People

Türkiye: Çimsa Çimento has appointed Ozan Keskin as its Vice President of Operations. He will succeed Memet Metin Çalışkan in the role from the start of November 2024.

Keskin has worked in the cement industry for over 20 years. He started as a maintenance engineer at OYAK Adana Çimento in 2003. He later worked for Aslan Çimento, eventually becoming Technical Services Manager in 2015 and Investments & Project Manager in 2017. He then jointed Çimsa Çimento in 2018 as Project Manager. He subsequently became a Plant Manager and Investments and Maintenance Director. He is a graduate in mechanical engineering from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara.

Ireland: CRH has appointed Jim Mintern as its next CEO. He will start in 2025 following the retirement of the current CEO, Albert Manifold, who plans to retire at the end of 2024. Manifold will continue as an advisor to CRH until the end of 2025.

Mintern is currently CRH’s Chief Financial Officer and has been a director of its board since mid-2021. He holds over 30 years of experience in the building materials industry and has worked for CRH for 22 years in various management positions. Mintern joined CRH in 2002 as the Finance Director for Roadstone and other postings since then have included Country Manager for Ireland, Managing Director of each of the Western and Eastern regions of the group’s Europe Materials Division and Chief of Staff to the CEO. He also led the transition of CRH’s primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange. Mintern is a graduate from University College Dublin with degrees in accounting and commerce.

Richie Boucher, the chair of CRH said “CRH has made enormous progress thanks to Albert’s clear vision and his leadership of a talented, hard-working team.” He continued, “Under Albert’s leadership CRH has delivered superior growth and performance with consistently improving profitability, cash generation and returns.”

New Zealand: Fletcher Building has appointed Thornton Williams as CEO of its Concrete division. Williams has served as acting CEO of the division since 29 March 2024. The group noted Williams’ ‘significant’ leadership role in driving culture, customer satisfaction and sustainability. He has also been its chief financial officer (CFO) from 2021, before which he was group general manager, treasury and risk. He previously worked in dealer roles at Australia-based banking group ANZ and the Bank of New Zealand. Williams holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Incoming group CEO and managing director Andrew Reding said "Thornton brings to the role a deep understanding of the commercial drivers of the Concrete business and the competitive landscape. He is therefore well-positioned to lead this high-performing division, not only as Fletcher Building navigates the current challenging trading conditions but also as economic conditions start to improve and opportunities for profitable and sustainable growth emerge.” Reding added “I look forward to working closely with Thornton and the Fletcher Building executive team when I formally commence my role on 30 September 2024. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank acting CEO Nick Traber for his support and commitment in enabling an orderly and smooth handover of the CEO role.”

Argentina/Mexico/Spain: Holcim has appointed Pablo Bittar as the Country CEO of Argentina, Christian Dedeu as the Country CEO of Mexico and Ricardo de Pablos as the Country CEO of Spain. Dedeu succeeds Jaime Hill, who has become Region Head North America. Bittar succeeds Dedeu. De Pablos succeeds Carmen Díaz, who has been appointed as the Chief People Officer in Holcim Group.

Dedeu previously worked as the CEO for Holcim Argentina from 2020. Before this he was the Commercial Director for the company in the country. He originally started working for Holcim in Argentina in 2007 before moving to Holcim Costa Rica in 2016 where he eventually became Commercial Director (Central America). Earlier in his career he worked for ExxonMobil in Argentina from the late 1990s. He is a graduate from the University of El Salvador in Buenos Aires and holds a Master in Business Administration from the IAE Business School.

Bittar worked for Holcim Argentina from late 1990s until 2012, eventually becoming a Procurement Officer. He then worked for Holcim in Ecuador and Colombia becoming the Head of Supply Chain Latin America in 2023. Bittar is an qualified accountant from the National University of Córdoba with a master’s degree in business administration from the same institution.

De Pablos joined Holcim in 2005. He became Regional Director Aggregates in Spain in 2009, Director Mediterranean Area in Spain in 2012, Export Director in 2016 and Director of Business Development and Exports in 2022. Prior to working for Holcim he was a Senior Consultant for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. De Pablos holds a degree in industrial engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and an executive degree in business administration from the IE Business School.

US: Ireland-based Ecocem has appointed Mike Donovan as Technical Director for its US business operations. He will be responsible for overseeing key aspects of Ecocem’s business in the US, with a focus on widespread commercial adoption of the company’s low-carbon cement technologies, including ACT, by the US market.

Donovan most recently developed and brought a new natural pozzolan to market with Geofortis. He started his career in concrete in the 1980s working at companies including as Sherman Industries, Blue Circle Cement Tarmac and Central Concrete Supply (US Concrete). He is a graduate in civil engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.