Spain: The board of directors of Oficemen, the Spanish cement association, has elected Jesús Ortiz, the chief executive officer (CEO) of HeidelbergCement in Spain, as its new president. He suceeds Jaime Ruiz de Haro, the CEO of Cemex España.

Jesús Ortiz, aged 56 years, worked between 1983 and 1989 as a Diplomatic Commercial Attaché for the French Ministry for Economy and Finance in various overseas postings and in France. In 1989 he joined Italcementi Group in France and then held different operational responsibilities at its Spainish operations. Between 2003 and 2007 he served as Managing Director of Italcementi Group’s activities in Greece and Bulgaria. He joined HeidelbergCement in 2007 as its General Manager for Spain before moving to Brussels to assume responsibilities for the group’s aggregate and concrete business in Europe and Africa. Following HeidelbergCement’s acquisition of Italcementi in 2016 he returned to Spain to coordinate the integration of the companies.

He holds a diploma in Economics and Business Administration from the ESC Clermont Graduate School of Management in Clermont-Ferrand, France and a master's degree from the European Institute of Business Administration in Fontainebleau, France. He is also the president of the European Aggregates Association (UEPG).

Ireland: Maeve Carton plans to retire as Group Transformation Director of CRH and from its board on 31 August 2017. Since joining CRH in 1988, Maeve has held a number of senior financial roles prior to joining the board as Finance Director in May 2010. She was appointed Group Transformation Director in January 2016.

Malaysia: Richard Curtis is to retire as Group Managing Director of Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMS) on 31 December 2017. He will then remain as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director until the end of 2018. Curtis will be succeeded by Isaac Lugun as the company’s Group Chief Corporate Officer and Goh Chii Bing as its Group Chief Operating Officer.

Germany: Karl-Heinz Fiegenbaum has retired from Schade Lagertechnik. During a career spanning 47 years he became the managing director of the company in July 2011 with responsibility for the sales and commerce. Christoph Seifert, who joined the business as its Technical Managing Director in February 2015, will succeed him. Klaus Paul, who joined the company in March 2017, will become the new Technical Managing Director.