In The Seat | Marcus Williams, Global Sales and Marketing Director

Tell us about your role as Global Director of Sales and Marketing at Mirus…

I lead and support Mirus’ commercial and marketing teams to drive sales, increase profitability, deliver excellent customer service and through creative marketing build our brand awareness.

Responsible for all things commercial, we conduct detailed market analysis, identify new business opportunities and provide revenue forecasts.  We bookend the ‘new product development’ process, starting by ensuring that the customer is defining the beginnings of each new seat that our development team will work on.  We make sure our creative crew hold true to those guiding principles until it is certified at the end of the process and then it’s the sales teams responsibility to sell the seats to airlines and leasing companies.  By following this approach we know that the seats we are launching are designed to provide the solutions that airlines are looking for.  This is certainly a key factor in the significant traction we are currently getting in the market due to the reliability, durability and sustainability of our range of seats.

From a marketing perspective our goal is to tell the Mirus story and build our brand, which is essential being a smaller player in a market consisting of mostly huge corporations.  I’m delighted at how quickly and positively the Mirus brand and profile is growing.

You have a wealth of experience in sales, marketing and commercial growth strategies, tell us about this and how your journey led you to Mirus…

Although I’ve been in the aerospace industry for 25 years, I am new to the world of aircraft seating, having joined Mirus Aircraft Seating in April 2022.

My first role within aviation was actually as a buyer for a UK airline, but I quickly moved into sales after they dismantled a number of Airbus A300 aircraft and needed someone to re-market the components.  Many of the components I had personally removed during a stint at an airfield in central France where the aircraft were grounded!

From there I spent time in regional and sales management roles for GE Aviation and Crane Aerospace before taking a leap of faith in 2013 to join STG Aerospace.  At that time STG was a small, little-known manufacturer of aircraft emergency escape path systems and I was their 22nd employee!.  As part of the re-freshed executive team I helped to re-structure the company and drive the introduction of new technologies as they became established the world’s leading aircraft lighting company, employing 100+ people and displacing established major suppliers on many big airline and OEM aircraft programmes.

I’m passionate about supporting customers through excellent customer service, and I’m particularly proud that at the time of leaving STG, it was rated as Boeing’s top performing European supplier and its top interior supplier worldwide.

After enjoying an extended and restful sabbatical during COVID, I was itching to get back into the aviation industry. After a short spell with Ontic, Ben McGuire gave me the opportunity to join Mirus with the remit to create a team and build a plan to achieve its growth goals and vision.  Having worked in a similar business with the same growth ambitions to Mirus before, this was a challenge I couldn’t resist.  I know what it takes to succeed, what is good (and what isn’t!) and am able to share my experience with the team to steer us in the right direction, work together and to profitably grow.

Tell us about some of the standout moments so far with Mirus…

There have been a few…

Re-building and developing key relationships with customers such as Airbus has been one of the highlights. Since being Mirus its been great to see that we have moved our Airbus rating from D to A, and also the speed in which our new Kestrel economy seat was added to the Airbus BFE catalogue. This is testament to the level the whole Mirus team is performing now.

Another highlight is having the opportunity to put in place an exceptional commercial team, and seeing the quick growth of the Mirus brand and core values into the market.  I take great pride seeing how Mirus is now becoming established as one of small number of go-to suppliers for airlines launching some of the very biggest seating tenders. As a result of this Mirus are moving through the stages of down-selection at the expense of many of the more established suppliers in our sector.

I’m fully confident there are some major awards on the near horizon that will propel Mirus even further.  The fact that we have achieved so much so soon after our COVID re-set is testament to the quality and expertise of the Mirus team who are developing some of the best and most innovative aircraft seating solutions available.

What do you love about your job at Mirus…

The aircraft seating sector has been dominated by a small number of multi-national corporations, who turnover billions each year.  I get a kick out of being the underdog and take pride in seeing Mirus succeed by approaching things differently.  As a smaller company in terms of people and size, we use this approach as by playing to our strengths we can be more nimble and attentive to customer requirements than many of the companies around us, while providing airlines with a more personal and supportive service.  When we win, we do so on the value proposition Mirus offers rather than on being the lowest priced product.

That said having a contract and delivering seats to Airbus under one of the biggest airline seating programmes ever awarded, means Mirus is capable and experienced in delivering major projects as well. It’s this mix that keeps things interesting.  Customers and products are the centre of what Mirus is about, and for me that is an exciting way to be.

Outside and alongside Mirus what do you enjoy doing?

When I’m not thinking about aircraft seats, I’m taking my kids around various sporting or social events or exploring the Cotswolds with the family where we moved to during the pandemic. If time out involves a G&T or a cold beer in one of the numerous picturesque pubs we have in the beautiful landscapes here , then so much the better! My other passions are travel and British sports cars – I’m currently on my 3rd TVR. When I need to de-compress then I escape to the coast for a walk by the sea.