Dubai-based Graham Lay will leverage customer relationships, industry knowledge to drive new business and strengthen brand visibility across the region.
Gates Air, a leader in wireless, over-the-air content delivery solutions for TV and radio, continues to strengthen its global presence with the appointment of Graham Lay as Regional Sales Manager, MEA (Middle East and Africa), effective immediately. Based in Dubai, Lay reports to Andy McClelland, Managing Director, EMEA, with a focus on building GatesAir’s market share and brand visibility in the Middle East and eastern Africa.
Lay comes to GatesAir with more than a decade of sales and account management experience in the broadcast and communications industry. He spent most of this time with electrical cable distribution company IEWC, where he consistently took on roles of increasing responsibility. Lay was instrumental in the launch and growth of IEWC’s broadcast and communications business in Europe. He relocated to Dubai in 2015, taking on the role of Business Unit Leader, MEA for Argosy Cable, part of the IEWC group of companies.
Lay’s years of in-region experience with IEWC and Argosy well-positions him for success with GatesAir. He has established strong business contacts with broadcasters and systems integrators throughout the region, possessing a customer-friendly mix of relationship skills and technical knowledge. Lay is already building a foundation for new business, and is especially bullish on digital transition opportunities. He notes that GatesAir is an established brand in his region, with a ripe-for-growth transmission presence in most countries.
“GatesAir has built a reputation for expertly managing high-volume business opportunities and many of the world’s largest digital transition projects,” said Lay. “Their recent establishment of a new business and manufacturing center in Europe, and aggressive sales and business development expansion, has magnified GatesAir’s presence throughout the EMEA region. I look forward to working with the greater EMEA team to strengthen our brand in the Middle East and eastern Africa. We see enormous opportunity to help broadcasters refresh FM radio infrastructure, and drive large, national digital TV and DAB radio transitions that generate new revenue and service opportunities for our customers.”
Lay expects to fortify GatesAir’s regional service and support presence through expansion of its channel partner network, in addition to working directly with customers to solve problems, reduce operational costs, and create new opportunities. This includes helping broadcasters transition from legacy TDM networks to intelligent IP transport architectures, leveraging GatesAir’s quickly-growing Intraplex product line.
“Graham has invested a substantial amount of time and effort in building his customer base, and his knowledge of regional trends and cultures makes him a perfect fit in this new role,” said Rich Redmond, President and Managing Director, International for GatesAir. “In the bigger picture, Graham’s appointment represents GatesAir’s continued commitment to strengthening our local and regional teams in every international region, and positioning the company for long-term global success. We’re proud to welcome Graham to the GatesAir family.”
