Change at the top

Baumax, the Austrian DIY retailer, is realigning the chain’s management level. Michael Hürter, who was brought on board as a restructuring expert 18 months ago, will be taking over the function of chief executive in April 2014. What is more, from January 2014 Michael Seidel will be working as the new commercial director. After years at Ernst & Young and Otto Versand, Seidel, 55, spent five years as head of finance at the Max Bahr DIY chain in Germany before it was sold to Praktiker. Over the last few years he has worked as CFO and CRO at Lloyd Fonds and Hannover Leasing. The Essl family has decided to effect a separation between the agendas of the CEO and the owners in future. This is the reason behind Martin Essl’s change over to the supervisory board of the Baumax Group on 31.03.2014, after 30 years of involvement in the operational business.