People

Andrew Parsons

Founder / Technical Consultant

Year Joined: 1992

Andrew has been allied to the industry for over 40 years, and following a hands-on grounding in general construction has for the last three decades focused his attention entirely on balustrades and balconies.

His passion for aesthetic, structural and technical detail regarding design has led to many of the innovative and creative solutions which Sapphire now offer the UK and Global market, and his enthusiasm toward continual development is an inspiration to all their employees.

Building on his practical background, he has been instrumental in developing an impressive test facility at Reading to gain a deeper understanding of the range of materials they work with and to provide backup evidence to verify complex structural and thermal calculations.

Andrew has now formally retired, however he now places a role as technical consultant and trusted advisor, together with his contribution to the BSI committee for balconies, gives testament to his technical expertise and specialist industry knowledge.

Angus Robertson

Contracts Manager

Year Joined: 2019

Angus became a design manager at our Reading head office in 2019. Before joining he had worked for a safety workwear and equipment supplier, which gave him a background of serving clients including Berkeley Group in the construction industry. Angus now works as a design manager, attending coordination meetings and working with site technical teams to be able to turn their key design intents into practical, safe balconies.

Anita Blackie

Executive Assistant

Year Joined: 2020

Anita joined Sapphire in 2020 to support the team with admin related tasks. She mainly works with the design team supporting them in the critical role of supporting with project progress and customer liason.

Carl Hext

Commercial Manager

Year Joined: 2019

Carl started his career as a professional tiler after studying building studies. He initially worked with one of the UK’s upmarket tiling brands before working for a high-end stone and tile brand where he then spent many years. In 2019 Carl joined our commercial team where he works with others to agree terms of our commercial contracts with customers.

Cassia Haughton

Marketing Assistant

Year Joined: 2016

Cassia joined Sapphire after she relocated to Berkshire in 2016. Her previous background was working for a construction product manufacturer where she worked as a receptionist and a marketing assistant. Cassia facilitates our internal newsletter and oversees the collation and judging of our monthly MOT (Moment Of Truth) scheme which recognises employees who have stretched beyond expectation to better a customer experience. She will be off most of 2019 on maternity leave.

Charlie Bailey

Digital Marketing Manager

Year Joined: 2022

Charlie started his career in construction working at a safety and site equipment supply company. Charlie joined our team in 2022 where he works within our marketing department. His role primarily focuses on our digital marketing, although Charlie has quickly risen to take responsibility for the content creation area of our marketing team where he coordinates marketing projects and oversees the creation of relevant and inspiring content to help inform and solve customers balconies issues.

Chris Goffin

Buyer

Year Joined: 2020

Chris joined our team in 2020 as a Buyer within the Supply Chain team. He will be working in close collaboration with the purchasing team to source materials for our balcony projects. He began his procurement career in 2016 working at Optima Systems as a Procurement and Sustainability Officer moving on to be an Estimator before joining the Sapphire family.

Chris Jermy

North American Site Operations Manager

Year Joined: 2014

Chris started his career as a sheet metalwork fabricator before becoming more involved in site-based installation of steelwork, balustrades and balconies. Chris worked for a number of specialist balustrade and balcony companies before joining our team in 2014. Chris now works with others internally to coordinate site requirements to ensure that balcony installs can be met with fulfilling deliveries and ensuring the correct Sapphire install equipment is on site when needed. Chris has numerous site qualifications and is one of our certified Appointed Persons as well as being SMSTS trained. Chris now lives in North America supporting our operations there and also supports the UK activity through his extensive knowledge and skill set

Clyde Henry

BDM

Year Joined: 2022

Clyde joined Sapphire in 2022 as a business development manager. Clyde came to Sapphire having worked in a different but related industry. He  energetically keeps in touch with our clients to assist them through their projects and handsover once the clients need a full quotation.