Southampton: New aap3 sales director to target growth in EMEA

Europe, the Middle East and Africa are the growth targets for David McCarthy, the new sales director at Southampton-based IT services and recruitment provider aap³.

McCarthy joins the flourishing global business with a proven track record at previous companies of achieving expansion worth tens of millions of pounds.

He said: “I’m excited about the prospect of realising the potential of aap³, I see massive possibilities. We have excellent clients, excellent people and it is a huge opportunity. My key target is growth – consistent, profitable growth.”

McCarthy’s CV includes being managing director and group sales and marketing director at Neo Interactive Group, an IT company for retail and government. Growing turnover from £3 million to £15m, he secured multi-million-pound contracts with Boots, Wal-Mart and Sainsbury’s.

He also held managing and sales director roles at I-Way, a US venture capital-backed outsourced technology services company. He grew turnover from £1.5m to £34m through growth, acquisition and integration, and played a key role in its $240m NASDAQ stock market launch.

McCarthy lives near Oxford and is a fellow of the Institute of Sales and Marketing Management and is also a member of the Institute of Directors.

He added: “A lot of the attraction to coming to aap³ was the people I’m now working with – I felt that we could work well together through our shared philosophy of investing in good people to drive the growth in our business. We’re working very hard to find the right people.

“I want to build a team to take on new customers while firmly maintaining the quality service for existing clients. I understand the challenge because it’s a task I’ve faced before.”

aap³ president and chief executive Rod Jackson said: “We are delighted to have David on board. He brings talent, skills, experience and a proven track record. At aap³ we are very focused on getting the best people and David absolutely fits that bill.”

McCarthy’s arrival continues aap³’s continuing success story: this year it launched a second office in the US to provide a new HQ in North Carolina to complement its existing West Coast base in California. A new Birmingham branch in the UK has also opened.

The new offices have enabled aap³ to launch “follow the sun” client support giving round-the-clock professional assistance to customers worldwide, such as IBM, Polycom, Avis, Carnival, Cisco, HSBC and AT&T.