Kevin Cashmore has joined Hill’s Panel Products as its new national sales manager, reuniting him with deputy MD Gareth Evans for the third time in 25 years.
Discussing his career so far, Cashmore said: “Gareth and I first worked together at a timber and decorative products firm called FG Chambers in the late 90s to early 2000s, and then we went on to open a branch of a firm called Premier Forest Products, which was a timber merchants looking to get into decorative products.”
He continued: “We’ve kept in touch over the years as we became friends as well as colleagues. When Gareth told me about the job at HPP, he explained where the company is at, where it wants to go, and how he needed a like-minded person to come on board and support them in everything this incredible company is working to achieve.”
Cashmore joins the manufacturer and supplier from Blackheath Products, where he worked as a senior business development manager for the last decade. Going forward, he will be responsible for leading HPP’s nationwide network of area sales managers, in addition to the office-based sales team at its headquarters in Oldham.
Offering his assessment of the current state of the KBB industry, Cashmore added: “I think it is still in a difficult place. Covid had a massive impact in that four years’ worth of trade was squeezed into two-and-a-half years, giving a false sense of business. Since then, consumers haven’t spent as much, particularly because of the cost of living.
“That hits independent home showrooms, although the trade side, contractors, is doing much better because the large-scale projects are happening. I was at a trade merchants’ event earlier this year and the feeling was that the first half of 2025 would be tough, but the second half would pick up.”