A new leadership team at Euratex with an ambitious agenda
With the announcement of a new President and Director General, EURATEX prepares itself to promote and defend the European apparel and textile industry in the years to come.
The appointed EURATEX President Alberto Paccanelli (IT) has a clear vision for the future of the organisation: working together with EU institutions, European and international stakeholders, EURATEX will continue to focus on its key pillars – an ambitious industrial policy, effective research, innovation and skills development, free and fair trade, and sustainability.
From left to right Appointed EURATEX President Alberto Paccanelli (IT) and new Director General Dirk Vantyghem (BE) (caption courtesy by Euratex)
During his two-year term as President, Mr Paccanelli wishes to invest efforts in reaching these goals. “I commit to serving EURATEX at my best”, he states, also pointing out that “unity and collaboration between all member organisations will be essential to support EURATEX in defending the interests of our industry”. With international experience both in the textile industry and management consulting, since 2007 Alberto Paccanelli is CEO and shareholder of the Martinelli Ginetto Group in Bergamo, Italy, specialized in high-end home textile products. For many years he has been actively involved in representing the industry at both European and national level, as President (2011-2014) and Vice President Treasurer (2014-2019) of EURATEX, as member of the Steering Committee of Sistema Moda Italia, and as President of the Italian Technology Platform for Textile and Apparel. Mr Paccanelli will lead the team of EURATEX Vice-Presidents Jean-François Gribomont (BE), Gregory Marchant (FR), Rusen Cetin (TR) and Bodo Bölzle (DE).
To run the Brussels office, Dirk Vantyghem (BE) has been appointed as the new Director General of EURATEX. Mr Vantyghem has over 20 years of experience in representing European businesses, as a Director at the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAMBRES) in Brussels. With an economic background (College of Europe), his expertise relates to international trade, SME development, EU programmes and economic diplomacy. “I am committed to grow EURATEX into an essential interlocutor for EU policy makers, and to support our membership in promoting a competitive industry”, commented Dirk during his meeting with EURATEX members. “With a new European leadership coming into power, it is the right time to prepare ourselves for an ambitious partnership with the EU.”
Tesco F&F CEO Richard Price is new M&S clothing & home Management Director
By guest author Sahar Nazir fro, Retail Gazette
• M&S drafts in Tesco F&F Clothing CEO Richard Price as managing director for clothing & home
• Price will join M&S next year
• He first joined M&S in 2005 as trading director
Marks and Spencer has revealed that the current chief executive of F&F Clothing at Big 4 grocer Tesco, Richard Price has been appointed to the role of managing director for clothing and home.
Price will join M&S next year and a start date “will be confirmed in due course”.
In September, the struggling retailer saw its half-year profits slump by 17 % thanks to a “challenging” period for its clothing and home division.
Half-year revenue in clothing and home dropped by 7.8 per cent as like-for-like sales dropped 5.5 per cent on the back of issues around product availability.
M&S hopes to bolster its business, particularly the clothing & home division, with Price’s appointment.
Price first joined M&S in 2005 as trading director, but stepped down in 2012 because it “was drifting in the wrong direction”.
He was also the managing director of collapsed department store chain BHS, from 2012 to 2015.
Price took the helm of Tesco’ F&F clothing division in 2015.
“Richard’s career spans some of the UK’s top clothing brands and he has a proven track record of delivering growth through stylish, great value product,” M&S chief executive Steve Rowe said.
“We are building a team of world class talent in Clothing & Home and, with Richard coming on board, I am confident that the speed and scale of the transformation of the business will accelerate.”
Price added: “Marks & Spencer Clothing & Home is a great business which still has strong brand affection and huge potential.
“I left the business because I felt it was drifting in the wrong direction but now feel we have a real chance to make it special again. The new team has already started to improve product and value and I am looking forward to working with them.”
Asos hires first ever chief growth officer
By guest author Elias Jahshan from Retail Gazette
- Asos appoints Robert Birge as Chief Growth Officer
- The newly-created role is first in a series of hires as Asos aims to strengthen executive team
- He will join Asos on December 3 and will report to CEO Nick Beighton
Asos has appointed Robert Birge to the newly-created role of chief growth officer, marking the first in a series of appointments to strengthen the online retailer’s executive team.
Birge will join Asos on December 3, 2019 and will report to chief executive Nick Beighton.
Birge will be responsible for driving profitable growth and integrating the fashion retailer’s marketing efforts with strategic planning, analytics and customer experience.
Birge, 49, has recently served as an executive and adviser for various consumer e-commerce, content and ad tech start-ups including US online health start-up, Blink Health, and online travel start-up, Lola. Prior to that he held chief marketing officer positions in international businesses including travel metasearch site, Kayak, and IMG, the global sports, fashion and media agency.
