People

Bangladesh: Asadul Haque Sufyani has been promoted to Chief Marketing Officer of Seven Circle (Bangladesh), a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Shun Shing Group. Previously Sufyani had been working as the General Manager (Sales, Marketing & Distribution) of Seven Circle. He joined in Shun Shing Group in 2009.

Sufyani, aged 40, started his career in the Brand Management department of Sanofi-Aventis and later worked as a Senior Marketing Manager in Bengal Group and Head of Trade Marketing in Robi (formerly AKTEL). Sufyani graduated in Commerce from Delhi University, India and later gained his MBA from the Lincoln School of Management, University of Lincoln in the UK.

Australia: Len Buckeridge, Australia's 19th richest person, died of a heart attack at the age of 77 on 11 March 2014. The billionaire owner of Buckeridge Group of Companies (BGC), was a well-known and long-standing character in the Australian construction industry. The group has interests in gypsum wallboard, bricks and cement as well as residential construction.

Buckeridge built up BGC, which turns over US$2.25bn/yr, from humble beginnings in the 1960s following his training as an architect at Perth Technical College. Hard-but-fair in business, his determined approach saw him amass a personal fortune of over US$1.5bn via the group. Despite his success he retained a down-to-earth approach to the company's day-to-day operations, latterly running the business from the dining room table in his house at Mosman Park, near Perth.

His hard-nosed stance, which helped him in some aspects of his business life, also made him a controversial figure. Buckeridge was involved in a number of deeply-entrenched confrontations with construction unions in Australia. He also attempted to sue the Government in the Supreme Court over a stalled private port project. Upon his death, Buckeridge was described by former construction union boss Kevin Reynolds as 'a formidable opponent.' "People will remember Len as a person who was prepared to take on anyone and everyone whether it would be the unions, government, other employer groups or other builders," said Reynolds. "If Len believed in something he would take them on."

Buckeridge, who had been contemplating succession plans for BGC without coming to a conclusion prior to his death, owned 100% of the group. The Australian business world and the global cement and gypsum industries is awaiting news on how the future ownership of the company will look. Buckeridge is survived by his wife, six children and eight grandchildren.

Moldova: Nicolas Valdinoci has become the new director of Lafarge Moldova. He replaces Louis de Sambucy who has moved to Lafarge Algeria. Valdinoci worked for three years in Lafarge's department of strategy and in 2010 he became the financial director of the concrete and aggregates division in Lafarge Algeria. In 2012, he was appointed as deputy director of sales at Lafarge Algeria.

Denmark: FLSmidth has appointed Lars Vestergaard as its new Chief Financial Officer and member of Group Executive Management. Vestergaard succeeds Ben Guren who has decided to leave the company due to personal reasons. Vestergaard will take up the position as CFO on 1 April 2014. Brian Iversen, Vice President Corporate Finance, FLSmidth will be acting CFO until Vestergaard starts.

Vestergaard, aged 39 and a Danish citizen, holds a Master of Science in Business Management and brings with him international experience in the role as CFO as well as international experience in change management, IT management and treasury from his various management positions in Carlsberg (2004 - 2014) and the global facility service provider ISS (2000 - 2004).

France: The Vicat board of directors has appointed Guy Sidos as the new chairman, in addition to his current position as chief executive officer. The board also appointed Jacques Merceron-Vicat as honourary chairman.

Sidos, aged 51, is the son-in-law of outgoing chairman and former CEO Jacques Merceron-Vicat. His appointment is intended to continue Vicat's independent outlook. Sidos is a graduate engineer of France's Navy School. After joining the Vicat Group in 1999 he held a number of operational positions, particularly in the US, before being appointed COO in 2004, then CEO in 2008. He will henceforth hold this position alongside that of chairman after the annual general meeting on 6 May 2014.