Vision and Ambition

ELEVATOR WORLD UK talks acquisitions, anniversaries and U.K. business with the new MD for Cibes Lift UK.

Cibes Lift Group, based in Gävle, Sweden, is a manufacturer and supplier of vertical platform Lifts in more than 50 countries, serving both public domains and residential homes, and the company is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2022.

Cibes Lift Group is present in the U.K. with Cibes Lift UK, based in Loughborough, and also has ownership of two well-established passenger lift businesses — Apex Lifts and Titan Elevators — both of which are London-based, serving the Southeast and surrounding home counties.

All of Cibes’ U.K. businesses are now managed by Reyaan Shepherd (RS), U.K. managing director (MD) for Cibes Lift UK, who joined the company on 3 January 2022, coming to the lift industry from one of the U.K.’s top retailers of bathroom equipment with a wealth of experience in sales, marketing and business development. Your author (LF) recently had the chance to interview Shepherd about his time in the role so far and what to look for in the future.

LF: Give me a little information on your educational as well as employment background/experience.

RS: Although I am still relatively early on in my career, I have been fortunate to have worked in various B2B and B2C commercially focused roles in £50-100m small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with progressive, developmental cultures often backed by private equity or private ownership.

Having left school with a keen interest in business, I decided to jump directly into a professional environment and forge my career. I joined a business called Aqualisa, a market-leading U.K. manufacturer of digital or “smart” showers, initially working on the technical sales desk. Over the course of 10 years there, I progressed through to hold virtually every role within sales, including the position of Commercial & Field Sales director during my last three years with the organisation, prior to leaving in 2018. I then joined Bathroom Brands Group, heading up the U.K. division and managing Business Development for the group. 

I have been really encouraged by the incredible level of knowledge and passion of the people in this industry. Maybe one surprise is how literally everyone seems to know each other!

LF: How/why, then, did you decide to make the jump to the lift industry?

RS: The short answer to this question would be because of Cibes Lift Group! I had a great time working in the bathroom product/retail industry, but as soon as I met with the team at Cibes, I was ignited by the vision, ambition and track record of the business. Cibes is a business that isn’t just trying to grab market share, but is also trying (and succeeding in!) growing the vertical platform lift market whilst remaining customer centric.

The moment I met with the Cibes team I knew this was a company I wanted to work for. There is great vision and ambition, but with a real underlying collaborative and developmental culture focused on the business’ colleagues and customers — businesses often say this, but Cibes absolutely walks the talk here. We run a completely decentralized model which gives each territory the autonomy to shape their organisation in an optimal way for their respective markets; however, there is a fantastic global support network surrounding the organisation.

LF: Now that you have a few months under your feet in the role, has anything surprised you about the company or the lift industry as a whole? What would you say you have learned about either/or and/or both in this time?

RS: It’s still relatively early days, and I’m learning every single day! I don’t think there have been any surprises as such, but I have been really encouraged by the incredible level of knowledge and passion of the people in this industry. Maybe one surprise is how literally everyone seems to know each other!

LF: What does your role as MD for Cibes look like day to day and big picture? How did/does your experience prepare you for this role?

RS: In my role, I am responsible for all Cibes-owned U.K. entities: that means Cibes Lift UK, Apex Lifts and Titan Elevators. Each of these businesses have great people at their core, possessing more knowledge about the lift industry than I could ever hope to learn. I truly believe that a team is greater than the sum of its parts and that you don’t have great people on your team to then tell them what to do!

So really, as a result, my day-to-day role is to support the management teams, encouraging and facilitating collaboration. From a big picture perspective, I help to set the direction, but really, I just use the experiences that I have gained from different companies and markets to help provoke thinking for positive change — the team have the answers. I just help us ask the right questions!

Each business is highly successful in its own right, but where there are opportunities for us to improve, work collaboratively and be stronger, then we have the support and agility to do so.

LF: Tell me about acquiring Apex Lifts, in addition to previously acquiring Titan Elevators? What are the benefits? What changes have these companies faced?

RS: We see Apex Lifts and Titan Elevators as important acquisitions in the journey to become a significant player in both the passenger and vertical platform lift market in the U.K. In terms of changes, there really isn’t a blueprint for this; nothing necessarily needs to change! Each business is highly successful in its own right, but where there are opportunities for us to improve, work collaboratively and be stronger, then we have the support and agility to do so.

LF: What sets Cibes apart or makes you unique? Any new or upcoming projects/products you are looking forward to?

RS: Cibes Lift Group’s mission is “Bringing People Together,”  which rings true in terms of our product offering through innovation, service, customer centricity, our people and our culture — this is a company that is absolutely true to its vision.

LF: What are your short- and long-term goals for yourself in the MD role? What are your short- and long-term goals for Cibes as you move further into this role? Are there plans for more acquisitions?

RS: Right now, the focus across all three businesses is building on the strong foundation we have and working to be stronger together to offer the best possible service and products to our customers. Regarding further acquisitions, we are always open to assessing exciting opportunities, but we’re also very happy (and busy!) with our current U.K. group.

LF: Anything important to your story or to know about Cibes that I did not ask? 

RS: With Cibes Lift Group celebrating its 75th year in business this year, Titan Elevators celebrating its 25th and Apex Lifts having recently exceeded its golden anniversary, it highlights the strength of the foundation on which we have built. The future is very bright!