Hills has appointed Darren Banks as its general manager for vendor business management, in an effort to bolster its vendor portfolio.
Based in Sydney, Banks will be responsible for developing the Hills portfolio and managing vendor relationships across the ANZ region.
Banks has over 27 years of security industry experience including a variety of roles in electronic security across intrusion, access control, CCTV and security screening.
He joins Hills after eight years as Tyco Security Products' ANZ regional sales manager, where he supported brands such as DSC, AD, Exacq, Software House, CEM and Kantech.
Hills CEO and managing director David Lenz says Banks' appointment was key to Hills strategy to offer a diverse, innovative and differentiated portfolio of security solutions.
“It's an exciting time to be at Hills. We've invested in getting the basics right, opening a national distribution centre and flagship trade centre at Seven Hills, revitalising New Zealand operations and launching a new eCommerce platform to provide strong channels for vendor sales,” Lenz says.
“Appointing a GM responsible for vendor relationships ensures we are maximising opportunities across the portfolio.
The distributors head of sales for security, surveillance and IT, Bill Sakellariou also says Banks' market-driven approach and vendor management experience would be invaluable as Hills determines the best fit for its vendor portfolio across key vertical markets.
“Banks has an excellent reputation for effective leadership in the security industry, forming and fostering solid relationships with customers and partners, and developing strong teams which are able to foster vendor engagement, identify and develop joint go-to-market plans, and ensure effective sales execution," Sakellariou says.
“Our goal is to increase our vendor focus and bring together best-of-breed solutions to provide an end-to-end security proposition for our customers. In today's fragmented and highly complex security market, Banks' wealth of experience will help us carry this plan forward.