New Zealand: Fletcher Building has appointed Thornton Williams as CEO of its Concrete division. Williams has served as acting CEO of the division since 29 March 2024. The group noted Williams’ ‘significant’ leadership role in driving culture, customer satisfaction and sustainability. He has also been its chief financial officer (CFO) from 2021, before which he was group general manager, treasury and risk. He previously worked in dealer roles at Australia-based banking group ANZ and the Bank of New Zealand. Williams holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Incoming group CEO and managing director Andrew Reding said "Thornton brings to the role a deep understanding of the commercial drivers of the Concrete business and the competitive landscape. He is therefore well-positioned to lead this high-performing division, not only as Fletcher Building navigates the current challenging trading conditions but also as economic conditions start to improve and opportunities for profitable and sustainable growth emerge.” Reding added “I look forward to working closely with Thornton and the Fletcher Building executive team when I formally commence my role on 30 September 2024. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank acting CEO Nick Traber for his support and commitment in enabling an orderly and smooth handover of the CEO role.”

US: Ireland-based Ecocem has appointed Mike Donovan as Technical Director for its US business operations. He will be responsible for overseeing key aspects of Ecocem’s business in the US, with a focus on widespread commercial adoption of the company’s low-carbon cement technologies, including ACT, by the US market.

Donovan most recently developed and brought a new natural pozzolan to market with Geofortis. He started his career in concrete in the 1980s working at companies including as Sherman Industries, Blue Circle Cement Tarmac and Central Concrete Supply (US Concrete). He is a graduate in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Argentina/Mexico/Spain: Holcim has appointed Pablo Bittar as the Country CEO of Argentina, Christian Dedeu as the Country CEO of Mexico and Ricardo de Pablos as the Country CEO of Spain. Dedeu succeeds Jaime Hill, who has become Region Head North America. Bittar succeeds Dedeu. De Pablos succeeds Carmen Díaz, who has been appointed as the Chief People Officer in Holcim Group.

Dedeu previously worked as the CEO for Holcim Argentina from 2020. Before this he was the Commercial Director for the company in the country. He originally started working for Holcim in Argentina in 2007 before moving to Holcim Costa Rica in 2016 where he eventually became Commercial Director (Central America). Earlier in his career he worked for ExxonMobil in Argentina from the late 1990s. He is a graduate from the University of El Salvador in Buenos Aires and holds a Master in Business Administration from the IAE Business School.

Bittar worked for Holcim Argentina from late 1990s until 2012, eventually becoming a Procurement Officer. He then worked for Holcim in Ecuador and Colombia becoming the Head of Supply Chain Latin America in 2023. Bittar is an qualified accountant from the National University of Córdoba with a master’s degree in business administration from the same institution.

De Pablos joined Holcim in 2005. He became Regional Director Aggregates in Spain in 2009, Director Mediterranean Area in Spain in 2012, Export Director in 2016 and Director of Business Development and Exports in 2022. Prior to working for Holcim he was a Senior Consultant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. De Pablos holds a degree in industrial engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and an executive degree in business administration from the IE Business School.

US: Eriez has appointed Todd Loudin as its Vice President of Global Sales.

Loudin holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing and business from Kent State University and an Executive Master in Business Administration from Loyola University Maryland. He worked as a General Manager for Larox in the 1990s and was on the Standards Committee for the International Society of Automation (ISA ANSI) in the 2000s and early 2010s. Later he became the head of Neles’ USA Flowrox business and its Head of Sales for the Americas in 2021.

Eriez is a specialises in separation technologies. It supplies products to the mining, food, recycling, packaging, aggregate sectors, and other processing industries. The company was established in in 1942 and has its headquarters in Erie, Pennsylvania.