Following a period of significant growth, Sunderland-based Salamander Pumps has announced the appointments of Dale Robertson as Managing Director, and Claire Thompson to the newly created role of Head of Customer Experience and Marketing.

Robertson takes on the MD role from a career as a Product Design Engineer, going on to lead teams in a number of engineering, management, and marketing director roles. After delivering significant growth for global companies including Gripple and Jeld-Wen, as well as leading a number of smaller start-ups, Robertson will now focus on ensuring Salamander Pumps is a customer-focused business, with strong customer service and innovative product development at the heart of everything the company does.

He will be closely supported by Claire Thompson, who after working in Salamander Pumps’ marketing team for the past nine years, has taken on the role of Head of Customer Experience and Marketing following six months spent leading a detailed customer experience project for the company. Thompson’s new team will see members of the marketing, training, and customer service team collaborating under ‘one roof’ to put customers first.

Over the last six months, Thompson has led on a customer experience project that encouraged increased communication and departmental interaction through ‘T-shaped’ working - an approach that moves away from traditional corporate hierarchy, and places emphasis on working cross-functionally across a company. 

Reflecting on the new roles, Robertson commented: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of Managing Director – especially at such an exciting time for the company. I had always had a passion for uncovering customer or product issues, and then finding ways to solve them and the role at Salamander Pumps really appealed to me.

“I’ve worked at huge global companies and small intimate startups – but for me, this is a real sweet spot – it’s a nimble and agile organisation, innovative and full of potential for significant growth. We’ve already put lots of plans into action, including exciting product development, an overhaul of our customer service journey and even plans for a new HQ in Sunderland to support growth plans over the next three years.

“Claire’s new role will ensure that the customer is always the priority in the decision-making process at Salamander Pumps. Our customers are extremely important to us and our goal is to add value to their engagement with us, so they feel included with our brand like never before.”

Thompson added: “I am delighted to be offered this exciting new role and I’m really looking forward to the challenge it will bring. It’s a great opportunity to work closely with the wider marketing and customer experience team to ensure we are offering a consistent, personalised and seamless customer experience.”

Robertson and Thompson’s appointments follows a record year for Salamander Pumps, with sales of its best-selling shower pump range increasing by more than 30% over the last 12 months.