Omron appoints European VP of Sales

At the same time, Nigel Blakeway has been given the position of Chief Operating Officer of its Americas region alongside his existing responsibility of COO Europe. Commenting on the appointments, Soichi Yukawa, President of Omron's Electronic Components Business, said, “Mark has a wealth of experience in sales and marketing positions within Omron's Electronic Components and Industrial Automation businesses. I believe that the OCB-EU team will benefit greatly from his input." At the same time, Nigel Blakeway has been given the position of Chief Operating Officer of its Americas region alongside his existing responsibility of COO Europe. Soichi Yukawa added, “Nigel has demonstrated outstanding leadership in his management of our European organisation, and we are excited that he is now able to extend this to our Americas business." Mark Jones has spent 26 years at Omron, including 18 years with its Industrial Automation Business (IAB). Jones was promoted from the position of Omron IAB Electronics Sales Manager in Africa. Previous positions include General Manager for France, and European Distribution Manager. Nigel Blakeway joined Omron as Chief Operating Officer (COO) for its Electronic Components Business in Europe in May 2003, taking responsibility for the sales and marketing activities of the business throughout Europe. He joined Omron from BC Components Inc, which was divested from Philips Components. Blakeway's positions there included Vice President responsible for America Region including manufacturing, logistics and sales operations. Previously he was at Panasonic Industrial for eleven years, occupying sales and general management positions in Europe and Japan.