QUICKFIRE Q&A WITH…MARK KERR, REGIONAL BUSINESS MANAGER
Sales leader, keen photographer, and true advocate for the Hobart brand. Mark Kerr has many strings to his bow. Here, we discover why he finds his role so rewarding, talk about why, when it comes to his favourite Hobart kit, bigger is better, and uncover why in his local community he is not just ‘Mark’, but ‘The Otter Man’.
In one sentence, how would you summarise your role at Hobart?
It changes every five minutes! My role at Hobart is essentially to motivate, develop and inspire my sales team to deliver above market growth whilst managing the expectations of our distribution partners and key customers. It can be challenging but fun and really rewarding.
How long have you been in your role?
I have been in my latest role for a year, but I’ve been at Hobart for eight years in total.
Why do you love being a part of the Hobart team?
I think the team - watching them evolve and grow, delivering results and success collaboratively. It’s also representing a market leading brand with over 125 years of history. It’s a real privilege and I’ll always be proud of that.
What’s your favourite Hobart product and why?
I’d have to say the AUPT (twin hood machine). It does everything apart from make the tea! It’s a one stop shop for cleaning everything in the kitchen. You can put pots and pans through it, cutlery, crockery, and it does everything brilliantly. It's a super versatile piece of kit.
Tell us something about you that not many people know?
I really enjoy exercising and combining that with photography. And I'm really interested in wildlife as well, so I basically just wander around with my camera quite a bit. It's something I've taught myself to do. I’m known locally as the otter man because I'm the only person who can seemingly get really good photographs of the otters that we've got locally. I've set various kind of camera traps and I've got some amazing footage. There's a little family that lives nearby; you get to know their tracks and obviously they leave little piles of plop everywhere that you follow. A lot of it is down to planning, patience, and just good timing really.
The irony is I can be very impatient but I'm very different when it comes to wildlife.
What’s the best meal of your life, and why?
My 40th birthday. We were in the mountains in Spain. In a tiny cottage clinging to the side of a cliff. And the guys who owned it, one of them was a really good chef. He basically cooked for me that night and it was brilliant. We were just sitting outside looking over this beautiful valley, but it was like being at a five-star restaurant. The quality the food was excellent. It was a beautiful sunny evening and there was an eagle flying overhead. So peaceful.