Steve Seal has been appointed to the newly created role of Head of Supply Chain for Imported Goods, and will focus on bringing a strong, streamlined plan to all three businesses in the Group: Kelkay, La Hacienda and Apta.

Seal joins AMES UK with a host of relevant experience in managing peaks in demand, coupled with tricky supply chains. After several years in telecoms where he worked on sourcing handsets with impossibly short lead times, Seal led the team that launched SkyQ, where he also developed his considerable demand-planning skills. His experience puts him in a unique position to be able to support AMES UK’s ambitious sales growth and stock availability targets.

He explained: “I know the garden industry is seeing shortages and lengthening lead times which is especially difficult for such a highly seasonal sector. That’s why my focus will be on creating a long-term plan that will help us smooth out the volatility and deliver improved availability and service levels for our customers.”

Seal is working closely with demand-planning and customer-fulfilment teams, and reports to Supply Chain Director, James Hoad, who commented: “Steve is already proving to be a huge asset to the team because he brings a sophisticated skill set and discipline to our supply chain function. Because he is new to the business and to our market, he brings a unique clarity to the planning and decision-making process.”