Business Personality of the Month - David Gilson
Brand is King
From his first job as a fresh graduate, David Gilson has worked for big international brands throughout his career. He ascended the corporate ladder starting with Puma Sportswear, moving to Riley Snooker, and then on to the home fitness giant Icon, the biggest name in the health and fitness business worldwide.
This affinity for top brands culminated in his appointment as managing director of Escalade International in Swansea where iconic brand names are the currency of his daily working life.
Escalade –the business
Escalade International is based in the Fforestfach Industrial Estate, occupying a 30,000 square feet premises which houses a mix of offices and warehousing. Escalade employs eighteen staff in Swansea with an additional twelve employees in their Nottingham customer support centre. An impressive turnover of £7.5m is evidence of a very efficient, highly productive operation.
“It takes experienced staff and superior technology to achieve this turnover with just eighteen employees,” says David modestly. I would add that it also takes David’s strategic leadership and excellent management skills, particularly in so challenging an economic climate.
Escalade—the operations
Escalade distributes top branded sports equipment and accessories manufactured by industry market-leaders Marcy, Tunturi, Inspire and Bremshey.
The latest entry to the product portfolio is the Bruce Lee range, researched and branded by David Gilson himself – a marketing coup that has resulted in a global licensing deal for Escalade for the Bruce Lee brand and its range of products from home gyms and benches to smaller items.
Escalade’s client list is as impressive as the supplier list, including household names such as Amazon, Argos, Tesco, JJB, Littlewoods and John Lewis.
Escalade—export
Export activity is high at Escalade. It is unusual for such a small business to be so significant a contributor to the foreign exchange exchequer, exporting as they do, to South Africa, Russia, France, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia, Poland and other countries. Escalade also supplies the 6,000 shops of the giant Intersports chain across 27 countries worldwide.
The future
When I first met David Gilson six years ago, I noted that he was exceptionally articulate and well-spoken, a rarity in the small-business world. His creative talent in developing the Bruce Lee brand is quite remarkable --- certainly a gifted young man.
He is confident about the future and optimistic about his company’s performance in 2012, despite the grim prognostications of the economists.
THE PERSON
Name: David Gilson
| 1966 | Born Doncaster, South Yorkshire |
| 1980 – 1985 | Studied at Thorne Grammar School |
| 1980 – 1985 | Represented Doncaster Rovers Schools Football Team |
| 1985 – 1989 | Moved to Coventry to study Business Studies |
| 1989 | Graduated from Coventry University with a BA Honours Degree in Business Studies, and a Diploma of the Chartered Institute of Marketing |
| 1989 – 1996 | Played rugby for Thornensians RFC in the North East Premier League |
| 2005 | Moved to Swansea, South Wales |
THE CAREER
| 1989 | Started working with Puma Sportswear as Purchasing Co-ordinator in Wakefield, West Yorkshire |
| 1990 – 1993 | Promoted to Key Account Sales Manager working with mail order companies |
| 1993 – 1996 | Joined E.J.Riley Limited in Burnley, Lancashire as National Sales Manager, selling snooker and pool equipment throughout the UK. |
| 1996 – 1999 | Promoted to International Sales Manager selling snooker and pool tables throughout Europe, Asia and the USA. |
| 1999 | Joined Icon Health & Fitness Limited (the world’s largest manufacturer of home fitness equipment), as Key Account Sales Manager based in Leeds, West Yorkshire |
| 2000 – 2005 | Promoted to National Sales Manager |
| 2004 | Added role of European Product Manager |
| 2005 – Present | Joined Escalade International Limited in Swansea as Managing Director |