Toughshield makes two key appointments

Toughshield has announced the appointment of two key senior managers in new roles designed to help the company to fulfil its ambition to be a leading provider of ruggedised smart phones to the enterprise market. Merrick Edwards (42) is appointed as Business Development Director and Andy Lee (43) becomes Channel Account Manager.

Edwards joins from Isotrak where he was Channel Sales Manager having previously held a number of senior international sales positions in the rugged mobility sector, including roles with two of the largest vendors, Honeywell Scanning & Mobility and Intermec. He has more than 15 years channel experience.

Commenting on his decision to join Toughshield, Edwards said: "Having worked for a number of key hardware manufacturers in the Auto-ID sector I've seen this market change in line with the rapid adoption of mobile devices within enterprise. It was immediately apparent that Toughshield was very well placed to capitalise on the growing need for ruggedised PDAs. There is a great opportunity to bring a range of devices to market that address enterprise business needs with features more commonly associated with consumer devices in a rugged product that can stand up to the rigours of demanding business environments. I look forward to building a sales team who understand both enterprise and consumer mobile markets and who can use this knowledge and experience to offer something different to the enterprise market."

Andy Lee joins from Unitech Europe where he was Territory Manager, UK & Ireland having previously held a number of channel sales positions in the industry including roles with Socket Mobile, Blackroc Distribution and Intermec. He has more than 20 years' experience in the delivery of mobile communications to the enterprise market.

Lee echoes Edwards comments saying: "Having spent 20 years in the Auto-ID industry, I have seen a lot of changes both in technology and in the partner community. One thing remains constant - the need to stay ahead of the competition whilst recognising the changing needs of customers. The handheld market has evolved a lot recently with the demand for Android dramatically increasing. Its open architecture has bred a new wave of development and forward thinking applications and I look forward to working with the team to grow this business."

Welcoming the appointments, Stig Hansen, Commercial Director said: "Merrick and Andy bring a wealth of experience and understanding of this market. I am delighted they have joined us at this exciting stage of our development."

About Toughshield

Founded in 2010 with headquarters in London, Toughshield is a global provider of smartphone devices, which offer a blend of consumer design and ease of use, combined with enterprise specific functionality and durability. These include the R500, a ruggedised smartphone that offers dedicated push to talk and lone worker panic buttons, dual SIM and Near Field Communication. Designed for the elements, the R500 is IP67 and MIL-STD-810 rated against dust and water ingress and comes with Gorilla Glass. Its rugged build and dedicated safety features make it ideal for enterprise customers with mobile workers in a range of sectors including security, transport and logistics, local authority and healthcare. The company continues to develop new smartphones and tablets to meet the specific needs of mobile workers in a variety of sectors. The Toughshield team is ideally placed to address this market having broad experience of both the rugged enterprise mobility and consumer smartphone markets.