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OFFICE DEPOT ANNOUNCES NEW COUNTRY MANAGER FOR UK AND IRELAND AND KEY APPOINTMENTS IN EUROPE
(VENLO-NL) – 28 July 2003 – Office Depot’s European Headquarters today announced the appointment of a new Country Manager for the combined business in the United Kingdom & Ireland as well as some European key positions to reinforce its leading position in Europe. Chris Mahoney will assume the position of Country Manager for the UK & Ireland, for the combined business of Office Depot and Guilbert, and will report in this position directly to Rob Vale, the newly appointed SVP European operations.
Chris Mahoney
commented, "I am really excited to be given the
opportunity to lead the combined business in the UK
and Ireland and to ensure that we stay right at the
forefront of the office supplies market. We have a
great company here and will be working as hard as ever
to aggressively grow the businesses in both the direct
mail and contract channels, building on our leadership
position in both. Our commitment to our people, the
customer and our shareholders remains as strong as
ever and we see plenty of opportunity for profitable
growth." Peter Birks, the present Country Manager of Office Depot in the UK and Ireland, has been appointed to Vice President, European Business Services Division. He will take responsibility for the entire contract businesses in Europe and has the important role of leading the integration of the present Office Depot European Business Services Division with the Guilbert contract business. Peter Birks had previously led the launch and development of the rapidly growing Office Depot Business Services Division in the UK and Ireland. He will report directly to Rolf van Kaldekerken.
Peter Birks
added: “I am thrilled and delighted with the challenge
of integrating Guilbert, Europe’s leading contract
business with the rapidly growing Office Depot
Business Services Division. The businesses are highly
complimentary and we shall be working hard to ensure
that we deliver a successful integration coupled with
profitable growth ahead of the market as a whole. We
have a fantastic team of people who are definitely up
for the challenge. We are clearly excited by the
enormous potential across Europe.” Rob Vale, Senior Vice President, European Business Services Division is appointed to Senior Vice President of European Operations, and will oversee the successful integration and commercial development of the European business channels under the Office Depot, Guilbert and Viking brand names. Consequently all European Country Managers will report directly to him. Rob Vale will continue to report to Rolf van Kaldekerken. Rob Vale joined Office Depot in 1999 and with strong leadership he managed the planning, launch and roll out of the Office Depot Business Services Division, now operating successfully and growing rapidly in six countries across Europe. In addition he had previously led the UK and Irish business through 2001 and 2002, relinquishing that role early in 2003 to focus 100% on the contract business and Guilbert merger.
Rob Vale
commented: “With the addition of Guilbert to our
existing highly successful Viking and Office Depot
businesses our company has increased dramatically in
size. The Guilbert business has real strength and the
people are great. The integration is going well, we
have installed a great leadership team in Europe and
fully intend to drive profitable growth in all
channels and all markets This is a very exciting time
for us all but we remain absolutely committed to the
fundamentals of creating a truly compelling place to
work, shop and invest.” John Moore, at present Merchandising Director for the UK & Ireland, is appointed to Vice President, European Merchandising for the combined company. In his new role, John Moore will report directly to Graham Cundick, Senior Vice President of European Merchandising and Marketing. John Moore was essential in developing Office Depot’s highly successful Merchandising strategy for the UK & Ireland. John Moore added: ”We now have a very large multi-brand and multi-channel business across Europe. More than ever it is essential that we develop winning merchandising strategies and practices that differentiate us from our competition and offer strong appeal to all customers, irrespective of which brand or channel they choose to use for their office supplies purchases. With Office Depot, Guilbert, Niceday and Viking we have some fantastic brands at our disposal and we intend to use them fully to drive growth and profitability. In addition, I know that we have a winning merchandising team across Europe, so not surprisingly I am very excited!”
Rolf van Kaldekerken, President European Operations added, "With these appointments, we are ensuring that we have the right people in the right roles to manage the new company going forward. The appointments of Rob Vale as SVP European Operations, Chris Mahoney as Country Manager for the UK and Ireland, Peter Birks as Vice President for the combined contract business Europe and John Moore as VP Merchandising Europe, and the overall excellent quality of my European Key Management Team, gives me renewed confidence that the integration of both successful companies will be the platform for an even greater future.”
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