ market, where he headed the sales, strategic management and marketing department. He has been Routeco’s Austria Sales Director since September 2015.

 

Luc op den Buijsch - Country Director (Netherlands)

Luc op den Buijsch Routeco Country Director NetherlandsLuc op den Buijsch joined Routeco in May 2013. He started as the first employee of Routeco in the Netherlands and is now running a business with 16 people and growing. With a commercial and engineering degree he worked as a product specialist, business leader, branch manager and setting up new departments. He is now responsible for Routeco Netherlands.

James Jonckers - Country Director (Belgium)

James Jonckers - Country Director Belgium for RoutecoJames Jonckers has started his career in December 2019 at Routeco BV.  He was the first Routeco employee in Belgium and is now running the Belgian business with a strong growing team. After a degree in Industrial Automation, James started his career as engineering manager at a specialised machinebuilder.  Later he was active in different sales management roles within the industry. He is now responsible as Country Director for Routeco Belux.