Rugged manufacturer Bullitt Group has announced the promotion of Nathan Vautier to CEO, and the appointment of industry veteran Nick Muir in Vautier’s former role of chief sales officer EMEA and APAC.
Vautier (pictured, left) joined Bullitt in 2018 from Brightstar. He takes the CEO role with immediate effect, reporting to the Bullitt Group board consisting of co-founders Dave Floyd, Colin Batt and Richard Wharton, and James Austin, investment director at Bullitt’s external investor, the Business Growth Fund.
Floyd, Batt and Wharton are stepping back from running Bullitt directly, which they have done since they bought the company back from private equity in March last year after its profits declined.
Their second stint at the company has seen it launch three new Cat smartphones in the last 12 months, as well as a second Land Rover branded device.
Commenting on his appointment, Vautier said: “Despite the global challenges, we have been growing our relevance and the important role rugged devices play in keeping our core industries connected. We have completely refreshed our portfolio within the last 12 months, completed with the two new additions in S42 and S62 Pro, the world’s best thermal imaging smartphone. Bullitt is an exciting company driving a differentiated segment of the market that I am very proud to lead with our talented team.”
Muir (pictured, right) joins Bullitt from French iPhone re-manufacturer Remade, which he helped launch in the UK earlier this year on a contract basis. He starts the role on November 2.
His extensive industry experience includes nine years at Motorola where he became general manager for the UK and Ireland, and co-founding affordable smartphone brand Wileyfox.
Muir told Mobile News his desire to attraction to the role stemmed from a previous collaboration with Vautier when Muir worked for Toshiba and Vautier was at Ericsson.
“I hear really good things about Bullitt, Nathan’s got a great reputation, and I rate Colin, Dave and Richard very highly,” he said.
