Gondert leaves six months earlier - Fifth chief operating officer position created

At the evening event of Hagebau's general meeting in Amsterdam last weekend, he was already no longer present: Heribert Gondert, former speaker of the Soltau cooperative, decided to leave Hagebau surprisingly quickly. Since Friday, 1 July 2017, he has no longer been active in his usual function and his successor, Jan Buck-Emden, took over the position of the chairman of the management board at the same time, thus six months earlier than planned.The management structure was reorganised at the same time. This, according to Johannes Schuller, chairman of the supervisory board at Hagebau "gives us a steering board which is appropriate to the size of the group of associated companies". He explains that the cooperative, with 369 partners from eight countries and sales of more than six billion euros, has now reached a size which demands much more commitment and tasks from the management board than in the past. With its now five-member management board and the new function of the chairman of the management board, the cooperative has been given a management structure which is appropriate for the Mittelstand, explains Schuller further.Fundamental changes in the reorganisation result from the new position of the chairman of the management board and the newly created management division Finance/Administration. From 1 July 2017 Jan Buck-Emden officiates as chairman of the management board. In this function he also takes over the management of the areas of partner development, personnel, legal issues, strategy and corporate communication. As in the past, Hartmut Goldboom, chief operating officer of specialist trade, is responsible for the building materials, tiles and wood divisions.  Kai Kächelein and Torsten Kreft continue to manage all retail activities as chief operating officer Sales/Marketing and chief operating officer Category Management respectively. The newly implemented Finance/Administration section is led by Sven Grobrügge. Thus, he is responsible for the sectors Controlling, Finance, Accounting and the centralised services.