Displaying items by tag: People

Switzerland: Géraldine Picaud has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of LafargeHolcim and member of the Executive Committee with effect from 1 February 2018. She succeeds Ron Wirahadiraksa, who is described as leaving the company for ‘opportunities outside the group.’ He leaves after less than two years in the role.

Picaud, a French national, joins the group from Essilor International, an ophthalmic optics company, where she has been Group CFO and member of the Executive Committee since 2011. Prior to joining Essilor, she spent four years working for the ED&F Man group in Winterthur, Switzerland following 13 years as CFO at international specialty chemicals group, Safic Alcan. She originally trained as an auditor.

UK: Hanson Cement has made two senior appointments within its bulk division as part of the company’s drive to improve customer service. Phil Matthew has joined as field sales manager and John Doolan has been promoted to key account manager. Phil and John will work together to strengthen new and existing customer relationships, reporting to Mark Hickingbottom, national commercial director – bulk products.

Phil Matthew was previously at AB InBev, where he held account and sales management roles. He will manage a team of six district sales managers and carry out internal training sessions in order to enhance customer service.

John Doolan, who has 27 years’ experience in the construction industry, will work in conjunction with Hanson’s key account customers to set and deliver strategic plans.

Commenting on the appointments, Mark Hickingbottom, said, “Phil and John’s combined experience and knowledge of the company will allow them to place Hanson’s values at the core of their work, helping to deliver our goals of being the most customer focused, responsible and reliable construction products supplier in the UK.”

Canada: A man has died after falling nearly 10m from a catwalk at Lafarge Canada’s Beachville limestone quarry near Woodstock, Ontario on 23 August 2017. Walter Nuvoloni, 47, was a long-standing purchasing manager at the company. He had been in the position since 2001.

"This is a very difficult and tragic incident and we are deeply saddened at the loss of our colleague,” said Karine Cousineau, Lafarge spokesperson, in a statement. “Our thoughts are with our colleague's friends and family. Lafarge is providing the support of our employee assistance program to help co-workers cope with the loss." Cousineau added that Lafarge Canada would not be commenting further on Nuvoloni's death.

Police initially held the scene before turning over the investigation to the Ontario Ministry of Labour, which is investigating the death. Ontario Provincial Police Constable Stacey Culbert told local press that the ministry will re-contact police if the investigation deems any action to be criminal.

Dominican Republic: Colombian cement producer Cementos Argos has announced the appointment of Gary Manuel de la Rosa as its new Director General in the Dominican Republic. Previously, de la Rosa acted as a director of the industrial business unit at Cementos Argos in the Caribbean and Central American region.

Nigeria: Brian Egan has been appointed as an executive director to the board of Dangote Cement. Currently the company’s Chief Financial Officer, he has worked for the cement producer since 2014. Previous to this he worked as the executive director and chief financial officer of Petropavlovsk and of Aricom. He has also held senior finance positions at Gloria Jeans Corporation, Georgia – Pacific Ireland and Coca-Cola HBC-Russia. He trained with KPMG and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

Colombia: As of 1 March 2016, the current President of Cementos Argos, Jorge Mario Velasquez, will be the new President of the entire Argos group in Colombia.

Velasquez, born in Bogota in 1960, will replace the retiring Jose Alberto Velez. Velasquez joined Cementos Argos in 1984 and, on his way up within the company, has served as General Director of Cementos del Nare, President of Cementos Paz del Rio and Vice President of Logistics at Cementos Argos. He became the latter's President in June 2012. Velez has said that the main challenges awaiting Velasquez are the integration of Odinsa into Grupo Argos, the consolidation of Pactia (the property fund established with Conconcreto) and the expansion of Cementos Argos and Celsia.

India: UltraTech Cement Ltd has reported that the tenure of S Rajgopal, Independent Director of the company, ended upon the conclusion of the annual general meeting of the company held on 28 August 2015.

US: Ash Grove Cement Company has announced that James P Sunderland, former company chairman and president, died on 27 May 2015. Sunderland joined Ash Grove Lime and Portland Cement Company in 1957 as its corporate secretary in Kansas City. In his 43-year career at Ash Grove Cement, Sunderland held several leadership positions, including serving as the company's chairman and president. During Sunderland's tenure, Ash Grove Cement became one of the largest Portland cement producers in the US.

India: India Cements has appointed P L Subramanian as a non-executive director with immediate effect. Subramanian joined the company in 1986 and has served in various positions. He was serving as its executive director of operations and retired from service in May 2015.

US: FCT, the rotary kiln pyro-processing company, is pleased to announce that Adriano Greco has joined the team at FCT as Global Sales Director, based in the United States.

Mr Greco is known to many in the cement industry through his previous activities as Managing Director of Greco and as Sales Director for Gebr. Pfeiffer. FCT said that his experience and professionalism would be 'invaluable as FCT extends its reach to the markets across the globe.'

FCT already has operations in Australia, United States, Europe, Middle East and Canada and continues to expand with projects in every continent.