Robbie O’Neill is the new managing director of Ferwood UK. Taking over the role from John Wilson who has become the CEO of Ferwood UK and USA following the expansion of the Ferwood Group. Robbie brings with him over 30 years of experience in the furniture and woodworking industry, a wealth of product knowledge and vast industry contacts, making him the ideal candidate to maintain and strengthen the UK business.
“Ferwood’s approach to business has always impressed me,” begins Robbie. “For Ferwood, it’s not just about buying and selling machinery. Ferwood’s business ethos centres around building relationships and finding solutions for its customers. The company’s attitude to help both its suppliers and customers resonated with me and made the business and role a good fit for me.”
Going forward, Robbie is keen to underpin the great work John and the team have done in the UK. “He’s built a successful business model and a winning formula,” says Robbie. “Because of this, I’m able to focus my immediate attention on supporting the team and our existing customers. Plans are already in place to accommodate the changing market and, following a record breaking 12-months of sales for Ferwood UK, we have a clear vision of what we want to achieve and how we intend to do it.”
Robbie adds, “Today’s industry has a massive appetite for machinery and we have a business framework in place that allows us to satisfy this demand quickly, whilst maintaining a high level of customer service. This is a huge selling point for us and with my experience dealing with industrialised machinery and providing solutions to UK companies across the board, I’m excited to be working with an established, credible suppler of reconditioned machines in the UK and Ireland. I’m hungry for this new challenge and I’m excited to be steering a new ship.”
Riccardo Rossi, CEO of Ferwood Srl concludes: “The UK is one of the biggest markets for us and, since the company was founded six years ago, Ferwood services and supplies reconditioned machinery to seven out of the 10 biggest panel manufacturers in the UK. John has done an exceptional job building the business to this level and to form a strong, knowledgeable team that reflects the company’s core business values and, whilst he will continue to be available to UK customers and remain on the board of Directors, I know he will continue to do the same great work in America. Robbie has achieved a lot in his career – working closely with some of the biggest producers in the business - and I believe he possess the attributes needed to grow the business and its presence in the UK market. I look forward to working with him.”
