Barry Venter to take reins at Nashua from Mark Taylor

Nashua Group has appointed a long-time company executive, Barry Venter, as its new CEO, replacing Mark Taylor at the Reunert-owned technology provider.

Venter, who has been with Nashua for 22 years, started as a contractor, worked in the company’s warehouse, packed Sim cards and sold second-hand phones to dealers before working his way up into management roles, including as GM of operations and later as chief operating officer of Nashua Mobile.

TechCentral reported last August that Taylor would step down from the board of Reunert on 1 October 2019, where he served as an executive director, ahead of his planned retirement at Nashua and emigration from South Africa in 2020.

Taylor had a longstanding relationship with Reunert, having joined the group in 2003 as CEO of Nashua Mobile. He held that role for five years before joining Vodacom as managing executive of terminals and online & financial services between 2008 and 2012. He then returned to Reunert, again as CEO of Nashua Mobile, before being appointed as CEO of Nashua Group and an executive director on Reunert’s board in November 2013.

Venter said in a statement on Tuesday that the economic climate is “accelerating” because of Covid-19, and this presents opportunities for the group. “It’s transforming, and the market is shifting again. We need to be nimble enough to continue to stay relevant, keeping people safe but engaged.”

‘Well positioned’

“Nashua’s positioning is to continue to take care of the workplace for our customers – whether it’s an office or a home environment, from the front gate to the cloud. Our products and solutions are well positioned to assist companies especially during this time to enable them to work remotely.”

He said one of his key focuses will be launching new products to the market. “We’re launching phase one of Nashua’s alternate energy solution involving battery backup solutions and generators, part of the product stack in support of the office space. Energy supply is a challenge in South Africa and with our solution companies will have constant uptime to continue working.”  — © 2020 NewsCentral Media