02.12.2019

New sales director for LGMG Europe

We can confirm that Chinese aerial lift manufacturer LGMG has appointed Phil Graysmark as European region sales director.

Graysmark joins the Rotterdam based operation from JCB Access where he has been sales director since mid-2016. Prior to that he worked with Genie, having transferred to the business at the end of 2008, following two years with Terex Financial Services. His first role at Genie was divisional sales manager for the UK, Ireland, and the Benelux area, taking over from John Fuller.
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Phil Graysmark

At the end of 2009 he was promoted to vice president of sales for Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Russia a job he held until he left the business towards the end of 2015, when Terex was moving all of its senior executives to Switzerland.

He joins LGMG just over a year after it opened its European operation in Rotterdam See LGMG opens European hub. Since then the company has made a number of key appointments, including access industry veteran Hans Aarse as a consultant or senior advisor in order to help set up the European operation. See Aarse joins LGMG, Ronan Maclennan as sales manager for the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia plus key accounts and technical product support manager Erik de Bruijn.

Vertikal Comment

This looks like it might be a good move for Graysmark, in that after more than nine years with Genie and Terex, he seemed to struggle settling into JCB's very specific corporate culture. On top of this he had to face the fact that long serving JCB staffers with no access industry experience were appointed over his head to lead the new aerial lift division. We understand however that he and JCB have parted on amicable terms, following an extensive hand over and notice period.

Fitting into a Chinese corporation will have its own challenges of course, although LGMG does appear to be open minded with a good understanding of the demands and preferences of the more mature western aerial lift markets and a willingness to learn quickly, invest and adapt, in order to become a leading player.

All in all it could be a good appointment for both parties – time will tell of course.