Highbourne Group, one of the UK’s leading plumbing and heating merchants and owner of brands such as City Plumbing, Plumbworld and PTS, has appointed a new Chief Marketing Officer.
Liz Forte, an award-winning marketing director with over 20 years’ experience working for some of Europe’s best-loved brands such as Starbucks and Sony, joins the business starting on 8th August from the world’s largest food contract company, Compass Group.
Liz is now responsible for developing and overseeing the marketing and brand strategy of Highbourne Group to support commercial performance and raise visibility amongst new and existing customers, ultimately driving business growth.
At the core of this senior role is leading and managing a large multi-disciplined team to market plumbing and heating products to our large installer base, major contract customers through a range of marketing tools available to us. This helps to make our customer journey easier for them to work with us on a daily basis.
John Vaughan, Chief Customer Officer of Highbourne Group, said: “We are excited and delighted to appoint Liz, who has built her career on understanding business objectives and translating them into powerful and innovative marketing strategies, as our new chief marketing officer.”
“Liz has a wealth of experience and specialises in growth transformation projects, demonstrated most recently in her previous role where she generated impressive figures for new business, despite challenges associated with the pandemic.
“We are looking to unlock the next phase of Highbourne Group’s development and need a strong, insight-led, customer-focused strategic marketing leader. Liz is a perfect fit for this role, and we see her as a significant investment in our company’s future. Liz will report directly into myself and join the Highbourne SLT board.”
Liz, who won the Contract Catering Marketing Award in 2022 for her work with Compass and has a history of consulting for private equity firms, takes pride in forging new marketing initiatives underpinned with a data-driven and evidence-based approach.
She added: “This new role is a tremendous opportunity, and I am looking forward to being part of the team that will help shape the future and upwards trajectory of Highbourne Group.
“I plan to use my expertise to enhance the trading brands of the company, building tangible relationships with its customers and driving sustainable business growth through innovative marketing techniques.
“My new colleagues have given me a warm welcome and I already feel part of the Highbourne family.”
For more information, please visit www.highbournegroup.co.uk
Highbourne Group Limited, through its brands City Plumbing, The Bathroom Showroom, PTS, Plumbworld, The Underfloor Heating Store, Plumbnation, DHS and NSS is one of the largest merchants operating in the UK’s plumbing and heating sector.
It sells and distributes plumbing and heating products to installers all the way through to major corporate customers and housebuilders. The group’s team of 3,500 colleagues operates from more than 600 branches and sites around the UK.
Highbourne Group’s employees are experts and dedicated to delivering a fantastic service to its customers. Their mission is to supply the highest quality materials in the UK. The company’s business revolves around supporting our customers and exceeding their expectations, from providing first class service to sourcing our products and materials as sustainably as possible.
