30.03.2020

New GM for Straightpoint

US hook block and rigging equipment manufacturer Crosby has appointed Thomas Dietvorst as general manager of its Straightpoint load monitoring division. He takes over from ex-owner, David Ayling, who has served as global business development director since the business was acquired by Straightpoint last year – see: Crosby appoints Straightpoint. Ayling will continue to work with the company as a long term consultant.

Dietvorst joined Crosby in 2018 as a product manager from transport related equipment company Comvoy, where he had been managing director since 2016. Last year he was appointed as strategic marketing manager for the Europe, Middle East & Africa region based in Belgium. He began his career in 2011 with Belgian design and innovation agency MaDe. After a period at business school he joined TE Connectivity in 2013 as a product manager, leaving for Comvoy two years later. Operating from Straightpoint’s headquarters and manufacturing facility in Hampshire, UK, Dietvorst will report to Crosby managing director for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Jason Colwell.
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Thomas Dietvorst

Dietvorst said: “There is no replacing someone who has lived the company for 20 years. I’m not trying to be the new Mr. Loadlink (Ayling’s blogging pseudonym). The new leadership role is suited to my skillset, not David’s, we are different, but very similar. I wouldn’t be equipped to do what he does and vice versa. Our priority is to retain Straightpoint’s ‘secret sauce’, which is based on being agile, mobile and customer orientated. We are looking at adding even more data and processes to the operation; there’s always room for improvement.”

Ayling added: “As I wrote in my final blog, an MBA without the DNA is useless, but Dietvorst brings the latter in spades. We couldn’t have found someone more suited to the role. Thomas can take the company in a direction that I wouldn’t have been able to as the owner of two decades. He sees things from an exciting, fresh perspective, which is great news for staff, distributors, end users and the entire Straightpoint community.”
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Thomas Dietvorst (L) and David Ayling