The company further said that it is currently recruiting for three other executives to oversee product, HR and strategy. These hires, which will be announced in due course, will strengthen the operational capabilities of the senior management team, led by Nick Beighton, Chief Executive Officer and staffed by Mat Dunn, Chief Financial Officer, Mark Holland, Chief Operating Officer and Cliff Cohen, Chief Information Officer.
Birge will be responsible for driving profitable growth and integrating the fashion retailer’s marketing efforts with strategic planning, analytics and customer experience.
He will also lead a marketing function of 170 people and a customer care operation of more than 1200.
Christian Rüegg is the new Swiss Paul Scherrer Institute Director
On November 27, 2019, at the recommendation of the ETH Board, the Federal Council has appointed Christian Rüegg as the new director of the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). The 43-year-old will take over from Thierry Strässle, who has headed the institute on an interim basis since the beginning of the year. Mr Rüegg is currently head of the Neutrons and Muons Division at the PSI. He will take up his new position on April 1. 2020. The Federal Council has also extended the term of office of Konrad Steffen as director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) to the end of June 2021.
Until the end of 2018 the PSI was headed by Joël Mesot, who was subsequently appointed president of the ETH Zurich. Since then the PSI has been headed on an interim basis by Thierry Strässle. The position of PSI director was advertised internationally with 21 male candidates and one female candidate applying for the position. Following an intensive selection process lasting several months, the ETH Board decided unanimously to put forward to the Federal Council the name of Christian Rüegg for appointment as PSI director.
Mr Rüegg is from the canton of Aargau and studied physics at the ETH Zurich. He obtained his PhD from the ETH Zurich in 2005 for his work at the Laboratory for Neutron Scattering, then a joint lab of the ETH Zurich and the PSI. Between 2005 and 2011 he worked at the Centre for Nanotechnology at University College London (UCL) where he was a Royal Society University Research Fellow, Assistant and Associate Professor. Between 2011 and 2016 he headed the PSI’s Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging in the Division for Research with Neutrons and Muons. He took over as head of the Research Division in 2017 and has been a member of the PSI Board since 2018. He has also been a professor at the University of Geneva since 2012. Mr Rüegg is a solid-state physicist and works on quantum phenomena in magnetism. He has received a number of prestigious science awards for his work including the Lewy-Bertaut Prize and the Nicolas Kurze European Science Prize, as well as an ERC Grant. He played a key role in shaping the use and further development of instrumentation at the Swiss spallation neutron source SINQ and at the European sources ILL and ESS, and represents this field of research in numerous international bodies. The Federal Council has appointed Mr Rüegg for a four-year term.
The Federal Council made a further appointment at its meeting. At the recommendation of the ETH Board, the Federal Council re-appointed Konrad Steffen, who is now 67, as director of the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) for the period from July 2020 to the end of June 2021. The reappointment is related to the general decision taken by the ETH Board to merge the WSL and EAWAG in the medium term to form the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology for Environment and Sustainability.
BEARPAW appoints new Vice President of Sales for North America
BEARPAW, a global leader in fashion footwear for men, women and children, announced the appointment of Marty Meade as Vice President of Sales for North America effective November 25, 2019. For his new role, Meade will spearhead sales initiatives for BEARPAW, overseeing 20 sales representatives in the United States and three groups of representatives in Canada.
“With Marty’s vast experience and key relationships in the sales sector, we look forward to him playing a pivotal role in expanding BEARPAW into new markets and increasing sales for the brand across all categories,” said Tom Romeo, BEARPAW Founder.
Meade joins BEARPAW from Eastman Footwear Group, Inc., where he was Vice President of Sales and Brand Manager for Hi-Tec and Magnum Brands. His past work experience includes senior roles at People Footwear, Dr. Martens AirWair and Nike.
“BEARPAW is a brand that has a strong foundation in the marketplace and I look forward to working with my new team to create a larger footprint and to continue driving the business forward,” says Marty Meade, Vice President of Sales for North America.
In addition to Meade’s appointment, Steve Von Ruden, accomplished Footwear Sales Executive in both fashion and outdoor segments, has joined the BEARPAW team as Western Regional Sales Manager. Von Ruden has previously held senior positions at Fenix Outdoor Imports, Li & Fung, and Keen Footwear.
Tom Romeo founded the BEARPAW brand in 2001 with the intention of redefining casual footwear by creating comfortable, stylish and fashion forward footwear. BEARPAW has carved out a niche area by providing customers with comfort and sensibility to set itself apart. From slippers to boots to casual footwear, only the finest materials are used to produce BEARPAW footwear. By using the highest standards of craftsmanship BEARPAW can deliver the most stylish footwear while ensuring complete comfort. BEARPAW is available throughout the US and in 45 countries across the globe.