Ariens has clarified a number of personnel changes following the recent resignation of David Sturges who held the roles of Vice President of Ariens International and Managing Director of Countax Limited. They are:

John Horn who has been appointed ‘Vice President of Global Sales’ and will assume responsibility for the European sales team. John was previously interim Managing Director of Countax in 2010. During this time, John built strong relationships with the UK dealer network and developed an understanding of the UK garden machinery market.

A 'Brit', John Horn studied  Manufacturing  Engineering at Brighton College of Technology before moving to North America where he gained an MBA in Business Management at the University of Toronto He then worked at Atlas Copco, Chicago Pneumatic Tools and Snap-On tools before joining Ariens in 2010

Lasse Jonassen has been appointed Managing Director of Ariens Europe. Lasse will assume responsibility for the sales, customer service, distribution and marketing communications for Ariens UK (Countax Ltd). Lasse will also take over the day-to-day management of Ariens UK and continue the management of Ariens Scandinavia. Lasse will report to John Horn.

Lasse was managing director of family-owned distributor, Sovde based at Rygge, Norway when the company was acquired by Ariens in 2011.  Previously, Sovde had been the Ariens distributor in Norway and subsequently expanded into Sweden.

Francisco Henriquez will continue as Director of Countax Operations and will work together with Lasse Jonassen and the local management team to drive product innovation and further efficiencies in manufacturing and engineering.

Ariens Company say it believe that the new structure will re-focus the business on the individual requirements of each country they sell to.