Jeremy Hunter is the new head of Henkel Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) after heading its consumer adhesive business for three years.

With a heritage of over 30 years in Australia, Henkel A/NZ provides tailored solutions and products to a diverse range of industry sectors, drawing from the innovative capability and operational strength of a global presence spanning 125 countries.  Across the A/NZ region, Henkel operations are centered on the Adhesives, Sealants & Surface Treatment and Personal Care.

Bringing diverse global experience with time spent in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Europe and the Asia Pacific and combined with strong sales and marketing expertise, Jeremy Hunter is poised to lead Henkel A/NZ on a new growth phase. 

With over 20 years experience under his sleeve, Jeremy’s priority is to reengineer Henkel’s service offerings by adopting a collaborative approach to servicing customer through niche offerings rather than only being a supplier of products.

A strong ‘customer and employee’ comes first philosophy will be the core driver for Henkel AN/Z’s new President and Managing Director. “If you empower your employees and treat them well, they will look after your customers.  And, if you are looking after your customers than that will generate all sorts of returns notwithstanding shareholder value”, Mr. Hunter says.

He prides himself on being a manager that can deal both with people as well as the numbers.  “They are both intrinsically intertwined and having a-hands-on approach to people and customers means a value based proposition for all parties is always nearly assured. I try and create an environment where people can excel, I like to be part of a team, rather than distant myself”, he said.

Jeremy commenced his career working at Johnsons Wax.  He then joined Beecham Pharmaceuticals commencing in sales and soon graduated to lead sales training and was subsequently appointed Regional Sales Manager in the UK managing a team of eight. 

After five years at Beecham, Jeremy joined Coates Viyella, a multinational textiles company headquartered in the UK.  He was appointed as the Consumer and Sales Marketing Director as part of the company’s international team and was located in Portugal for 3.5 years. 

At Viyella, Jeremy’s international experience saw him appointed to head the Consumer and Sales Marketing in Turkey with emphasis on market expansion within Eastern Europe and the Middle East.  After 1.5 years he was then appointed to establish Viyella operations in Egypt aimed at creating the next hub to expand Viyella’s global textile outreach. Jeremy was responsible from driving the feasibility study to spearheading its establishment.  The experience of bridging east and western business cultures enriched Jeremy’s sales and management experience.

After 8 years at Viyella, Jeremy headed to New Zealand to become General Manager for Able Cook a leader in hardware and oversee 120 staff and two manufacturing plants.

After two years at Able Cook, Jeremy was headhunted to join iconic brand Sellotape with a mandate to turn around the business with a view to enhancing value for trade sale in three to five years.  At Sellotape, Jeremy efforts to understand customer idiosyncrasies and tap into the knowledge of its workers on the sh0p floor meant that business strategies were continually realigned to ensure that customer satisfaction was delivered and there was premium value attached to it.

After three years heading the Sellotape business, Henkel acquired its business and Jeremy was appointed to head Henkel consumer adhesives in New Zealand.  Henkel then acquired Australian based Cling and under Jeremy’s leadership the business flourished to take on a wider portfolio of consumer adhesives expanding from a $10 million value base to $19 million.

Born in the UK, Jeremy completed a degree in politics and history at Manchester University.  He is married with three children.