The Executive Board of the Westfalen Group is complete

31-Aug-2018 - Germany

New CEO from 1st September 2018 is Dr. Thomas Perkmann (44). Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert (71), the current Chairman of the Supervisory Board and who has been Chief Executive Officer for many years, presented his successor to the 600-plus guests who were gathered in the Münsterland Hall. This news had been eagerly awaited, most notably by the many employees present from the four company sites in Münster. The couple behind the company, Renate and Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert, called upon the employees to do their utmost to support the executive board which is now complete. It also includes Dr. Meike Schäffler, Torsten Jagdt and Reiner Ropohl. Both emphasized that they remain close to the events on the Supervisory Board and that they had made the right choice with the new CEO. "Dr. Perkmann sees working for a family business as his life's work. He shares our values and possesses all the attributes needed to steer Westfalen AG towards a successful future". With these words, Wolfgang Fritsch-Albert symbolically handed over the baton.

Westfalen AG

The Executive Board of the Westfalen Group is complete. (from left) Reiner Ropohl, Dr. Thomas Perkmann (CEO), Dr. Meike Schäffler and Torsten Jagdt.

In his inaugural speech, Dr. Perkmann recalled the initial meetings with the Fritsch-Albert family and the persuasive power of corporate values, such as customer orientation, appreciation for business partners and employees as well as corporate social responsibility. "I get the impression that these values are genuinely understood and applied in practice at Westfalen. I can fit in here. I want to work with these people," explained the new CEO. "Serving this company fills me with joy. My colleagues on the Executive Board and I will form a strong team and go forward into the future together," announced Dr. Perkmann.

With a doctorate in business administration and international experience in senior management, Dr. Perkmann was born in South Tyrol. After pursuing his studies and doctorate in Vienna from 1996 to 2006, he initially held various positions at the global management consultancy firm A.T. Kearny in Austria and Germany. He held several positions at Palfinger AG from 2006 until the end of August 2018. The listed family business leads the way in the global market for truck cranes and is headquartered in the Austrian city of Bergheim near Salzburg. As managing director of Palfinger Asia Pacific, he was responsible for the company's Asian business from 2009 to 2014. Together with another manager, Dr. Perkmann headed Palfinger's largest business area EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa and Australia) from 2014. Under his leadership, the EMEA Division generated 60 percent of group sales of around 1.5 billion euros with a workforce of over 5,000 employees.

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