Following over two decades at the helm of Italian appliance brand, Smeg, Mike Giddings has passed the baton to Daniel Hadley.
With 16 years of experience working for blue chip organisations, Daniel has joined Smeg from Dyson, where he led the sales team in MEA focusing on geographical expansion across the Middle East and Africa. This included opening four new stores to drive both a retail and direct-to-consumer transformation in the UAE.
Before his move to the Middle East, Daniel led the UK retail sales team, driving an expansion of controlled retail, launching technology innovations, as well as weathering challenges the pandemic put on the industry through a digital focus.
Daniel, his wife Alice and three young children, have relocated back to Oxfordshire, close to Smeg’s UK headquarters in Abingdon, to take up the new role.
“I am delighted to join Smeg at such an exciting time for the brand and am keen to continue to develop the UK and Ireland Smeg business,” Daniel commented. “Mike was the lynchpin for so many incredible milestones at Smeg, no less the opening of the brand’s global flagship store in Regent Street St. James’s and the incredible UK HQ in Abingdon. I wish Mike all the best.”
Mike Giddings joined Smeg as national sales manager in 2001, before becoming sales director, setting clear growth plans growing across a key selection of trade.
Over 11 years as managing director, Mike has had a massive impact on the brand, spearheading its sales operation, service partnership and marketing direction across both the domestic and professional strands of the business, with continual growth across all areas.
“I leave the Smeg brand on a high and in the very capable hands of Daniel Hadley. It has been an incredible journey filled with so many memories of extraordinary activations and innovations. I am now looking forward to spending more time with my wife Jill and our grandchildren,” added Mike.
Mike has played a pivotal role in championing people, systems, and infrastructure to aid the subsidiary’s growth, while also steering the company through unprecedented periods such as the pandemic. Mike has decided to leave Smeg to spend more time with his family.
