Steve Johnson

Providing lift and escalator parts to the industry

Managed the full sales, business development, and account management responsibility across Europe and selected international markets for a specialist supplier of lift and escalator components. Key responsibilities and achievements: Developed and grew key accounts across multiple European countries, building strong relationships with major lift/escalator manufacturers, service providers, and facility managers. Delivered sales growth and margin performance in a highly competitive B2B industrial sector. Worked closely with technical and operations teams to provide tailored solutions and ensure high levels of customer satisfaction. Identified new market opportunities and successfully expanded the customer base in both existing and new territories. Managed the full sales cycle from lead generation through to negotiation, contract closing, and ongoing account management. This role further developed my strategic sales ability, international account management experience, and commercial acumen in a technical, relationship-driven industry.

Managed a portfolio of major Transport sector clients (National rail, London Underground) with full responsibility for relationship management, contract retention, and business growth. Key achievements: Built and maintained strong relationships with senior stakeholders across key Transport clients. Delivered consistent revenue growth and high customer satisfaction scores. Successfully negotiated and renewed major service and maintenance contracts. Worked closely with operations and technical teams to resolve complex issues and improve service delivery. Acted as the primary point of contact for strategic accounts, ensuring Schindler was positioned as a trusted long-term partner. This role strengthened my ability to manage large, complex accounts and deliver results in a highly demanding, safety-critical sector.

Led the national operations function for Schindler’s escalator business across the UK and Ireland. Full P&L responsibility for a multi-million-pound portfolio, managing service delivery, maintenance, modernisation, and breakdown response for hundreds of high-profile sites. Key achievements: Delivered consistent improvements in service quality, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency. Managed and developed a high-performing team of field engineers, supervisors, and support staff. Worked closely with major clients (retail, transport, commercial, and public sector) to strengthen relationships and secure long-term contracts. Drove cost control, margin improvement, and operational excellence in a highly competitive market. Played a key role in the successful delivery of complex repair projects and escalator refurbishments. This role strengthened my ability to manage large-scale operations, lead teams, and deliver both commercial results and excellent customer outcomes.

Responsibility for managing the strategic relationship with a major global financial institution who are amongst Schindler's largest customers with an annual turnover exceeding £4m and an established range of products across the UK and Ireland. Management and implementation of financial strategies to maintain and improve P&L, development of sales leads and direction of the relationship at all levels to enable Schindler organisation in focussing its delivery of operational performance. Self motivated, long term thinking with a focus on delivering exceptional customer service and a drive to develop the contract to ensure the relationship continues to thrive well into the future.

Formulation and direction of strategy for the hangar door division of Envirodoor Ltd and development of policy in relation to growth in the UK & Ireland as primary markets, and Scandinavia & Middle East also. Responsibility for communicating with new and existing customers, planning and organisation of new projects in relation to hangar door installations and direction & management of the installation teams involved including recruitment, assessment and training. Monitoring & reporting of sales leads & information to the board, general management responsibility of the division.

Responsible for developing, managing and implementing customer centric strategies linked to financial growth, operational stability and process improvement across a range of Key & National accounts in the FM, Retail and Financial sectors of lift & escalator business. Ownership & accountability of the client relationship at all levels was key to driving the success of the account and its development with the company. Development of sales leads to help drive orders from the sales teams, setting the direction of travel for the relationship with the client in future years, handling of customer complaints, management of operational deliverables and interaction with operations teams across the organisation both at senior and mid-low levels were a daily requirement. A challenging role in which I relished the fast pace of life.

Working in a fast moving production environment managing key accounts within the Games industry.