Jim Kalotheos has been promoted to the role of managing director of Beko Australia and New Zealand taking over from John Brown who has announced his retirement.
Kalotheos will take over in the role from 1 April and Brown will retire on 30 April. Staff were notified of the announcement yesterday.
The announcement was welcomed by Zafer Ustuner, the CEO of Arçelik Hitachi Asia Pacific.
“Jim joined us three years ago as Sales and Marketing Director and has worked closely with John bringing on the Hitachi brand, broadening distribution and growing Beko,” Ustuner said.
“His previous experience as Managing Director with Smeg, and his deep knowledge of the products and local retail marketplace, has made Jim the obvious person in our succession plan for the business.
“His sales and marketing expertise bring exactly the right leadership strengths for the next phase of development for Beko and Hitachi across the Australian and New Zealand markets,” Ustuner said.
“I would also like to express my thanks to John, who has worked tirelessly over the last eight years to build a strong, capable, professional and resilient team at Beko that will support Jim’s leadership taking the business forward.”
Brown commenced in the role in early 2017, following the retirement of Murray Lin.
Prior to joining Beko, Brown was the managing director of Electrolux Home Products in Australia between 2008 and 2015 including a 12 month assignment as CEO of Electrolux China.
During his time in the role, Brown managed the transition of Hitachi major appliances into the local Beko business in 2023.