Pilkington United Kingdom Limited, part of the NSG Group, has made two new senior appointments - promoting Kristian Chalmers to Head of Sales, and Leo Pyrah to Marketing and VA Manager.
The pair bring with them a combined 25 years’ experience working across Pilkington UK’s Architectural Glass business and the wider NSG Group, and will help the company to deliver further value for its customers.
They will be based at the NSG Group’s European Technical Centre in Lathom, Lancashire.
Chalmers takes the post after serving as Strategic Marketing Manager for Europe within the business. Her past experience includes launching some of the business’ most successful products, including Pilkington K Glass™, which the company is selling at full manufacturing capacity each month in the UK.
She takes over from Andy McDowell, who retires from his role as Commercial Director at the end of June, concluding a 30-year career at the company.
Meanwhile, Pyrah takes on a multifunctional strategic marketing role in the business, with a key focus on adding value for customers through NSG technology.
He began his career in the NSG Group as a graduate working in R&D in 2007. Since then, Pyrah has held a variety of technical and product management roles in the UK and overseas as part of the NSG Group’s operations in Vietnam and China.
Matt Buckley, Managing Director of Pilkington UK, said: “Kristian and Leo bring a wealth of experience from across the business’ different functions and countries of operation. This experience will be vital in leading our teams that are supporting customers through this period of recovery - and as they help architects to meet new design challenges by using innovative glass products.”
Kristian Chalmers said: “It’s exciting to step into this position at this crucial time for the industry and our customers. My team’s focus in the near term will be supporting customers as UK glass supply remains constrained, while looking ahead to new opportunities for the existing and new sectors, including the servitisation of glass.”
Leo Pyrah added: “Glass applications and specifications are evolving in line with new regulations and building policies, in what’s a key period of change in building design. It’s creating strong market opportunities for value added glass products, which I’m looking forward to working alongside customers in targeting.”
Pilkington UK has recently brought to market new products including Pilkington AviSafe™, a glass that’s visible to birds to help prevent collisions, and Pilkington SaniTise™, an antimicrobial glass launched after the beginning of the pandemic.