May June 2020 Electric.ie Magazine

10 ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • Mick G Slein - New CEO of LED Group Robus G rowing up I always worked in the business during school and college holidays. I was surprised that having completed my degree in Business Studies, my father suggested that I should start my career by getting employment outside the family company. After two years on the Enterprise-Rent-a-Car graduate programme I became their youngest ever branch manager. Suitably introduced in business I then succeeded in securing a position for ROBUS in Australia. This was a great opportunity. The distance might prevent family disputes which are the dread of any family company. Four years in Australia and I am pleased to report that with great support both locally and from home base, we brought ROBUS from an unknown brand to one of the top five LED suppliers in that country. I loved Australia but was delighted to get an opportunity, that arose in Ireland, to work across new products and European sales teams that were being developed in ROBUS. In this take this very seriously. We are completing several internal workshops, with an external consultant, towards that end. This involves working with the company’s teams to discuss and validate our culture to ensure we deliver on our values across all company activity. This has proven extremely important in the current crisis, bringing our values to the forefront. In a matter of days our IT team had the majority of our staff working remotely. Our technical team arranged online training and webinars for our internal and external customers. Taking responsibility for the future of such a successful company must be daunting. Where do you see the opportunities for ROBUS? Our values are ambition, fast pace, accountability (always do what you say you will do), customer focus and empowerment. Our value proposition is focussed on TRUST. Trust Robus to be easy to deal with, trust Robus to supply high quality products and trust Robus for market led innovation. We can achieve this only if we attract good staff and support our employees to fulfil their true potential. While respecting the historic success of the company we must address the future while taking current conditions into consideration. We must adjust for the current pandemic and plan for the possibility of a serious financial crisis in its wake. Stepping into the role as CEO, at this time, will be a challenge. We have to be very clear on our key objectives in the immediate future. ‒ In an exclusive interview, Mick G Slein, recently installed CEO at LED Group ROBUS talks to us about himself and the challenges that lie ahead. new position, starting in 2016, I was able to get involved in every aspect of ROBUS. Working on new products, research and development, quality control and Irish, UK and European sales divisions helped prepare me for my appointment as CEO in 2020. What special issues does working for a successful family owned company bring? ROBUS has an excellent culture, created and developed over many years by my father. It is critical that this unique identity within the company is maintained. I Industry News Mick G Slein, CEO, ROBUS Phil Hunt, UK Sales Director - Mick G Slein, CEO - Mick Slein, Chairman - Jack Benson, EU Sales Director - Christian Dijkstra CFO.