JF Hillebrand Group has appointed Christophe Bernard chief executive officer. He takes over from Gerard Desbois who will now join the supervisory board on 1st January.
The group, which is based in Mainz in Germany, operates two key brands: beverage specialist JF Hillebrand and Trans Ocean in the industrial bulk market. The group has operations in 83 countries worldwide and will report revenues of over €1billion in 2013.
Bernard joined JF Hillebrand in 1983 and has been an executive board member for the past sixteen years. During his time with the company, he has been stationed in France, Australia and the USA, and is currently based in Singapore.
He said: “I will make sure that we remain true to the values and spirit which have made this company such a success, and also that we build on our successes and take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead.”
The group has also made other changes at executive board level, with the appointments of Pierre Benichou as deputy CEO, Gavin Herman as chief operating officer, Leendert Vis as chief information officer, and Pierre Bonel as chief commercial officer. Kevin Brock remains chief financial officer.
