With more than 20 years of managerial experience in the heavy equipment and mining industries across Europe, West Africa, and Central Asia, George comes with an impressive track record of sales success.
Apostolopoulos joined Robit, the Finland-headquartered global market serving drilling consumables business for applications in quarrying, mining, construction and contracting, tunnelling and well drilling, at the start of December 2020.
Speaking to the company's customer magazine, he says: "I wanted to have a global, more strategic role. I had met Tommi (Lehtonen, Robit CEO) in Ghana, a few months before he took the CEO role on. I guess we appreciated each other, and the timing just became right!
"Furthermore, Robit's approach was professional, solid, and speedy. I sensed a dynamism that intrigued me. I must say that I'm very excited for this opportunity and also keen to be based in Tampere and get to know the Finnish people and culture."
In response to being asked about his key goals as Robit vice president for Global Sales, Apostolopoulos says: "We definitely want to maintain a certain momentum that already exists. We do have a strategic target to be growing 15% per year at a minimum, and this is a realistic goal! In other words, gain market share through expanding our distributors' network."
Apostolopoulos describes his leadership style as giving space to his team, while encouraging initiatives, allowing for mistakes, and preferring to build relations based on trust. He calls this "liberal" leadership. He adds: "At the same time, I expect commitment, professionalism, and results. If 'common sense' exists, then I want it!"
Commenting on Robit's priority growth markets for 2021 and beyond, he says: "Obviously, there are priority markets where we could do a lot more than we currently do. Kazakhstan, Ukraine, West Africa, North America, Australia, to name a few.
"The mining industry, except for a couple of months as well as some countries that were hit hard by the pandemic, has shown extreme resilience. Similarly, the construction sector did not perform badly. Overall, given the unprecedented circumstances, the situation is good, and I'm optimistic that it will improve fast in 2021.
"The biggest challenge going forward is uncertainty, and it will be the new norm; therefore, companies, industries, and economies must learn to live with it and become more agile than ever."
