The departure of John Acton from GeoPost/DPD was the main news amongst various job changes andappointments at leading express, parcel and postal companies, including DHL, FedEx, bpost and
Australia Post, last month.Acton resigned from his twin position as Executive Vice President of GeoPost, La Poste’s expressparcels subsidiary, and as DPD Managing Director, and will further pursue his career in the UK. TheBritish-born executive has worked in the parcel and express industry for 18 years and began workingfor DPD at Parceline in 1995. In 2004, he became Chief Marketing and Strategic Accounts Officer atDPD’s parent company GeoPost in Paris, and in 2008 became Executive Vice President of GeoPost.
DPD CEO Arnold Schroven, with whom Acton formed a two-man team at the head of DPD since 2008,commented: “We are extremely grateful for the enormous contribution John Acton has made to thedevelopment of DPD, in particular the international growth and the B2C strategy of the group aswell as significant success in developing the DPD brand.” He added: “We respect his decision toembrace new professional challenges and wish him all the best for the future.”
Meanwhile, FedEx Express has appointed Khoo Seng-Thiam as its new Managing Director inSingapore. Khoo will replace Clifton Chua who has been named new CFO at FedEx China. Khoo startedhis 20 years of working experience at FedEx as a coordinator for loading and unloading aircraft andwas quickly promoted to a managerial position. Since then, Khoo has held various responsiblepositions in the Asia-Pacific region.
DHL Supply Chain has named Jeroen van Oekel as the new Vice President Business Development inAsia Pacific for the Automotive, Engineering and Manufacturing Sectors. Van Oekel succeeds SuzieMitchell, who has moved on to the role of Country Manager for DHL Supply Chain Philippines, andreports to Senior Vice President David Christmas. Also at DHL, Vadim Sidoruk has been named new CEOof DHL Ukraine. He previously held the position of commercial director for the CIS andSouth-Eastern Europe.
Baudouin Meunier will leave bpost in late December after a career of 10 years at the Belgianpostal operator. Meunier, currently head of the Business Customers, Group Marketing &Regulatory department, has played a key role in the modernisation and development of the company.After Meunier leaves, CEO Johnny Thijs will act as his interim replacement until a successor isnamed.
John Stanhope has been appointed new Chairman at Australia Post. During his professional careerspanning more than 40 years, Stanhope has held a range of senior operational and financial roles –including as Chief Financial Officer at Telstra. He also served as an Executive Director on theBoard of Telstra between 2009 and 2011. Currently, Stanhope is also a Director of AGL EnergyLimited. Ahmed Fahour, Australia Post’s Managing Director and CEO, commented: “His vast expertisein the rapidly changing communications industry will equip him to guide Australia Post’s strategyand continue the transformation path set by our former Chairman David Mortimer.”
Daniel Baettig, former head of Swiss Post’s International Mail Business, has been appointed newCFO of logistics technology firm Interroll. Baettig started his career at Swiss Post Internationalas CFO for Group Finance in 1999.
