Congratulations for being appointed as CEO of Sappi Europe! Is that something you thought of when joining Sappi?

Having started as a Management Trainee with one of the predecessors of Sappi, KNP BT, I rather quickly had my first interaction with the coming and going CEOs at that time and I started to realize that the shelf-life of a CEO did not seem to be much longer than 18 months. The fact that strategic moves, unfortunate choices or overestimated capabilities have severe consequences for a CEO has always intrigued me and made me wonder how I would do in such position.

What were the previous stations in your career?

As stated before, I started as a Management Trainee with KNP Fine paper in Maastricht, after which I had the fortunate experience to be sent to Paris to become a Sales Manager for the newly formed company KNP Leykam. In 1997 this company was acquired by Sappi and I moved to Brussels to become the Manager Corporate Planning in charge of the Post-Merger Integration. Soon after I became the MD of Sappi Benelux and in 2002 I was asked to take over the position of Marketing Director for Sappi Fine paper in South Africa and moved to Johannesburg with my wife and our 3 sons. Since 2005 we are back in Brussels where I worked in Sappi Europe’s Head Office as the Vice-President of Marketing & sales for our Graphics paper products.

Steve Binnie (Chief Executive Officer, Sappi Limited) said that he was pleased to be “able to ensure a smooth transition in leadership”. Does that mean you’re going to follow the path led out by Berry Wiersum, or do you have adjustments in mind?

As an incoming CEO it feels reassuring to know not only the business already so well but also have worked for so many of those years together with Berry Wiersum. Berry has led Sappi through many challenges and as company we face many more ahead of us. The transition into the role of CEO is of course a journey and one I am very excited to take, but at the same time humbled as well by the task at hand.

What is it all about the Thrive25 business strategy?

Thrive 25 is an evolution of our previous 2020vision with a focus on the and success for the next 5 years. We will be looking at strengthening the balance sheet to give us a robust base for further investments in growing our higher margin segments. We will also most importantly be further embedding sustainability and innovation across the overall business strategy. This is something we are passionate about and have an obligation as a company to do so, as we rely on renewable resources to reduce any adverse impact and help build towards a more sustainable world.

We live in critical times, to say the least. What will be the biggest challenges for Sappi Europe in the next decade(s)?

Without a doubt the biggest challenge facing business in the next decades is the environmental impact of climate change. As mentioned previously, we are a company that relies on renewable resources, so our awareness of just how we can play our part in reducing the effects of climate change and the shifts that brings to the business is acute. We are making great headway in our journey, but it is a long road with serious investments to be made available to cope with the ever changing and tightening requirements.

What forms of contact with your customers have proven effective during the Covid-19 pandemic?

Sappi is a business that prides itself on the interaction and partnership we create with our customers. We have felt the pandemic effects as many other companies have, but we have also risen to the challenges it has presented. The pandemic has in many ways forced us to look at things differently and opened up new ways of thinking and for customers new ways of interacting. We led many online events with customers and adapted to suit the new situation. We got back to the personalized contact of letter writing and building relationships around the new normal while continuously updating our value chain by giving webinars on trending topics.

I found a 2014 article in our database with you commenting on the Sappi Foosball Cup 2014. You said: “We love the atmosphere, fair competition, interaction and dialogue with our customers.” Is this tournament still existing? And are you a football fan? As a Dutch citizen you probably favour the Elftal?

The Sappi Cup has unfortunately been cancelled in 2020 and will also not take place in 2021 due to the Covid-19 restrictions we have to respect. This means that we will need to consider how to start up the competition or transition it into a new customer concept in 2022. I am an avid Feyenoord supporter, so everything that is slightly related to football is having my interest. The Orange national team has had some rough years, but is back and will hopefully show the world what they are capable of during the European Championship this summer!