Gonnen Eilat has been appointed the new manager of the flower division at Agrexco UK.
Currently working closely with Yehuda Reichman, he will take up the role officially in August when Reichman returns to Israel.
Although new to the UK, Eilat has worked within Agrexco in Israel over the past nine years, gaining experience in plant propagation material, the ISO 9000 standard and the flower division.
Eilat, who has a degree in business management, admits that it was sheer fluke that he joined Agrexco in 1998. “I had graduated from university and was initially looking for a job in finance, but at that time the situation in Israel was not conducive so I took the position of sales manager in a small business. I then read a small ad in the newspaper - Agrexco were looking for an assistant product manager for the PPM department and knowing nothing about the business, I applied, got the job and never looked back.”
After working with agricultural imports and exports in May 2000, Gonnen moved over to the flower division, starting as product manager for three variety groups.
“I knew then that I wanted the job of UK manager for the flower division. I needed a goal, and this was something that I wanted to work towards. I knew that I liked working with UK customers and I wanted to utilise all what I had learned during my foundation years with the company,” he said.
Gonnen has been working closely with Yehuda in preparation for the handover. “This time has been invaluable; I have learned so much from him. He has introduced me to many customers and given me an important insight as to how the operation runs here. It has also given me the opportunity to get to know the team and I look forward to working with them.
“In this industry we all share similar aims - that is to provide quality products to our customers. But how we achieve this is what makes us different. The market is ever changing and we need to move with it. As always our prime concern and main focus is the customer and grower relationship. It is an area that I feel most strongly about - without it we cannot move forward,” he added.
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