Draper Tools expands Hampshire staff force following successful year

Draper Tools, in Hursley Road, has promoted Sarah Hartland to head of marketing and hired five new staff members for its sales and finance teams.

Ms Hartland, who previously held the position of marketing campaign manager, will be the youngest member of the 104-year-old company’s senior leadership team at 32 years old.

The new head of marketing said: “Draper is a brand with so much potential, which is why I’ve been passionate about growing my career here. When I joined the company in 2019 as a senior marketing executive, I never thought I’d be leading the department.

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“Yes, I’m the youngest person in our leadership team, by quite a few years but I’m proof that if you work hard then age does not matter. I am excited to be part of Draper’s future and to support the business with modern marketing.”

Mark Broughton joins business as director of finance and will oversee the company’s financial future and strategies for growth and expansion. Mr Broughton has worked in finance for more than 20 years, having previously been employed by the Cycling Sports Group.

Draper’s expanding sales team has been boosted by appointing Paul Middlemiss as automotive sales manager as well as Nick Ward and Carl Osborne as key account managers. With more than two decades of industry experience, Mr Middlemiss is ready to manage Draper’s automotive sales.

From left: Paul Middlemiss, Carl Osborne, Mark Broughton, Matt Sheen, Nick Ward, Sarah Hartland, Jack Alcock (Image: Draper Tools)

Meanwhile, Mr Ward and Mr Osborne both previously worked with Metabo. Also new to the sales team is Jack Alcock who joins Draper as lead marketplace account manager from Rinkit Ltd, where he was head of marketplaces.

The appointments follow a year of innovation and modernisation for family-owned Draper Tools, which kicked off with Matt Sheen stepping up as CEO in January.

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Mr Sheen said: “It’s been a really exciting year at Draper Tools and these new appointments to the team will certainly help us keep up the pace and continue towards our goals.

“I’m delighted to have Paul, Jack, Nick and Carl as part of our salesforce, their combined expertise and passion will be an asset to the business. It’s also a real win for the business to have someone as experienced as Mark heading up our finance team.

"In marketing, I’ve been continually impressed by Sarah’s hard work and creativity, she’s absolutely the right person to drive our future marketing plans. There’s no doubt, Draper’s in a strong position for the future and we are all very much looking forward to the next phase of growth.”