Industry professionals are on the move with Tom Madams from Cryer Malt making the switch to a sales role at Konvoy.

After 15 years with the distilling and brewing industry supplier Cryer Malt, Madams is moving to keg rental startup Konvoy, launched by Adam Trippe-Smith last year.

At the same time, Steph Howard, whose role covers marketing for both the Cryer Malt and Barrett Burston brands, has been promoted to the position of marketing and sales support manager, adding sales responsibilities onto her existing role.

General founder David Cryer said Howard had “considerable experience” and he was excited to be working with her more closely, but that he would be sad to see Madams go.

“15 years is a long time in anyone’s book and we’ve done a lot together in that time. I’m excited for Tom, change is good and the time is right, the opportunity will be good and it’s a change for us, but Tom has left us in good shape.

“I wish Tom well, he’s done a hell of a lot for us.”

Bringing Madams on board

Madams is expected to join the Konvoy team from 1st June.

Adam Trippe-Smith, founder of Konvoy, said he had known Tom “forever” and with Konvoy beginning to expand its team and operations, Madams seemed a perfect fit.

“He’s just someone who knows the industry inside and out, and his customers love him and that’s genuine,” Trippe-Smith explained.

“That’s great for us, it’s a unique opportunity for us to add an amazing resource with David [Cryer]’s blessing which was important to me, and a big thank you to David for that.”

He said that Konvoy is “poised and ready to go” as soon as the COVID-19 restrictions on venues begin to lift.

“We’re just sitting patiently waiting for pubs to reopen and breweries can start ordering kegs. It won’t be a big bang, it will be phased but plenty of breweries and anyone exposed to it are in the same boat.

“We’re still at the start of our life and we’ve got a large competitor owned by a big global behemoth so we’ve had to compete on our own merits, so having someone like Tom that respects and looks after customers and puts them first is important.

“He will be a key part of our strategy and complement Nick very well. We’re excited and we know he’ll hit the ground running.”

Howard’s Cryer Malt promotion

Steph Howard said she started her career at Cryer in 2015 and is excited to take on her additional sales duties, taken over from Madams.

“I’m definitely going to miss Tom. I know Adam and the whole team well there, we’re really pleased that out of any company it could have been, it was them,” she said.

She brings her five years of experience in the industry to the newly-developed Cryer Malt role, having been described as a “driving force” in helping the business grow.

“We have basically combined Tom’s role and my role and I’m very excited to get started. I’m lucky that I have a lot of good relationships in the industry from my marketing role, but it will definitely be a change as I’ll be able to support the sales team as well as marketing.

“Both the departments have so many complementary aspects, they support each other and it works both ways.”

General manager David Cryer said Howard is a great fit in the business and will continue to help grow it going forward.

“In my career a lot of people say this to me that I see the marketing opportunities, so I’ve structured our business around that. If you’re just selling products it’s not easy. You’ve got to tell a story so marketing and sales go hand in hand. Steph understands that completely.

“I’ve got a good sales background and she’s got a strong marketing background and we can help each other out a lot.

“It’s exciting to meet people with a good trajectory ahead of them and she’s one of them.”