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UK: Aggregate Industries UK has appointed Guy Edwards as its chief executive officer (CEO) starting in January 2019. He succeeds François Petry, who was recently appointed Country CEO of Lafarge France and Market Head for France and Belgium.

Edwards holds over 30 years of experience in the construction industry, with 25 years of this in the UK. He is currently CEO for the company’s Aggregates and Construction Materials (ACM) business in the US. Over the years, he has held a variety of senior roles within Aggregate Industries, both in the UK and US. In 2013, Guy served as a UK Executive Committee member responsible for European operations and, in 2014, was named chief operating officer (COO) for the AI US business.

Edwards received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from Leeds University in England, graduating with honours in 1988. He has also completed the International Leadership Program at the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland.

UK: Tarmac has appointed Graeme Bride as the plant manager of its Aberthaw cement plant. He takes over the role from Chris Bradbury, who has been appointed Cement Plant Manager of Tarmac’s Tunstead operations.

Bride, aged 46 years, graduated as a mechanical engineer from the University of Birmingham and has an MBA from Manchester Business School. He has over 24 years of operational experience gained in the cement, sugar and power generation industries across Europe, Asia and Africa. His most recent role was Health and Safety Director in Lafarge Africa. He holds 19 years cement plant management experience from his time spent working in Nigeria and the Philippines.

Germany: Klaus Keysberg has been appointed as the chief executive officer of ThyssenKrupp Materials Services, with effect from 1 January 2019. He was previously working as the division’s chief financial officer (CFO). In addition, Ilse Henne will join the board of the business area as chief operating officer (COO).

Keysberg has been a member of the board of the business area since 2011 and CFO since 2014. He is to retain this post until further notice. As CEO, Keysberg will succeed Joachim Limberg, who will retire. Before his appointment as CFO of Materials Services, Keysberg was COO of the business area from 2011 to 2014 and also held various management roles at operating units.

Henne has worked as the CEO of ThyssenKrupp Schulte and the Western Europe and Asia-Pacific regions. She will continue to hold this post until a successor is found.

Germany: Schmersal has appointed Axel Schneider as its new chief technology officer (CTO). The 49-year old is a graduate in electrical engineering. Previously, he worked in senior positions at international companies in the automation and telecommunications industry. He holds experience in product development, network technology and industrial IT systems. Schneider has also completed various additional courses on agile product development and project and change management and is a certified Professional Scrum Product Owner.

As head of the research and development (R&D) Division at the Schmersal Group, Schneider will be responsible for the global coordination and reconciling of development capacities and innovation projects. This includes, among other things, the establishment of group wide R&D standards and the continuous advancement of Schmersal’s global product portfolio.

Brazil: Walter Dissinger has resigned from Votorantim Cimentos. He will be succeeded as chief executive officer (CEO) by Marcelo Castelli on 1 February 2019. Dissinger will assist the succession in early 2019.

Dissinger has led the company for over five years. He has left to seek new ‘challenges.’ Votorantim said that the years during which the company was led by Dissinger were marked by client-focused management, innovation and a digital transformation. Among other projects, Dissinger played a role in the creation of the first loyalty platform within the construction materials industry, Juntos Somos Mais.

Castelli is an executive with a career of over 31 years. In 1997 he started working at VCP (Votorantim Celulose e Papel). Since then, he has held several executive positions and coordinated the merger of Aracruz and VCP, which created Fibria. At the company, Castelli was the executive officer of different areas, such as Forestry, Paper, Strategy, Supply, and since July 2011 he has been the company’s CEO.