Area Sales Manager in South West

Are you an ambitious and driven sales professional with a proven track record in FMCG and wholesale? Kenny Recruit’s client is looking for an experienced Area Sales Manager to take ownership of an established sales territory, develop key customer relationships and drive further business growth.

This is an excellent opportunity for a commercially minded individual who enjoys being out in the field, building relationships with customers and identifying new business opportunities. You will manage a portfolio of independent cash and carry businesses, selling a range of products including lighters, glue and candles, while identifying opportunities to increase sales and maximise market share.

You'll inherit an established territory with long-standing customer relationships and receive a structured handover from the current Area Sales Manager, who is retiring after 12 years with the business.

Salary: £52,000 – £58,000 per annum + company car

Bonus: 15% bonus, heavily weighted towards bi-monthly payments based on achieving area sales targets, with a smaller annual performance-related element.

Location: 4 days on the road, 1 day at home – you must based in the South West of England, within reasonable proximity to South West London.

Key Responsibilities:

• Take ownership of an established sales territory, driving sales performance and achieving agreed budgets and commercial objectives.
• Manage and develop existing customer accounts, acting as the main point of contact and building strong, long-term relationships.
• Identify and secure new business opportunities through lead generation, networking and proactive cold calling.
• Develop relationships with independent cash and carry businesses, negotiating commercial terms and identifying opportunities to increase sales.
• Promote and sell a product portfolio including lighters, glue and candles.
• Plan and carry out regular customer visits, ensuring consistent coverage of the territory and effective account management.
• Spend approximately four days per week on the road visiting customers, with one day dedicated to administration and reporting from home.
• Manage commercial agreements, including customer rebates, promotional arrangements and trade show commitments.
• Coordinate promotional activities and ensure successful execution to maximise sales and brand visibility.
• Monitor daily sales performance, customer payments and any account-related issues, ensuring these are managed effectively.
• Identify opportunities to increase market share and improve product distribution across the territory.
• Provide regular sales updates, forecasts and performance reports to the Head of Sales.

Territory Coverage:

The role will cover a broad geographical area, including South West London / Southall, Cornwall, Wales, Southampton, Bristol, Croydon and North London (Enfield area).

There is a particularly strong customer presence around Southall, which will require approximately 6–8 days of customer visits per month. The successful candidate will therefore need to be comfortable with regular travel and managing a geographically diverse territory.

About You:

Essential

• Minimum 5 years' experience in a similar Area Sales Manager, Key Account Manager or Field Sales role.
• Strong negotiation skills and a successful track record of achieving sales targets and driving commercial growth.
• Confident in developing existing customer relationships while actively winning new business.
• Strong communication, relationship-building and influencing skills.
• Self-motivated, proactive and capable of managing your own territory independently.
• Comfortable with regular travel and spending the majority of the working week visiting customers.
• Basic Excel skills and good general IT literacy.

Desirable

• Experience within the tobacco, smoking accessories or lighter sector.
• Knowledge of FMCG categories such as confectionery and batteries.
• Experience managing promotional activity, customer rebates and trade agreements.

Next Steps…

Shortlisted candidates will obviously be contacted for this specific role and if you haven’t heard from us within a week, please assume you have been unsuccessful on this occasion. We'd love to give feedback to every applicant but due to the sheer volume of applications we receive, unfortunately this just isn't possible.

We will keep your CV on file to contact you with regards to future roles and any other advice to help you. Alternatively, feel free to contact us for a chat.