De Beers Group Auctions has announced the appointment of Alastair Bickerstaff as the Head of Product Development and Sales. “The new role, which was created following the departure of the Head of Sales and CRM, is an amalgamation of two instrumental elements of the business – Product Development and Sales,” the Company explained in its announcement statement.

On his part, Bickerstaff has said that he will work towards creating greater synergy between the two functions so as to better address the product needs of the Company’s customers.

“The products we sell and how we sell them are intrinsically linked,” expounded Bickerstaff. “Both must complement each other without exception. Only when industry-leading products are sold through an industry-leading platform will we truly be enabling our customers to have control and confidence in their purchasing.”

Working in tandem with an experienced 12-member sales team well-acquainted with the Company’s customers, Bickerstaff will also be leading the Product Development and Supply Teams, De Beers Group Auctions announced. “This will allow the correct products to be created and shipped through our technology-driven production facility in the Singapore headquarters,” the Company explained “With his appointment, De Beers Group Auctions becomes better placed to market their products in a more targeted way whilst ensuring customer feedback is acted upon by production in a much more responsive way than previously possible.”

Bickerstaff started at De Beers Group as a Trainee Diamond Valuer in London 14 years ago, and has experience working in rough diamond sorting departments and business units across various geographies, including London, Botswana, Belgium and South Africa.  Much of his career has been spent in the valuation of Large Stones and he was also a Technical Manager in Global Sightholder Sales (GSS) in Botswana where he was responsible for monitoring Sightholders global polishing factories and keeping up to date with current manufacturing processes and technologies.

“The time spent with polishing factory managers has given me great learnings and insight into the importance of building rough diamond products which are relevant and reactive to our customer’s needs,” Bickerstaff said. “This isn’t necessarily an easy task to achieve on the scale that we sell and the size of our customer base, however, we have a few new solutions to help us which we will be rolling out soon.”

Bickerstaff has been with Auctions (formally De Beers Auctions Sales Singapore PTE LTD.) since 2016 when he relocated from GSS in Botswana to Singapore to take up the role of Production Manager. He went on to become Head of Production where he streamlined operations and implemented technology solutions whilst working very closely with the Sales team and GSS. “Alastair played a significant role in reinstating market rough purchases to complement the De Beers mines intake and ensure that Auctions can now provide a more comprehensive supply offering for our customers,” the Company noted.

James Kirby, Senior Vice President of Auctions, commenting on the appointment said, “Digital transformation is underway in many industries to further enhance sales models, build stronger connections with customers and optimising production. Auctions on our end sees this as a great opportunity.”

He added: “Together with Alastair’s extensive product knowledge, customers can expect us to introduce more product- and service-oriented solutions in the very near future where we put technology to great use to better address their needs quicker than before.”