People

Poland: Lafarge Poland has appointed Xavier Guesnu as the president of its management board. He succeeded Federico Tonettiego in March 2018. Tonettiego had held the role since 2014.

Guesnu has worked for LafargeHolcim for eight years. In 2010 he was responsible for Lafarge's strategy and development in global markets, acting as the Vice President for Strategy, Development, Acquisitions & Mergers. From 2013 he was the General Director of the aggregate business in eastern Canada. Previously he worked as a business consultant for Bain & Company. He is a graduate of Mines ParisTech engineering school in Paris, France.

US: Plibrico has appointed Norm Phelps as its new Vice President of Sales. Phelps will be responsible for aligning sales strategy and objectives with Plibrico's long term vision and corporate goals. He will be based in Atlanta, Georgia and will report to Plibrico president and chief executive officer Brad Taylor.

Phelps has worked in the refractory industry for 18 years, holding sales and marketing positions at Vesuvius and Zampell in the US. Later he moved to Europe to join Calderys as Global Market Manager responsible for the aluminum and boiler segments in 2011. In 2014, he took on the role of Business Development Manager, leading the Calderys expansion into North America, including the purchase and integration of Spar and the creation of Calderys USA. Most recently, he served as General Manager for Calderys North America.

Phelps holds a degree in Materials Science and Engineering from Pennsylvania State University and is a graduate of the Executive Development Program at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Switzerland: Thomas Schmidheiny has decided not to stand for re-election for the board of LafargeHolcim. In recognition of his years of service to LafargeHolcim and its predecessor company Holcim, the board of directors has decided to name Schmidheiny honorary chairman of the group. He will remain one of the group’s main shareholders. Fellow board member Bertrand Collomb has also decided to stand down.

“For almost 50 years Thomas Schmidheiny has made a significant contribution to the success of Holcim and later LafargeHolcim. He was instrumental in successfully expanding into promising growth markets and has made Holcim one of the leading companies in its industry. On behalf of the board and all employees I would like to thank Thomas Schmidheiny for his exceptional contribution to our company,” said Beat Hess, chairman of the board of LafargeHolcim. He also thanked Collomb for his contribution to Lafarge and then LafargeHolcim.

Schmidheiny began his career at Holcim in 1970. He became a member of the executive committee six years later and served as chief executive officer (CEO) between 1978 and 2001. After joining the board of directors in 1978 he was chairman of the board of directors from 1984 until 2003. Later, he was a key part of the merger between Holcim and Lafarge that completed in 2015.

Collomb joined Lafarge in 1975. After serving in different management positions, including Head of North American operations, he served as chairman and CEO of Lafarge from 1989 to 2003, as chairman until 2007 and then subsequently director until 2012. He was named honorary chairman of Lafarge in 2007 and joined LafargeHolcim’s Board in 2015. Collomb has also decided not to stand for re-election at the upcoming annual general meeting, in order to follow a customary age limit of 75 years.

All other current members of the board of directors will be proposed for re-election at the annual general meeting. This will include: Beat Hess; Oscar Fanjul; Paul Desmarais, Jr; Patrick Kron; Gérard Lamarche; Adrian Loader; Jürg Oleas; Nassef Sawiris; Hanne Birgitte Breinbjerg Sørensen; and Dieter Spälti. Following the election of the nominees the board of directors will drop in size to 10 members compared to 12 at present.

UK: Samson Materials Handling has appointed Karl Woodhouse as its sales director with effect from February 2018. Woodhouse’s career in materials handling started almost 27 years ago with B&W Mechanical Handling, which became Samson Materials Handling in 2013. Samson Materials Handling, a subsidiary of Aumund Group, sells products in the bulk materials handling sector.

Pakistan: Lt Gen Tariq Khan has been appointed as the chief executive and managing director of Fauji Fertilizer Company, the owner of Fauji Cement. He succeeds Lt Gen Shafqaat Ahmed.