TNT, Hermes, Yodel, La Poste, Singapore Post and Russian Post have made senior managerial appointments during July.
At TNT UK (International), Tony Jakobsen has been appointed as the new Managing Director for the UK’s and Ireland’s international business with immediate effect. Starting out at TNT as a driver, he has worked in a variety of roles within the company over the last 27 years, including a number of key senior positions. These include the role of Business Development Director, Domestics and Managing Director in Italy where he demonstrated remarkable transformational leadership in turning around the business performance in Italy and implementing the Outlook strategy.
In his new role, Jakobsen will be focusing on the continued implementation of TNT’s Outlook strategy and driving profitable growth across the UK and Ireland international business.
Commenting on his appointment, he said: “I’m delighted to be joining the UK international business at such a key time. A number of significant investments have been made over the last six months such as the guaranteed pre 12:00 delivery service to all zip codes in Germany, a daily, scheduled road service to Istanbul and the introduction of first call resolution within the customer services environment. I look forward to building on these successes and growing the business in the second half of the year.”
In Thailand, Gina Galvin has been appointed as Managing Director of TNT Express Worldwide, with plans “to drive Thailand to become the regional logistics hub of ASEAN through TNT’s Asia Road Network”. Prior to this appointment, Irish-born Galvin was the Managing Director of TNT Express Worldwide Philippines and has worked for TNT for over 20 years in various countries.
At Hermes UK, Martijn de Lange has been promoted to Chief Operating Officer (COO) from his previous role as Operations Director. Hermes said the new appointment “recognises the increased size, breadth and complexity of the operations leadership role at Hermes”, which has grown over 15% each year for the last five years and now delivers more than 240 million parcels per year. Having joined Hermes UK in 2013, de Lange has more than 13 years of experience in the logistics industry and had previously worked for TNT Post in both the Netherlands and the UK.
Carole Woodhead, CEO Hermes UK, said: “Martijn has taken the operation on a revolutionary journey since he joined Hermes just over two years ago, using his passion and energy to drive positive change and results, and challenging the culture of our organisation. This is a well-earned opportunity for Martijn and recognises the outstanding impact and influence that he has personally had in driving the business forward, particularly with substantial cost, service offer and quality improvements.”
Also in the UK, Neil Lloyd, the CEO of Yodel, has stepped down from his post, in which he worked for two and a half years, after the company missed its self-set target of delivering a profit in its most recently published financial year and posted a pre-tax loss of £73 million. Until a successor is found, Keith Basnett, Yodel's chief operations officer, will be acting as the current interim joint CEO.
Meanwhile, Yodel has appointed Mark Horrobin to the newly created role of Peak Programme Director to strengthen and oversee the planning and execution of this year’s Christmas peak, when parcel volumes from Yodel’s retail clients increase dramatically boosted online sales. Horrobin will report directly to Basnett. With extensive senior commercial and operating experience in challenging consumer and business markets, he has previously worked in the retail, transport and technology sectors.
The appointment is the latest in a series of Yodel’s Christmas peak preparations including investments in new sites, fleet, technology and training as well as consumer research, which recently revealed a 375% increase in the number of shoppers planning to take part in this year’s Black Friday promotions.
At La Poste, the Group’s Chairman and CEO Philippe Wahl announced several changes on its Executive Committee with effect from September. Marc-André Feffer, Group Executive Vice President in charge of strategy, innovation, international development and legal affairs and regulations has decided to retire on 1 September after working for the postal operator for the past 11 years.
Nicolas Routier, who has been La Poste Group Executive Vice President in charge of the Services-Mail-Parcels Business Unit since April 2009, will be appointed Executive Vice President, responsible for corporate strategy and regulatory affairs. Philippe Dorge will take over Routier’s previous position. Yves Brassart, Group Executive Vice President in charge of Finance, will be appointed Group Executive Vice President in charge of Finance and development.
At Singapore Post, Daniel Phua (41) resigned from his post as Group Chief Financial Officer to pursue other career aspirations. He was responsible for financial reporting, taxation, risk management and treasury functions of the SingPost Group.
At Russian Post, Vyacheslav Bocharov has been appointed as the First Deputy General Director, responsible for operations and increasing the efficiency of the company’s branch network, with effect from July.
