About Steve
Steve Wesley is Head of Sales at Ciqurix and has been with the business for seven years.
Sales has pretty much always been Steve’s thing. His career started in insurance and financial services before taking him into a fairly varied mix of industries – from high-spec glazing projects and luxury hot tubs and swim spas, through to whisky investment and, ultimately, fire detection.
That varied background has given Steve a slightly different perspective on sales. Rather than simply selling a product, his approach has always been about understanding the customer, spotting the opportunity and making sometimes complicated products or ideas easy to understand.
Today, he heads up sales at Ciqurix, working with distributors, partners, consultants and end users to grow the understanding and adoption of compliant video flame detection across the UK and internationally.
Areas of Expertise
Sales & Business Development – More than anything else, Steve is a salesperson. He has spent his career developing opportunities, building relationships and finding ways to take products into new customers and markets.
Partner & Distributor Development – A major part of Steve’s role at Ciqurix has been building and developing the company’s route to market. He has helped bring some of the most recognised names in the UK fire and security industry into the Ciqurix Partner Programme, creating a strong network of integrators capable of delivering compliant VFD projects across the country.
Specification & Consultant Engagement – Increasingly focused on getting Ciqurix involved much earlier in projects, working with consultants, end users, insurers and other stakeholders to have compliant VFD considered and specified from the outset.
Video Flame Detection & System Design – After seven years with Ciqurix, Steve has built up considerable knowledge of VFD, particularly around where the technology fits and the challenging environments where more traditional forms of detection can struggle. A key part of this is understanding the customer’s needs and working with them on system designs to provide a suitable detection outcome, rather than simply supplying a product.
Training & CPD – Regularly delivers CPDs, webinars and partner training, helping to make VFD, LPS 1976 and the wider compliance landscape easier to understand.
Experience
Steve’s career has always revolved around sales, although the products along the way have been anything but predictable.
Starting out in insurance and financial services, he went on to work across several very different markets, including high-specification glazing projects and luxury hot tubs and swim spas.
He also launched an international whisky investment platform focused on emerging and New World whisky distilleries. During that time, Steve was part of the team behind The Intrepid – a 311-litre bottle of 32-year-old Macallan which became the largest bottle of Scotch whisky in the world.
It might seem a long way from whisky and hot tubs to fire detection, but the common theme has always been selling products that need a little more explanation than something you simply pick off a shelf. Understanding what matters to the customer, communicating the value clearly and building the right relationships have been central throughout.
Steve joined Ciqurix seven years ago and has since played a key role in developing the company’s sales channels, partner network and wider commercial approach.
Expertise at Ciqurix
Steve heads up sales at Ciqurix, but a big part of the role is simply getting people to understand where video flame detection fits.
VFD is still unfamiliar to many people within the fire industry, so much of Steve’s time is spent working with consultants, partners and end users to understand the problems they are trying to solve and whether Ciqurix is the right solution.
That means understanding the customer’s environment, the risks they are looking to protect against and the detection outcome they need. Steve works closely with customers and the Ciqurix technical team on system designs, helping to turn those requirements into a practical VFD solution rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.
That can mean anything from a warehouse with very high ceilings or a freezing cold store, to a waste facility, outdoor application or industrial environment where more conventional forms of smoke or heat detection can present practical challenges.
A major focus during his time at Ciqurix has also been developing the company’s route to market. Steve has helped build relationships with key distributors and has brought some of the most recognised fire and security integrators in the UK into the Ciqurix Partner Programme.
He also leads much of Ciqurix’s partner development and commercial training, regularly delivering CPDs, webinars and hands-on sessions covering video flame detection, LPS 1976 and the Ciqurix CORE System.
More recently, a growing focus has been getting Ciqurix involved earlier in projects. By working directly with consultants, insurers, risk professionals and end users at specification stage, Ciqurix can help establish the right detection approach before a project reaches an installer.
This not only helps increase the understanding and adoption of compliant VFD, but also creates opportunities that can ultimately be delivered through Ciqurix’s distribution and partner network.
Articles & Technical Insights by Steve Wesley
Steve regularly contributes to Ciqurix CPDs, webinars and technical content around video flame detection, LPS 1976 and the application of VFD in challenging environments.