New CEO for Connect Group
Jozef (Jos) Opdeweegh has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Connect Group which specialises in early distribution and mixed freight.
As announced in 2018, current Chief Executive Officer, Mark Cashmore, will be stepping down from his role and the Board to pursue new opportunities. Mark has been Chief Executive of the Group since its inception in 2006 as an independent news wholesaler demerging from WH Smith PLC.
Jos began his career in the financial services and worked in a number of senior finance positions. Following a brief period as the Chief Financial Officer and Managing Director for Europe, in 2000 Jos became the Chief Executive Officer of Syncreon, a global provider of logistics services to the automotive and technology industry. In 2008, he was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of Americold Realty Trust, the world’s largest logistics provider for frozen and temperature controlled food products.
From 2012 to 2015, Jos led the carve-out and subsequent sale of Caterpillar Logistics Services (now known as Neovia Logistics) during which period he was also a non-executive director of Interline Brands. In April 2016, Jos was Chief Executive Officer and Board Director of Premier Farnell PLC, a FTSE listed specialized high service distributor of technology products, until its sale to Avnet Inc. in October of the same year.
Commenting on his new role Jos said: “This is an exciting time to be joining the Group. With two strong brands and a leading position in each of our markets there is every opportunity to drive an improvement in performance and establish a strategy that delivers value for all stakeholders.”
Gary Kennedy, Chairman of Connect Group, commented: “I am looking forward to working with Jos to deliver our plans for strategic turnaround, profit performance and capital management. Jos brings a wealth of experience in delivering value driven strategic change. A results driven executive, his energy and relentless focus on delivery will be central to our turnaround and in sustaining performance improvement. I am grateful to Mark Cashmore for his invaluable contribution during his tenure.”
