If you have a bucket list lurking somewhere in your possession with a couple of proudly ticked boxes, hide it now, because Colin Lee’s list of achievements will put you to shame.
He’s a former goldsmith, the holder of an advanced free fall qualification, an experienced scuba diver, a marathon runner, has hiked Fox’s Glazier in New Zealand, ridden a horse along the sandy beaches of Brazil, collected slopes across most of the Alps on both skis and a snowboard, and produced three incredible children – one son plays football for Stoke City’s youth team, the other is a gymnast at just seven and his daughter is an aspiring actress.
Oh, and he also happens to be running the watch division at Burton McCall with more than just a little finesse, with the past year throwing out some professional highs.
“After a number of successful years of growth, the UK achieved the prestigious accolade of making it into the top two markets globally for Mondaine SBB and Helvetica, and during our Victorinox Swiss Army conference in Basel the UK was awarded the global award for the successful launch and sell through for the new Inox watch,” says Lee.
“This is a massive reflection on the tenacity and professionalism of the whole UK team, a great business model and strategy put in place by the recently retired Derek Salter, and with the help of some fantastic product, of course.”
His third brand Luminox is also doing well, he says, and a new training and merchandising programme put in place over the past year has yielded some fantastic results.
“We are setting the standard very high for the future but recognition of this nature makes us aspire to exceed,” says Lee, who to add to our growing sense of inadequacy turns out to be a thoroughly pleasant personality. “We want to be considered by prestigious watch brands as an elite UK timepiece distributor whilst maintaining the label of professional nice guys. Business is so much better when done with a smile.”
